I haven't had much luck with Teflon. Perhaps my hearing/ears are better "voiced" for film and foil mylar and polystyrene. Those two types have always sounded the most like concert hall sound, whereas Teflon has been excessively "airy" and sterile, and the vast majority of metallized film has sounded aggressive with a little "crunch", like the overdrive in a guitar amp. That is across multiple systems.
I've heard systems where they spent thousands of dollars upgrading to boutique Teflon, just for the sound to be tilted much more to the top octaves. perhaps all of this is due to the voicing of the original circuit. I don't know.
What I do know is that these Russian caps are good. If they don't sound good in your system, it's probably because of your preferences, the circuit, or both. In regards to preferences, we all have different ears, in various states of disrepair, so it's not unusual for one person to "love" what another person finds "obnoxious and bright". Neither person is wrong, unless we get together in a world class auditorium and someone thinks the sound is "unnatural", in which case that person has lost his (her) mind.
When a large group of people, all very independently minded, come to a similar conclusion, I tend to believe them. This isn't a PETP forum. Or "Russian caps are better than your caps" forum. It's a DIY forum. If they were crap, I think the consensus would be that they are crap.
I've heard systems where they spent thousands of dollars upgrading to boutique Teflon, just for the sound to be tilted much more to the top octaves. perhaps all of this is due to the voicing of the original circuit. I don't know.
What I do know is that these Russian caps are good. If they don't sound good in your system, it's probably because of your preferences, the circuit, or both. In regards to preferences, we all have different ears, in various states of disrepair, so it's not unusual for one person to "love" what another person finds "obnoxious and bright". Neither person is wrong, unless we get together in a world class auditorium and someone thinks the sound is "unnatural", in which case that person has lost his (her) mind.
When a large group of people, all very independently minded, come to a similar conclusion, I tend to believe them. This isn't a PETP forum. Or "Russian caps are better than your caps" forum. It's a DIY forum. If they were crap, I think the consensus would be that they are crap.
Im not at all sure in these burn in that it affect cap so much ? I think the burn in more between my own ears ,so I start accept sound and its limitations ? Maybe caps get little better and I get used to it ? Same thing is on tubes also .If they dont sound good after one hour power on ,they are not good .
When solving which cap is best , usually will be judged how clear sound you get from midds and highs . Ofcourese Teflon types sound bests ,in other hand Oil caps sound nice . After changing specially series signal caps over years I usually every thime end back to quite ordinary Wima MKP10 . It looses little on highs but offer very good musical sound from upper mids to bass .
Papparazi
papparazzi,
if there is one cap that is truly awful it is the Wima MKP10. Whenever I have removed and replaced them in 4 different pieces of equipment the sound has always improved. I was only 'satisfied' with my new MC phono stage, likewise an AT EV cartridge but after removing the first cap, a 0.1uF Wima MKP10 from my hybrid amp and replacing it with an equivalent rated K73-16 I was stunned by the difference and could truly hear just how good both the phono stage and cartridge were - and this was the 4th piece of equipment, for me it was proof positive that these Wimas sit on the sound, like I say that was the 4th time.
Someone on another forum has Temple Audio Class D monoblocks, the caps are Wimas. On my advice he has spent pennies on K73-16 caps to replace them - vamos a ver/let's see what he thinks after the change.
Mockingbirdaudio - right on the money - enough said.
if there is one cap that is truly awful it is the Wima MKP10. Whenever I have removed and replaced them in 4 different pieces of equipment the sound has always improved. I was only 'satisfied' with my new MC phono stage, likewise an AT EV cartridge but after removing the first cap, a 0.1uF Wima MKP10 from my hybrid amp and replacing it with an equivalent rated K73-16 I was stunned by the difference and could truly hear just how good both the phono stage and cartridge were - and this was the 4th piece of equipment, for me it was proof positive that these Wimas sit on the sound, like I say that was the 4th time.
Someone on another forum has Temple Audio Class D monoblocks, the caps are Wimas. On my advice he has spent pennies on K73-16 caps to replace them - vamos a ver/let's see what he thinks after the change.
Mockingbirdaudio - right on the money - enough said.
Since they have nearly ideal electrical properties and are tightly constructed and non-microphonic, I can see how they may not be the right choice if you're aiming for the electronics to act as an effects box rather than merely making a small signal larger.
Wima caps are not the best sounding caps, but are far from the worst. I don't care how tightly they're wound or about any other technical qualities. They may have ideal properties, but they do not sound ideal. I am not interested in an effects box. I listen to music. I do not listen to charts and graphs. I cannot select parts by their specifications any more readily than I can choose a delicious beer by reading the list of ingredients.
Tom E
Tom E
A few years back, when I read about this wonderful K73-16 cap, I could not resisted the temptation and bought a few 1uf/400v to try as input cap of my fetzilla power amp to replace 1uf/400v clarity esa that I was using at that time. It was infact better than the Clarity ESA, then one year latter when I got hold of a pair of Mundorf Supreme cap, I decided to give them a try to see how they fare agains the K73, to my surprise, the Mundorf were much better (Until that time i've never used mundorf before) they made K73 sound dull in comparision, the Mundorf were more lively in the mid and treble region, the clarity of the sound were much improved for me.
Specifications can not be used for anything.
Perhaps not, but that's what determines how a capacitor will work in a circuit. Electrons don't care about voodoo. They care about dielectric constants and microphony- tight windings are simply less microphonic. If the reduction of microphonics or dielectric absorption or loss tangent sounds worse to you, then in fact you ARE looking to make an effects box, whether or not you care to admit that.
I don't know how tight they're wound in a K73-16, but it has fairly stiff epoxy-like end-seals, and the outer cover is a cylindrical aluminium sleeve that is crimped on at both ends. I'm guessing that the K73-16 is not very microphonic. ESR measures about 0.1 ohm for the 2.2uF/63V, tan delta about 0.1%, similar to a Wima MKS-2. The leads are non-magnetic. All in all, I don't see any red flags - this is a good Mylar-type capacitor that measures and sounds good.
Certainly not mylar though: PETP material on its own has ~0.2% @1KHz, and actual capacitors very rarely go below 0.3% due to electrodes, construction, etc. The norm is about 0.4% for most usual types.
0.1% is typical of polycarbonate.
Very easy to get impressed on real hifi caps like FT3 Mundorf etc.. with open and clear sounding higs . After awhile listening it will be noticed that it is not balanced and sound thin.
Usually using oilcaps, problem is solved but has changed lacking dynamics and sound soft .
Petp k73-16 has not been tested yet . k73-11 was dissapointment . Using cap in tubeamp signalpath (if only cap there) tells usually thruth immeadethly
Papparazzi
Usually using oilcaps, problem is solved but has changed lacking dynamics and sound soft .
Petp k73-16 has not been tested yet . k73-11 was dissapointment . Using cap in tubeamp signalpath (if only cap there) tells usually thruth immeadethly
Papparazzi
Sy,
as I understand you - if the specs are good then the cap must sound good, as another poster said - you can't tell if a beer is good or not by knowing the ingredients.
Your expressing an opinion about a cap you have never tried! Remember the man who said "all theory must come from practice" now that does make sense.
I stand by my comments about the Wima caps - they are dull and sit on the sound - 4 x times in different equipment - that's good enough for me.
as I understand you - if the specs are good then the cap must sound good, as another poster said - you can't tell if a beer is good or not by knowing the ingredients.
Your expressing an opinion about a cap you have never tried! Remember the man who said "all theory must come from practice" now that does make sense.
I stand by my comments about the Wima caps - they are dull and sit on the sound - 4 x times in different equipment - that's good enough for me.
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