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AuriCap

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diyAudio Senior Member
Joined 2002
Hi,

They're definetely on my " to do list".

From comparitive measurements it's clear that they measure even better than my current reference Multicaps.

If it were me, I'd order some and find out what they're really worth.

While not cheap, they're certainly not priced way over the top as some boutique goodies I've seen.

Anyone tried these yet?

Cheers,;)
 
I've used them..and I liked them a lot. Used them to couple driver to power tube. In that sense.. I think 24 Euro's for a pair I got value for money...

Cheers,
Bas

This is what I wrote on my webpage when I had just slipped them in..:

So I got some 1uF Auricaps from AE-Europe in Schagen. Around 12 euro's a piece at time of writing. Could not wait to put the little buggers in there. I left it bypassed with a 0,056uF Soviet Teflon cap just for kicks. Needless to say ...I mean the point of the whole story is this...The amp is performing pretty much close to its full potential (And I am very impressed with the Auricaps, well worth the bucks. Ok obviously the sound has partly improved because of the larger value ...at least that is what I think. The main thing the Auricaps brought me is speed...and punch in the bass...I wonder what the secret is in building these things? After all they are supposed to be polyprops...



http://home.zonnet.nl/horneman

CLICK ON "6C41C SE "
 
diyAudio Senior Member
Joined 2002
Hi,

Maybe not a really fair comparison as one is PP and the other Polystyrene...

Their comparitive measurements don't say against which Multicaps they measured.
I can only assume they chose the MIT PPFX or Metalised PP caps.

The measurements published only show ESR and the difference is not subtle.

While doing further trawling on the web I stumbled across the IAR-TRT site making some extreme claims about their range of Dynamicaps here:

DYNAMICAP

Has anyone any experience with these little "Wonders";) ?

Cheers,;)
 
What application are you using them in?

For speaker crossovers there's a consensus building among some DIY designers that the Soniccaps and Auricaps are very comparable. Auricaps being a little smoother and working better with bright tweeters (like ribbons), and Soniccaps being a bit more detailed and working better with silk domes.

If you're talking power supply bypass there are other and better options. For signal path caps the Auricaps would be good. For amplifier circuits surrounding the transistors it is more imnportant to match the sonic signature of the large caps with that of the bypasses. Usine a "too efficient" bypass cap like an Auricap can result in a top end imbalance. This is where the experienced designers and "voicers" earn their pay.

Enjoy,
Bob
 
I bought them straight from Audience, but I don't know if that's the best source for a buyer in Canada.

I used these in my little ASL 8W amps. Mostly because many people were going gaga over them, and I figured that using a popular name-brand coupling cap would help with the resale value (i.e., anyone who's heard of these amps has heard that you absolutely must replace the coupling caps with Auricaps, that's been mentioned several times over at AA).

I liked them a lot, they're quite a bit better than the stock Bennics (IIRC). But, since the ASL Wave isn't the most sophisticated platform to evaluate caps in (they're $200 for a pair of monoblocks), I'm not sure that spending $40 on 4 coupling caps is worth it for those amps.

Another coupling cap that I've tried (in my Foreplay preamp) and liked is the North Creek Zen. Much cheaper than Auricaps, and I thought they made an even bigger improvement. Of course, that could just mean that the caps they replaced were crappier.
 
Well, of course. I think it's amazing that Joseph Lau managed to build and sell a pair of 6BM8 monoblocks that sound pretty darn good for $200. There's no doubt that he cut corners, but the point of this product was to give people a taste of tubes, not to build a high quality tube amp. And he is the first person to say that.
 
Hi,

This may be a little contentious, but it is my personal belief that design is far more important than component "quality".
I can cope with high ESR caps by parallelling, noisy diodes by filtering, wide tollerances by selection and tweaking. Other components by not driving them so hard.
Whether we get a good result or not therefore depends largely on how good the design is at accommodating for the component inadequacies. For let us not forget: all components have them.

In fact I still use the best components I can afford. But I don't agonize that there are better ones that I can't afford.

This is not intended to stifle debate. Of couse we want the best quality components.

Use the best design, and enjoy the music.
 
Saurav said:
Well, of course. I think it's amazing that Joseph Lau managed to build and sell a pair of 6BM8 monoblocks that sound pretty darn good for $200. There's no doubt that he cut corners, but the point of this product was to give people a taste of tubes, not to build a high quality tube amp. And he is the first person to say that.


Sorry.. I didn't see that point.

I absolutely agree with you that to be able to sell a pair of monoblocks for $200 is quite amazing. It also presents a great opportunity for modding.

After reading some of Nelson Pass' articles and reading independent reviews of his commercial amps I'm quite amazed at how good design/engineering play a much more important role than "boutique parts". He makes some of the best solid state amps available and yet gets away with generic Panasonic caps and resistors.

Sure this is the tube forum so this isn't the place to talk about SS amps but this just illustrates a point.
 
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