[Deleeh]

Would be interesting to have both VCAP Cutf and Duelund CAST-PIO Cu in the amp for a comparison.

Review from https://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

VCap CuTF Copper Foil and Fluoropolymer Film 0,01uF 600VDC bypass - 5% tolerance

Sound: After near endless burn-in time the main thing that stands out with the VCap CuTF used as a bypass capacitor is the great transparancy and air it gives to recordings. The top end of the spectrum come across with light-footed, fine detail retrieving lots of ambient information such as concert hall acoustics, etc. This is especially noticable with recordings of classical music, but popular music also benefits from increased depth in the sound stage and sort of "high pressure hose down" of the recording. The CuTF can be used as a bypass capacitor basically anywhere in a loudspeaker crossover, in series and in parallel positions. Now this is where I find it difficult to say which is "best". Objectively speaking I would say that the Duelund bypass capacitors and the VCap are on the same high sound quality level, all letting you retrieve more information from a recording, resulting in more overall enjoyment Subjectively speaking I would say that I personally prefer the Duelund JDM Silver bypass as I find it to give me more of what I am looking for in music: realism and of richness of tone. In contrast I find the transparancy and air of the VCap CuTF (although fun) to sound like high-end audio. This overall tidy and transparant character of the CuTF has less of the "being there" effect that I found the Duelund bypass capacitors to do well, please read my description of the Duelund tinned copper foil for how I listen to music. So all in all I really like the VCap CuTF and when used as a bypass capacitor it is equally good as the Duelund Cu-Ag and Duelund Cu-Sn bypass capacitors, just totally different.

Duelund CAST Cu-Ag Hybrid Loudspeaker Capacitor 100VDC - 2% tolerance

Sound: The CAST copper silver hybrid capacitor is very similar to the pure copper version but with added top end openness. The hybrid is same as the CAST-Cu in regards to having an extremely neutral tonal balance with very life like harmonics, especially audible with acoustic instruments but things ssem a little clearer, more "there". For example, William Lawes' "Consort Sets in Five & Six Parts" (performed by Jordi Savall with Hesperion XXI) is known for it's rich and structured nature, with the Duelund CAST-Cu-Ag Hybrid this layered form of music becomes more obvious, more tangible than with the pure copper version. It seems like the silver content makes the top end "shine" a little more, making it easier to differentiate between all the rich harmonic overtones this type of music is well known for. In direct comparison to a Mundorf Supreme EVO Silver Gold Oil they sound darker but that is only relative because the Mundorf focusses on the top end with (to my ears) a little too much energy. The Duelund CAST-Cu-Ag Hybrid simply sounds so much more like real music to me, more intimate as well. The Duelund copper silver hybrid has a natural ease, is just about tonally perfect, spatious, smooth and open at the same time. Comparing it with the lower cost Duelunds such as the Rs-Cu, the RS seems a little "calmer" and less well defined in the top octave. Now, I did find rating this capacitor to be a little difficult because one could be inclined to say that the Duelund CAST-Cu-Ag Hybrid must be "at least 2 points better" than the Duelund CAST-Cu, especially after having such great results with Duelund's seperate 0,01uF pure silver bypass capacitors. I would be more inclined to say that if you have a system that is performing extremely well, tonally well balanced, coherent and musical and you want to get some more "life" out of it, the Duelund CAST-Cu-Ag Hybrid is the only way to go. As from now I will be supplying the Plutone loudspeaker with this capacitor as an optional extra. That prooves just how good it is. You won't be dissapointed

I would take this rating with a grain of salt.
Because I personally think that the capacitors make a difference between amplifier and speaker.
The part in Duelund describes this indirectly, at least for me.
That's why I think the results are different in that respect, or will be perceived differently subconsciously.

To give you a small example, I had my Elac speakers overhauled where the tweeter was replaced and also the capacitors, which are from Mundorf, but I don't know exactly which ones.
I almost have to go to 12Au7 here so that I can use the potentiometer fully on the Ultimate without distortion.
With 12At7/6SL7 this is also possible but after 12 o'clock you notice that it starts to distort.
Personally, I don't blame Ultimate as the main culprit here, neither the speaker.
I actually think that the capacitor simply stops playing along after a certain frequency range and this ends up affecting the speaker.
I can also say why because most speakers go up to at least 20khz or more and that's enough for our ears.
The amplifier simply does what it is supposed to do, the fact that it plays above this threshold is a bonus, but the rest has to fit.

