Hello to everyone. My board is on the way, so need an advice on the cpas, as per First watt schematic all the caps are 2200uF, but someone advice to increase just 3 power caps (c6, c7,c8) from 1000 to 2200, for me looks like at list C3 also need to me increased.
How about the rest four, should I keep 1000 or better go to 2200?
Thank you.
Hi Carsten,
Nothing changed really, it is just you can safely play somewhat with these standard values Papa recommended, mainly if you wish to fit different sort of caps.
Search function is your friend, I already answered that one... In short:
- First cap you can safely go as low as 0,22uF, so your 0,47uF are more than fine
- Second cap 1uF is fine
- Third cap though depends on your power amp / following equipment's input impedance. 10uF seems large enough to cover indeed most cases. You can possibly go lower, as described in my posts, but you have to know what input impedance follows the B1 Korg output. 3.3uF seemed to me enough to cover all "reasonable" cases (eg. input impedance from 10k on) but the most exotic amps with odd (= very low) input impedance values... But that's me...
All this mainly makes sense to use the opportunity to fit "better" caps that suit your taste, in my case Polyprolylene caps...
I hope this helps
MFG
Claude
Nothing changed really, it is just you can safely play somewhat with these standard values Papa recommended, mainly if you wish to fit different sort of caps.
Search function is your friend, I already answered that one... In short:
- First cap you can safely go as low as 0,22uF, so your 0,47uF are more than fine
- Second cap 1uF is fine
- Third cap though depends on your power amp / following equipment's input impedance. 10uF seems large enough to cover indeed most cases. You can possibly go lower, as described in my posts, but you have to know what input impedance follows the B1 Korg output. 3.3uF seemed to me enough to cover all "reasonable" cases (eg. input impedance from 10k on) but the most exotic amps with odd (= very low) input impedance values... But that's me...
All this mainly makes sense to use the opportunity to fit "better" caps that suit your taste, in my case Polyprolylene caps...
I hope this helps
MFG
Claude
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Used to have silmics before and certain parts of low end could sound boomy and lose at times. After swapping in the polypropylene caps first noticeable difference was the upper end extension but it was almost too bright sounding. This is the 3rd day after cap swap and upper end is tamed with very good extension and bass has gained control and details.... Overall it sounds like it gained more energy and sounding louder than before? Yes, image is bigger than before too and I could listen to Spotify without getting a headache.
This is an impressive preamp!
This is an impressive preamp!
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Search function is your friend, I detailled here what I did and reported extensively on the nature of the changes and their magnitude... All IMHO of course, but as all these tweaks were done step by step.
Short version: that cap in signal path tweak was very worthwhile IMHO
Enjoy music
Claude
Short version: that cap in signal path tweak was very worthwhile IMHO
Enjoy music
Claude
Used to have silmics before and certain parts of low end could sound boomy and lose at times. After swapping in the polypropylene caps first noticeable difference was the upper end extension but it was almost too bright sounding. This is the 3rd day after cap swap and upper end is tamed with very good extension and bass has gained control and details.... Overall it sounds like it gained more energy and sounding louder than before? Yes, image is bigger than before too and I could listen to Spotify without getting a headache.
A Capacitor question
My board arrived today along with the Nutube. They look great! The Nutube came with a piece of double sided tape. What a nice touch!
My parts have been gathered and I am ready to go.
I have a question. I bought 4 10uf Silmics (input and output). Then looking around my bin, I've noticed that i have a bunch of ASC LTI4 capacitors. They are polyprop/film 10 uf caps that I bought a long time ago for my speaker crossover projects. AND they are radial leads so they will squeeze in with a little effort. My question is should I go with the silmics or the ASC...both are 10uf.
thanks
My board arrived today along with the Nutube. They look great! The Nutube came with a piece of double sided tape. What a nice touch!
My parts have been gathered and I am ready to go.
I have a question. I bought 4 10uf Silmics (input and output). Then looking around my bin, I've noticed that i have a bunch of ASC LTI4 capacitors. They are polyprop/film 10 uf caps that I bought a long time ago for my speaker crossover projects. AND they are radial leads so they will squeeze in with a little effort. My question is should I go with the silmics or the ASC...both are 10uf.
thanks
I think you will get alot of opinions for this question.
