Orgy of Capacitors: The Cap Thread

[JamieMcC]

Capacitor Update time. Cross posted on the Crack OTL bb
 
First off,
 
Russian Teflon K72P6, used to bypass the 2.2uf film cap which was itself used as a bypass on the last 220uf electrolytic in the Crack power supply.
 

 
K72P6 Impressions with just over 200hrs on the clock.
 
I have noticed a slight change in sonics to the top end, it is very subtle but smoother, with what I can only describe as an easiness in its smoothness. Less grain and better resolution but without any hint of the normally associated brightness that I have experience before with such resolution. Its not a wow instantly noticeable sonic signature instead it just blends in as part of the whole picture bringing a touch of refinement. It kind of needs to be listen for specifically in order to get a handle just what has changed. But does come across in the whole.
 
I would like to say I have no plans to remove the Teflon as I am really loving the sound coming from my Crack at the moment it is absolutely sublime with the T1's and its with some trepidation and no doubt a good dose of stupidity I am going to continue swapping capacitor types and positions in a vain attempt to get a grasp of some of the character the different capacitors types can impart.
 
Whether or not the changes might improve, on what I currently think could well be perfection for me is yet to be discovered.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
So my Crack cap rolling odyssey continues.
 
This time its the turn of a pair of Jantzen z- superior's, experimenting with them used as bypass caps for the JFX 100uf films and later in combinations with some pio film's (polypropylene film in oil, not paper) and some Hybrid mylar, paper and aluminium film in oil variants.
 
Back to the Jantzen who interestingly state their Z caps require no burn in.
 
From the Jantzen website
 
"Superior Cap Even the finest nuances can be heard.The sound never gets over-edged, really superb naturalness with a somewhat bright top-end. Jantzen Audio Superior Z-Caps are absolutely high-end components, delivering a natural, almost holographic sound stage. Even the finest nuances can be heard."
 
I am pleased to say this is very much inline with my own initial impressions the difference over the JFX alone is instantly quite noticeable. I am wondering if the "somewhat bright top-end" will settle down at all. And while its not " over-edged" it is walking a fine line with T1's and the accentuation of sibilance on some tracks I find just a tad to much for my personal taste. So I hope this might calm down with a little time on the clock.
 
Everything else is just dandy I particularly like the effect the Jantzen has with the bass it seams more expansive and deeper. There is some really nice ambiance coming through on live recordings
 
Following on it does suit the HD650's rather well also.
 

 

[JamieMcC]

Just to add the Jantzens have settled down nicely and the sibilance I had experience when first listening has now gone after about 30hrs of running.
 
Also the postman kindly dropped off some care packages for me the other day (funny how it all turned up at the same time).
This definitely put a smile on my face

the big box was from Russia just 7 days delivery to the UK and its just so very encouraging to see so much care taken in packaging and makes for great fun unwrapping also.
 

 
Well wrapped and quick delivery, deserving of a plug if that's allowed.  Thanks ebay seller nixiestore  http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/nixiestore
 

 

[brunk]

Now that is some audiophile porn hehe. Good stuff! 

 

[JamieMcC]

Russian K75-10 Hybrid Paper and Polyethylene Terephthalate In Oil Capacitor

This Russian military capacitor is quite intriguing in its reported construction and in appearance that resembles a small grenade. Its dielectric is claimed to be a hybrid of paper and polyethylene terephthalate, which is essentially a type of mylar, saturated in oil. There is some debate as to which Russian "oil" capacitor is the best, and while K40Y is widely recognized and used, some report K75-10 is the premium oil capacitor out of the Russian military.

I can report that K75-10 sounds extremely unique, quite different from K40Y PIO and any other true PIO one cares to mention, including Vitamin Q, Jensen, and AmpOhm. It has a very saturated, colorful, textured, and detailed midrange that is thick and juicy. While PIO's are known for their natural and smooth midrange, K75 seems to add some jest, pop, and color to the proceedings, yielding an apparently more detailed and forceful presentation. Treble and bass is pretty good, especially for an oil cap, but the leading edges are not razor-sharp and precise like premium film caps. Since the midrange is so involving and palpable, the lack of equal force in treble makes it seem a bit dark overall, but as one increases the volume, this becomes less of an issue, and poorly-recorded music is much more tolerable at higher volume.

The sound is rather addicting in its presentation and can even be called delicious in what it does well, kind of reminiscent of biting into a ripe peach. The line dividing "colorful" and "colored" is thin, and while K75-10 likely leans a bit to the latter, I quite enjoy its substantial sound and prefer it to the thin, plasticky sound many other capacitors represent.

