[coolchillies]

So, I put together an Aikido Noval HPA. Very pleased with the overall result so far. 
 
At the moment i'm tuning the ouput caps. My HD700 (150 ohms) needs a lot of capacitance for a low cutoff. It should really be at least 60uF. 
 
The Daytons (30uF) provided with the kit don't sound too bad. I'm not experiencing a lack of bass. Out of curiosity i ordered some Auricaps to bypass them, only 2.2uF because of the price, but they are a bit bright for my taste.
 
I also tried using bypolar electrolytes (Mundorf Ecap AC) bypassed with the Auricaps but that wasn't great.
 
 
Does anybody have some tips on good (affordable) caps?
 
My options so far:
 

1. Obbligato Gold Premium (30 euros for 33uF)
2. Mundorf Mcap MKP (16 euros for 33uF)
3. ...

 
Remember i need a lot of capacitance and i like the smooth tuby sound.
 

 

[DingoSmuggler]

If it were me, I'd grab another pair of identical 30uF daytons to get me 60uF per side, or even 2 pairs to get to 90uF. Increasing capacitance to better suit the 150 ohm cans, and also reducing series R & L due to parallel devices.
 
I wouldn't bother bypassing film caps with other film caps, but typically people would use smaller values compared to the main cap, something more like 0.1 - 0.47uF for your application.

 

[coolchillies]

The Daytons seem to be hard to get in europe. I don't feel much for paying more in shipping costs then the actual cap price.
So I ordered a pair of ClarityCap ESA 250V 68uF. No bypassing necessary.

Let's see what the results are. On paper they seem to my taste. Good bass, warm sounding, not the 'in your face' highs.

 

[coolchillies]

Here they are, my new babies.
 
I should now better then to start listening immediately. First notes sounded like ****. After an hour or so they opened up nicely. Very good detailling though nothing harsh, airy, good extension, neutral and laid back. Huge step forward overall. 

 
My cap search ends here (for now). Next step might be to upgrade the high voltage section. I have a Salas SSHV2 pcb lying around here somewhere.