That's why such ratings are slightly misleading, also because I think that more current flows through the amplifier than through the loudspeaker, depending on whether the capacitor works more or less.
Part of this can be taken out of the equation, however, because replacing one of these calibres will certainly come in handy if the installed ones have a different requirement.
But the capacitor alone will not change the world, rather contribute to it.
As we know the amplifier is just as crucial in the build and is also part of the magic sauce at the end of the day as far as other components are concerned.
I showed Eric Japanese resistors and asked what he thought of them.
His answer was very typical Eric in that respect, he didn't know them, but he said they were very expensive and didn't realise why the ones he was using weren't equal and made the build unnecessarily more expensive.
So there is also a microcosm in this area that we should rather leave in the drawer.
For Ultimate a capacitor change is completely sufficient, the rest I would leave untouched as selected by Eric if something should not be sufficient or a different flavour is sought.
Not only the Vcap alone is one of the great Duelund and Jupiter are on a par with the Milfex and Mundorf SGO.

 

[Deleeh]

Deal of the century. I think Matt has mentioned the Russian EL84 (6P14P). I got 2 pairs from Ukraine for $17.00, and they sing as well as many more expensive tubes. The second picture is Matsushita EL84, a bit warmer but still very nice.

Oh my god yes the EL84's are fantastic, just don't overdo it with the driver tube or it will be too much.
You won't have as much room for manoeuvre in the potentiometer and things will quickly overlap.

The EL84 Matsushida are great, I have a couple of Toshiba ones where they say they were made by Matsushida.
I still have to warm up to the Russian ones. They sound a bit cool and sterile to me.

 

[VanHai]

The land of giant tubes, one of my favorite combinations. USAF-596, RCA 6BG6 and RCA 6A6. I preferred the C3G as a driver over the RCA 6A6. This combination sounds gorgeous, airy and has beautiful vocals.

 

[UntilThen]

The land of giant tubes, one of my favorite combinations. USAF-596, RCA 6BG6 and RCA 6A6. I preferred the C3G as a driver over the RCA 6A6. This combination sounds gorgeous, airy and has beautiful vocals.

I did spend a lot of time with 6A6 in the early days of Ultimate. That's before my adapter for ECC31 / 6N7G arrived. Great sounding driver the 6A6. Glad you like C3G. It's one of my go to drivers now.

I've been rolling rectifiers in Bryant's amp. 5Z4 (indirect) and 5Y3 (direct), the latter has a big voltage drop. Both sound good with EH 300b tubes.

 

[Deleeh]

@VanHai Boar you have not been stingy with adapters, even some from Woo Audio which are overpriced.

I was wondering why @LoryWiv has a weakness for 6K6 Visseaux.
So I looked at his profile and saw that I've heard his meze before and thought of something.
Since my EL32's are done playing in and the Visseaux still need some time, these came in along with the 5751 Nos Tungsol and Telefunken Ez80 which also need some playing time.
And grabbed the Auteur OG for a change, and I can see why. (It has the Auteur pads Lammfeel on it.)
Abnormal musicality from top to bottom, expansive stage from top to bottom.
You can hear the typical verticality of the Auteur OG so well.
Vocally there is so much love and heartbreaking warmth with a lot of flow and authenticity.
The micro details of the vcaps Cutf are also beautifully presented and come into their own with the Auteur Og.
I'm blown away and have just been listening and enjoying it for 3 hours.
Funnily enough, with the 5751 you can operate the potentiometer very well, if some bass is missing, simply adjust it slightly and the other ranges remain largely unaffected and the bass increases a little more according to personal taste.
I'm curious to see how the Gec A2900 will perform in this combination.
By the way, 5751 driver tubes also do very well in the Ultimate if you want a little more meat.

 

[VanHai]

@VanHai Boar you have not been stingy with adapters, even some from Woo Audio which are overpriced.