 
Hi Jon, just wanted to say I think you really nailed the sonic character of this capacitor in your review. I am using two as bypass caps on the coupling caps in my Bottlehead Crack, and am really enjoying how they sound with the Crack.
 
I find them very musical, fluid and engaging with bags of PRaT. The “jest and pop” you describe is very much akin to the presentation I experience while listening to vinyl with my Rega Planner 3. It just sets the toes tapping and the head nodding as you get lost in the deliciousness.  The caps are going to have some more burn in time over the next week and will add some further thoughts on any changes when I do my next Crack & Caps update.

 

[JamieMcC]

Short  update on the Jantzen Superior Z
 
I am glad I gave the Jantzens some time to burn in they have defiantly improved. The very annoying sibilance that was initial prevalent (testing with my most prevalent recordings for it)has noticeably diminish.
 
The sound continued to improve across the spectrum and with it a shift in the equilibrium appearing with the balance between liquidity and authority. The Jantzen signature is more dominant and overriding.  Super Resolution and fast transients spacious stage override.
 
Resolution, on some uber fast Spanish guitar pieces is astonishing not only able to hear notes as normal but also the attack of the plectrum hitting the strings on each strum behind the notes quiet amazing considering the speed.
 
With further listening and burn this combination for me has swung to far to the clinical side with its authority and dominance at the expense of musicality.
The softness and naturalness of texture in timbre and tones which beguiled is being drowned out.  I removed the Jantzens from this combination so I could re-reference the sound. I will try them again later with some pio caps and see if it’s a more pleasing combination. The Jantzens are certainly very good caps and I think many would like what they bring to the table.
 
A couple of progress pics.
 
  
  

 

[GermanGuy]

subscribed!

 

[JamieMcC]

double post

 

[GermanGuy]

anyone here had the chance to listen to this capacitors? These capacitors are east german / russian made mica capacitors 100nF / 500V and are available at ebay.de from "oppermann" for about 8 euro a piece. i meassured the capacitance and all are within a tolerance of 2%.
 

 
found this great thread today. i really can recommend the WIMA MKP10 (NOT! the MKP4) , great price / performance ratio. after having red through this thread i am really happy that i bought Mundorf Silver.Öl capacitors for my next or how to say final DIY tube headphone amp also based on the tu-05 design but with "as best as possible" components..
 
btw here is a picture of a rebuild of the analog squared paper tu-05 design with WIMA MKP10 capacitors. it is  really prototype status, the size had to be small for the tube sections (not the prototype power / voltage filter pcbs) to fit into the tu-05 case (skipped this idea later):
 

 

 

 
and here the case i made for the amp:
 

 
i don't know if it is off topic here, but
 
- i would be happy for any recommendation for high end resistors for my next build !
- any recommendation for electrolyte capacitors (already bought ELNA SILMIC II and SILMIC, Mundorf M-Lytic, Nichicon Muse for the power/voltage paths)

 

[JamieMcC]

This might interest a few here and could be a bit of a find. It is also hot off the press having been only recently been listed.

Top of the line made in the US by RTI Electronics Teflon capacitors measure 10uf +/-10% at 310VDC, matching to 2-3% offered at $80 each!

Some further info that's not in the sales description, apparently they were designed for the output of a reference quality preamplifier using 6H30Pi tubes.  RTI Electronics supplies several types of this capacitor to this manufacturer and there was a mix up. These caps cost the company that ordered them well over $100 each and that was at a bulk rate.

The name of the amp manufacturer would not be disclosed to me. However it is very high probability it is Audio Research imo.

From the web

Sales pic

The seller TC Tubes and Audio Research are both located in Minnesota a short distance from each other.

http://tctubes.com/teflon-capacitor.aspx

 

[JamieMcC]

  anyone here had the chance to listen to this capacitors? These capacitors are east german / russian made mica capacitors 100nF / 500V and are available at ebay.de from "oppermann" for about 8 euro a piece. i meassured the capacitance and all are within a tolerance of 2%.
 

 
found this great thread today. i really can recommend the WIMA MKP10 (NOT! the MKP4) , great price / performance ratio. after having red through this thread i am really happy that i bought Mundorf Silver.Öl capacitors for my next or how to say final DIY tube headphone amp also based on the tu-05 design but with "as best as possible" components..
 
btw here is a picture of a rebuild of the analog squared paper tu-05 design with WIMA MKP10 capacitors. it is  really prototype status, the size had to be small for the tube sections (not the prototype power / voltage filter pcbs) to fit into the tu-05 case (skipped this idea later):
 

 

 

 
and here the case i made for the amp:
 

 
i don't know if it is off topic here, but
 
- i would be happy for any recommendation for high end resistors for my next build !
- any recommendation for electrolyte capacitors (already bought ELNA SILMIC II and SILMIC, Mundorf M-Lytic, Nichicon Muse for the power/voltage paths)

 
That is a interesting build I have yet to try any mica capacitors so looking forward to hearing of your progress and impressions..

