[regal]

I received a pair of surplus paper in oil capacitors to replace the output caps in my DAC.

These things just have to sound better, they are big and weigh a ton. I bought them as surplus for cheap.

Unforutanely I'm too sick to install them now, What are the opinions of paper in oil, do they really improve sound

 

[jarthel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal I received a pair of surplus paper in oil capacitors to replace the output caps in my DAC. These things just have to sound better, they are big and weigh a ton. I bought them as surplus for cheap. Unforutanely I'm too sick to install them now, What are the opinions of paper in oil, do they really improve sound

they are usually used in tube amps. and they sound great in that application. not sure how it would sound with SS

 

[eVITAERC]

Shouldn't these types of questions be asked BEFORE buying the caps? Anyways, I would install them anyways since you've already invested in them. If you don't like it you could sent them to me

 

[regal]

well I bought them based on this: http://www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html

 

[threepointone]

I dont think PIOs actually cost much, compared to name-brand audio caps, if you know where to look?



well, whether or not they actually sound better probably depends on whether they used vegetable oil or snake oil. perhaps someone else can expand on this.

 

[jarthel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threepointone I dont think PIOs actually cost much, compared to name-brand audio caps, if you know where to look? well, whether or not they actually sound better probably depends on whether they used vegetable oil or snake oil. perhaps someone else can expand on this.

brand new PIO caps from jensen and the more exotic Audio Notes are not cheap. But in ebay you can find affordable Russian military surplus PIO caps.

as for the sound, they are highly praised in tube amps.

 

[deuginthesky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I received a pair of surplus paper in oil capacitors to replace the output caps in my DAC. These things just have to sound better, they are big and weigh a ton. I bought them as surplus for cheap. Unforutanely I'm too sick to install them now, What are the opinions of paper in oil, do they really improve sound

Did you finally put them in your DAC ? If so, how do they sound ?

 

[star882]

Most oil filled capacitors use some type of mineral oil. However, a few (most notably low voltage, high capacitance types) use special synthetic oils. The oil is selected to have a high breakdown voltage, high dielectric constant, sometimes a high temperature tolerance, and other useful properties.
Recently, however, the use of oil-free capacitors has increased. They are more tolerant of heat and last longer, but are less forgiving of poor design. While the oil in an oil filled capacitor can circulate to distribute the heat, the solids used in oil-free capacitors cannot, so they tend to burn out if operated near ripple current specs.

 

[splaz]

^ I thought they used some really nasty carcinogenic stuff called PCB in them, I'm guessing that was banned for obvious reasons ?

 

[star882]

Quote:

^ I thought they used some really nasty carcinogenic stuff called PCB in them, I'm guessing that was banned for obvious reasons ?

All the modern caps use mineral or a synthetic oil.

 

[Tomo]

Hey,

I got a can full of Vitamin Q's off Ebay years ago. I liked the coloration of sound with them for a while ... and got bored lately.

They were ... really really cheap.

Tomo

 

[Crowbar]

Film in oil are more reliable and are incredibly cheap on eBay. I got four 40 uF 3000 V which make part of the filtering in my 1800 W plasma speakers power supply. At nine inches tall the energy density is not as high as can be achieved with series electrolytics, but the ripple current ability is far higher (not to mention the super-low ESR if you care about discharge speed). And I only paid $60 for the four set.

 

[deuginthesky]

So did someone already use PIO caps in a DAC here ?

 

[cotdt]

They would be useful in an amp, but a DAC? what will be its purpose? the analog output stage will only need small value caps in the picofarads, and for those you can go all-out and use air plate capacitors (the kind you see in textbooks).

paper in oil in general is pretty good, except for the limited shelf life since the oil dries out eventually. they have very low soakage and distortion, and test better than all other film caps except teflon and liquid teflon. don't buy vintage oil capacitors because the shelf life is limited.

 

[Crowbar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif and test better than all other film caps except teflon and liquid teflon.

I'd love to see that test data. It doesn't make much sense, since oil has a very high dielectric constant.