I had cap "nervousa" for a while... but now realize that I likely can't tell the difference between a 10uF electrolytic and a film cap in this position. (Also influenced by some of the posts SY published on his site on this topic)
I personally prefer PCB/case aesthetics and minimizing wiring.
If had the ASC and they fit nicely then I would use them, but I wouldn't have any problem using a Silmic or a Nichicon UES in that position.
Also, there are few posts in this thread about substituting the 10uF electrolytic with lower valued film caps.
I had cap "nervousa" for a while... but now realize that I likely can't tell the difference between a 10uF electrolytic and a film cap in this position. (Also influenced by some of the posts SY published on his site on this topic)
I personally prefer PCB/case aesthetics and minimizing wiring.
If had the ASC and they fit nicely then I would use them, but I wouldn't have any problem using a Silmic or a Nichicon UES in that position.
Also, there are few posts in this thread about substituting the 10uF electrolytic with lower valued film caps.
I played the cap game with the Korg. In the end I chose silmics bypassed with .1 poly caps.
Your results may vary. System dependent, too. My opinion is that this is a somewhat bright sounding preamp with a supernatural soundstage. Poly caps exaggerate the weaknesses, silmics cover up some of the flaws with few sacrifices.
That’s just my opinion though.
Your results may vary. System dependent, too. My opinion is that this is a somewhat bright sounding preamp with a supernatural soundstage. Poly caps exaggerate the weaknesses, silmics cover up some of the flaws with few sacrifices.
That’s just my opinion though.
Of course if Papa designed it with 10uF it is good!
Reading the thread though, you would likely find out that this value wasn't really a mandatory design feature but more "all caps in signal path were taken identicaly as easy and foolproof". The caps were chosen as good sounding but also non expensive and small footprint... it is not a critical design feature IMHO and clearly open to experiment, Papa commented on the PPP caps here...
Mandatory though is to have caps to protect the various stages from the DC voltage difference, so caps are needed, that is critical.
Nothing wrong with the original choice, but IMHO PPP caps take this fab little pre to an entirely different level... again, just IMHO
I hope this helps
Claude
Reading the thread though, you would likely find out that this value wasn't really a mandatory design feature but more "all caps in signal path were taken identicaly as easy and foolproof". The caps were chosen as good sounding but also non expensive and small footprint... it is not a critical design feature IMHO and clearly open to experiment, Papa commented on the PPP caps here...
Mandatory though is to have caps to protect the various stages from the DC voltage difference, so caps are needed, that is critical.
Nothing wrong with the original choice, but IMHO PPP caps take this fab little pre to an entirely different level... again, just IMHO
I hope this helps
Claude
After my experiments with capacitors small and biger values I get better soundstage with 10uF.
Use of polypro ASC are one interesting option
Have a good timecaps
I did read your interactions with ZenMod. And that I learned that the input cap could goes as low as .22, .47 and such. It's very tempting as I have russian teflons and pios in those values. Perhaps Papa would say that the exact value is "inconsequential". But how about the quality of capacitors? Lytic vs Polyprop? It seems like an easy choice. However, reading through the blogs I get the sense that most stayed with the 10uf lyctics.
grateful that you gentlemen are sharing your wisdom....
I did read your interactions with ZenMod. And that I learned that the input cap could goes as low as .22, .47 and such. It's very tempting as I have russian teflons and pios in those values.
Perhaps Papa would say that the exact value is "inconsequential". But how about the quality of capacitors? Lytic vs Polyprop? It seems like an easy choice. However, reading through the blogs I get the sense that most stayed with the 10uf lyctics. Yes, i decided to stick with the papa's cap values. And I am happy to hear that 10uf created a better sound stage. But I am so inclined to go with my polyprops as I've rarely use lyctics as input or output stage caps. In fact I rarely use them in my crossover.
grateful that you gentlemen are sharing your wisdom....