 

[brunk]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

anyone here had the chance to listen to this capacitors? These capacitors are east german / russian made mica capacitors 100nF / 500V and are available at ebay.de from "oppermann" for about 8 euro a piece. i meassured the capacitance and all are within a tolerance of 2%.
 

 
 
found this great thread today. i really can recommend the WIMA MKP10 (NOT! the MKP4) , great price / performance ratio. after having red through this thread i am really happy that i bought Mundorf Silver.Öl capacitors for my next or how to say final DIY tube headphone amp also based on the tu-05 design but with "as best as possible" components..
 
btw here is a picture of a rebuild of the analog squared paper tu-05 design with WIMA MKP10 capacitors. it is  really prototype status, the size had to be small for the tube sections (not the prototype power / voltage filter pcbs) to fit into the tu-05 case (skipped this idea later):

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

 

 

 
and here the case i made for the amp:
 

 
i don't know if it is off topic here, but
 
- i would be happy for any recommendation for high end resistors for my next build !
- any recommendation for electrolyte capacitors (already bought ELNA SILMIC II and SILMIC, Mundorf M-Lytic, Nichicon Muse for the power/voltage paths)

Why not the MKP4 caps? Is that in general or for a specific application?
For boutique resistors, I really like PRP and Vishay nudes. Otherwise, I tend to stick with Vishay RN60.
For electrolytics, I like the Silmic II's, Nichicon FG/KZ, Nichicon aluminum organic polymer LV/NP/CX, and for a big power section I like Panasonic and Cornell Dubilier. 

 

[mcandmar]

These articles have probably already been posted in this thread, but should be required reading.
 
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2610442/capacitor-sound

 

[mcandmar]

  Why not the MKP4 caps? Is that in general or for a specific application?
For boutique resistors, I really like PRP and Vishay nudes. Otherwise, I tend to stick with Vishay RN60.
For electrolytics, I like the Silmic II's, Nichicon FG/KZ, Nichicon aluminum organic polymer LV/NP/CX, and for a big power section I like Panasonic and Cornell Dubilier. 

 
I think the difference lies in their construction, and intended application. Looks like 10's are the ones for audio use.

http://www.wima.com/EN/WIMA_MKP_4.pdf
http://www.wima.com/EN/WIMA_MKP_10.pdf

 

[earwaxxer]

  anyone here had the chance to listen to this capacitors? These capacitors are east german / russian made mica capacitors 100nF / 500V and are available at ebay.de from "oppermann" for about 8 euro a piece. i meassured the capacitance and all are within a tolerance of 2%.
 

 
found this great thread today. i really can recommend the WIMA MKP10 (NOT! the MKP4) , great price / performance ratio. after having red through this thread i am really happy that i bought Mundorf Silver.Öl capacitors for my next or how to say final DIY tube headphone amp also based on the tu-05 design but with "as best as possible" components..
 
btw here is a picture of a rebuild of the analog squared paper tu-05 design with WIMA MKP10 capacitors. it is  really prototype status, the size had to be small for the tube sections (not the prototype power / voltage filter pcbs) to fit into the tu-05 case (skipped this idea later):
 

 

 

 
and here the case i made for the amp:
 

 
i don't know if it is off topic here, but
 
- i would be happy for any recommendation for high end resistors for my next build !
- any recommendation for electrolyte capacitors (already bought ELNA SILMIC II and SILMIC, Mundorf M-Lytic, Nichicon Muse for the power/voltage paths)

What I would do is figure out what the lowest values you can use without decreasing bass (cathode bypass) and use a film instead of an electrolytic. I have replaced a 1000uF electrolytic with a 48uF film cap with no loss of bass. IMO films sound far better than even the Elna Simic ll. As far as resistors the Vishay Nudes I'm sure are great - for less coin I would go with Tants.

 

[GermanGuy]

thanks all of you for your recommendations!

@brunk - the mkp4 are much smaller, lower voltage, but simply do not nearly sound as good as the mkp10. also wima mentions the mkp10 for audio use.

@earwaxxer - the amp is battery biased, so no cathode bypass capacitor. but i had the idea to replace or bypass the 100 microfarad electrolyte capacitors used to stabilize the anode voltage by film capacitors (mundorf zn?) in my final build. worth a try?