I was wondering why @LoryWiv has a weakness for 6K6 Visseaux.
So I looked at his profile and saw that I've heard his meze before and thought of something.
Since my EL32's are done playing in and the Visseaux still need some time, these came in along with the 5751 Nos Tungsol and Telefunken Ez80 which also need some playing time.
And grabbed the Auteur OG for a change, and I can see why. (It has the Auteur pads Lammfeel on it.)
Abnormal musicality from top to bottom, expansive stage from top to bottom.
You can hear the typical verticality of the Auteur OG so well.
Vocally there is so much love and heartbreaking warmth with a lot of flow and authenticity.
The micro details of the vcaps Cutf are also beautifully presented and come into their own with the Auteur Og.
I'm blown away and have just been listening and enjoying it for 3 hours.
Funnily enough, with the 5751 you can operate the potentiometer very well, if some bass is missing, simply adjust it slightly and the other ranges remain largely unaffected and the bass increases a little more according to personal taste.
I'm curious to see how the Gec A2900 will perform in this combination.
By the way, 5751 driver tubes also do very well in the Ultimate if you want a little more meat.

Yeah! The Woo Audio is quite expensive, but it is well-built. I bought it a couple of years ago when I had both Woo Wa22 and WA6-SE (2nd Gen). Sold WA6-SE and still have WA22.
I just tried Gec A2900 on this combination of USAF-596, National Union 807, C3G. Thank you to those who recommend the 807, a fantastic tube. It is getting better. Both C3G and Gec A2900 are awesome drivers. For this combination, the A2900 has taken over the C3G with more control and very tight vocals.

 

[OctavianH]

Thank you to those who recommend the 807, a fantastic tube. It is getting better.

You have here a post related to different types. With the remark that Csf P17W is not covered, but you can see it here. There are other tubes compatible like the Philips/Valvo Pe06/40N which can be seen here. Enjoy it, I am one of the people promoting 807 and I stand behind my work, 807 is better than many others for the price.

 

[crakers7]

You have here a post related to different types. With the remark that Csf P17W is not covered, but you can see it here. There are other tubes compatible like the Philips/Valvo Pe06/40N which can be seen here. Enjoy it, I am one of the people promoting 807 and I stand behind my work, 807 is better than many others for the price.

Thanks so much for this, I am loving the 807 tubes and have been collecting them lately but been struggling to find much info , this is perfect . I have found that even within the same manufacturer there are differences in the tube . For example I have 3 matched pairs of Mullards and they are all slightly different inside

 

[OctavianH]

Thanks so much for this, I am loving the 807 tubes and have been collecting them lately but been struggling to find much info , this is perfect .

Let us know what you think of them.

 

[VanHai]

You have here a post related to different types. With the remark that Csf P17W is not covered, but you can see it here. There are other tubes compatible like the Philips/Valvo Pe06/40N which can be seen here. Enjoy it, I am one of the people promoting 807 and I stand behind my work, 807 is better than many others for the price.

Thank you, @OctavianH. Great information, excellent tube with a very reasonable price and very sweet vocals.

 

[OctavianH]

I want to add here a remark that people should be careful of rebrands. The one from left is a russian made tube. The shape of glass is showing it being "fatter" than the rest.. The getters can also be a good point.

 

[crakers7]

I want to add here a remark that people should be careful of rebrands. The one from left is a russian made tube. The shape of glass is showing it being "fatter" than the rest.. The getters can also be a good point.

OK , Thanks. What getters do original Mullards have , I see in your photos that yours has 2 ring getters but none of my Mullards do ?

 

[OctavianH]

OK , Thanks. What getters do original Mullards have , I see in your photos that yours has 2 ring getters but none of my Mullards do ?

It is hard to say what original Mullard have but what I have are double ring getters like this:

 

[UntilThen]

It is hard to say what original Mullard have but what I have are double ring getters like this:

Looks exactly like my Philips EL38 dual O getter rings.

 

[UntilThen]

Trying out the GE 5R4GA direct heated full wave rectifier in SupremE. This is one of many rectifiers supplied by Eric for my testing. Sounded great with 300b tubes and GE 6SL7gt chrome plates. If the 300b tubes had been GE, it would have been a full GE team !!!

A write up of the 5R4GA
The 5R4GA rectifier tube is designed for high-end audio equipment. Its rugged design ensures a long lifespan and consistent performance, making it a popular choice among audiophiles. With a maximum plate voltage of 1,000 volts and a maximum current output of 175mA, this tube provides ample power for even the most demanding amplifiers. Additionally, the 5R4GA features a slow warm-up time to prevent damage to other components in the circuit. Its unique characteristics produce a warm, natural sound that truly enhances the listening experience.

SupremE and UltimatE using 5 volt rectifiers are looking very appealing with so many rectifier choices.