Well, I'll be the first one to agree with Lukasz, then... I'm neither proud nor ashamed to say this.
I did some substitutions of decoupling caps a while ago (replacement of 22 uF Roederstein electrolytics with 4.7 uF Wima MKTs, the rest of the chain remained untouched). If there were any differences, they were so small that I couldn't detect them reliably. I'm not afraid to admit this was something I had not expected!
Of course everyone likes to quote the part they like or dislike most, and I'm no different. So, I will quote the part that agrees with something that I already discovered myself a while ago:
I could not describe my experiences any better. There's nothing in here that's not agreeing with my own.
You could accuse me of bad hearing, but that would be unjustified. I can hear differences, if they're there. But I've (partially) shed the effects of self suggestion after becoming aware of them. Then you really start hearing with your ears and not your mind...
But.... whatever works for you is fine with me, as long as you accept the fact that it may not work for me (or others) and it's futile trying to convince me (or them) otherwise. "Wrong" or "right" are relative, not absolute.
I did some substitutions of decoupling caps a while ago (replacement of 22 uF Roederstein electrolytics with 4.7 uF Wima MKTs, the rest of the chain remained untouched). If there were any differences, they were so small that I couldn't detect them reliably. I'm not afraid to admit this was something I had not expected!
Of course everyone likes to quote the part they like or dislike most, and I'm no different. So, I will quote the part that agrees with something that I already discovered myself a while ago:
I could not describe my experiences any better. There's nothing in here that's not agreeing with my own.
You could accuse me of bad hearing, but that would be unjustified. I can hear differences, if they're there. But I've (partially) shed the effects of self suggestion after becoming aware of them. Then you really start hearing with your ears and not your mind...
But.... whatever works for you is fine with me, as long as you accept the fact that it may not work for me (or others) and it's futile trying to convince me (or them) otherwise. "Wrong" or "right" are relative, not absolute.
jitter said:
Apart from the fact that MKT are quite poor and can't decouple anything your test is very different from the one Lukasz performed. Not all PS configurations benefit from decoupling and some caps contribute little or nothing. Is it so hard to listen to coupling caps? Preferably not connected immediately after lousy electrolytics in a cheap cd player. And at least MKP.
I think some people suffer from hearing loss, there is a huge difference in the sound between different coupling caps. Not a lunatic, someone who needs a visit to a hearing specialist. 
Even my 6 year old niece commented once when observing me changing my large teflon input cap on a amp to a smaller electrolytic. Asked why the walls and floor dont shake anymore, and what does a 6 year old know about audio.
Even my 6 year old niece commented once when observing me changing my large teflon input cap on a amp to a smaller electrolytic. Asked why the walls and floor dont shake anymore, and what does a 6 year old know about audio.
I dont question the test or result as such, it is what it is
But I believe that the continious switching may destabilise the caps
To me its a fact that newly mounted components needs some time to settle in, though sometimes not very long
I know its also a mind thing, and in that respect it also seems like the brain maybe adapts better to some components/changes than others
If stressed it may not happen at all
Also worth to consider that it makes perfect sense to use battery "charged" caps, in some places, and the result should be more stable caps and lower distortion
Also, the preamp might make a huge difference, like say if a "lightspeed attenuator" with no switches was used, it might have turned out different
I have experienced clearly heard improvements from removing ALL switches
I have no doubt that the switch alone will have influense on the test
I wont call it conclusive, but it sure is food fore thoughts
But I believe that the continious switching may destabilise the caps
To me its a fact that newly mounted components needs some time to settle in, though sometimes not very long
I know its also a mind thing, and in that respect it also seems like the brain maybe adapts better to some components/changes than others
If stressed it may not happen at all
Also worth to consider that it makes perfect sense to use battery "charged" caps, in some places, and the result should be more stable caps and lower distortion
Also, the preamp might make a huge difference, like say if a "lightspeed attenuator" with no switches was used, it might have turned out different
I have experienced clearly heard improvements from removing ALL switches
I have no doubt that the switch alone will have influense on the test
I wont call it conclusive, but it sure is food fore thoughts
Seems reasonable to me. If a cap is large enough such that there's no significant audio voltage across it, it shouldn't affect the sound. That's not to say every circuit location is capacitor insensitive, but IMO people spend way too much time and money thinking about signal decoupling caps.
Well in my modest experience I could never hear a difference right away when changing the caps (yes even when I put Jensen silvers which my friend lent me).But within a week or two some caps seem to be less "irritating" than others.
I was restoring Fisher 500c and Sansui 1000a receivers recently and I used cheap generic mylar coupling caps on Fisher with excellent results.Encouraged I used them on Sansui too-harsh ,fatiguing bleached out sound and I simply had to use PIO caps to restore original voicing.
I don't like fast blind tests.They remind me a stories of people reactions on first gramophone sound (yes, the ones you had to crank ) they thought the sound was life-like or the manufacturers of consumer audio from 50's having life string quartet playing behind the courtain and their receivers and tape recorders set up and disoriented audience (I'd guess musically way more educated than the contemporary one) could not detect the difference.
Regards, L
I was restoring Fisher 500c and Sansui 1000a receivers recently and I used cheap generic mylar coupling caps on Fisher with excellent results.Encouraged I used them on Sansui too-harsh ,fatiguing bleached out sound and I simply had to use PIO caps to restore original voicing.
I don't like fast blind tests.They remind me a stories of people reactions on first gramophone sound (yes, the ones you had to crank ) they thought the sound was life-like or the manufacturers of consumer audio from 50's having life string quartet playing behind the courtain and their receivers and tape recorders set up and disoriented audience (I'd guess musically way more educated than the contemporary one) could not detect the difference.
Regards, L
analog_sa said:
I'm sorry, I should have written "DC-blocking-caps", not "decoupling caps". These are in the input of a DIY class-A headphone amp, presumably to prevent DC from its circuits reaching the input (the output to the headphones is DC-coupled). The subsititution of those caps did not lead to any appreciable difference.
The sources I use cannot be specified as "cheap CD-player": Shigaclone on Micromega DAC1 (DC-coupled output) or Primare D20 CD-player (not 100% sure if this one is DC-coupled but it seems to be), so no "lousy coupling caps".
My headphones are Sennheiser HD600, these can hardly be accused of being "unrevealing". Sometimes I use my Marantz PM80SE to power the headphones, it gives a more compact soundstage with better control over the lower registers but at the cost of the refinement of the headphone amp.
As I can hear the slight differences between DAC1 and D20, I assume my system is revealing enough to let me hear differences, as long as they're there.
This is about as far as I'll go to correct my first post and to defend my opinion without being drawn into a "holy war". One more thing I'd like to say is this: The effects of wishful thinking and hearing with the mind should not be thought of too lightly. I once read an amazing article on the pshycological effects on the hearing in a scientific journal. The mind is capable of filtering out certain sounds (esp. ones related to trauma): the ears register the sounds just fine, but the mind won't relay them. In other words: you won't hear them. If a mind can do that, it can also do it the other way around. Just the suggestion of something being better could result in it being perceived as better.
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