Do you actually play a musical instrument, & are you a sound engineer?
Your stuff about violin playing is nonsense, quite apart from the other remarks about chokes in power supplies &/or recordings.
Don't you think Avery Fisher & Rupert Neve might have known a lot more about the subject than you?
I am going to try a 700uF final PS cap and report back. I ordered the Kemet 700uF / 1KV at digikey, in stock.
If you're after the type of tone, try playing more with the capacitor manufacturer and model than value. The influence of materials plays its role to the tone in a similar way like in chokes and transformers. Although in electrolytics there isn't much of a choice - they're still dictated by the inherent design of an electrolyte, paper separator, aluminum foil and aluminum oxide layer.
But you can play with lead materials, terminals, casing influence and if you wish, internal potting. Remember the legendary sounding Siemens Sikorels have a polyurethane potting keeping the whole package from rattling. These have an exceptionally feeling of stable tonality.
A few years past I did play with internal potting tests of a regular radial Rubycocon ZL capacitor. Drilling carefully a small hole and filling partially the casing with polyurethane resin did quite well on dampening their midrange harshness they had in stock version. Not sure how this impacts the life expectancy and safety though, so do it at your own responsibility.
Another trick is dampening/altering the tone of the housing. You can coil materials of your taste around the capacitor, like favorite wires, or even use tonewoods.
But you can play with lead materials, terminals, casing influence and if you wish, internal potting. Remember the legendary sounding Siemens Sikorels have a polyurethane potting keeping the whole package from rattling. These have an exceptionally feeling of stable tonality.
A few years past I did play with internal potting tests of a regular radial Rubycocon ZL capacitor. Drilling carefully a small hole and filling partially the casing with polyurethane resin did quite well on dampening their midrange harshness they had in stock version. Not sure how this impacts the life expectancy and safety though, so do it at your own responsibility.
Another trick is dampening/altering the tone of the housing. You can coil materials of your taste around the capacitor, like favorite wires, or even use tonewoods.
Might as well factor in atmosphere pressure and zodiac signs at that point. For some reason the music always sounds better when my neighbor is smoking those funny smelling cigarettes 😀
Update: I installed a 550uF 900V Kemet DCLink cap in the C2 position. Actually, these poly caps are bypassed by the existing 50uF Russian PIO caps. I was not expecting much of a difference, but took the advice of GoatGuy.
So, what happened. HUGE HUGE HUGE improvement. Soundstage improved by 30% wider. Soundstage has depth beyond the room. Bass is now much much fuller. And most importantly, the transient attack / dynamic snap is there. String instruments have the bite/vibrato/attack that was missing.
The potential only drawback is the poly tonality is not as good as the PIO tone. More to come on this as I play with different bypass caps.
I had no idea that the C2 caps played such a large role in the sound.
Makes me wonder, should I consider an LCLCL power supply and if so, does this approach minimize the tonal impact of the C2 cap? Thoughts?
So, what happened. HUGE HUGE HUGE improvement. Soundstage improved by 30% wider. Soundstage has depth beyond the room. Bass is now much much fuller. And most importantly, the transient attack / dynamic snap is there. String instruments have the bite/vibrato/attack that was missing.
The potential only drawback is the poly tonality is not as good as the PIO tone. More to come on this as I play with different bypass caps.
I had no idea that the C2 caps played such a large role in the sound.
Makes me wonder, should I consider an LCLCL power supply and if so, does this approach minimize the tonal impact of the C2 cap? Thoughts?
Virtually all the signal current flows through the second capacitor.
You cannot use an inductor output HV supply; currents must flow in loops.
You cannot use an inductor output HV supply; currents must flow in loops.
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LC works quite well. Apply a huge capacitance. Half a dozen of 330u elements in || should do. If that is not quiet enough, add more.
I just love the thesis that lead material matters. Take of the crud applied by the manufacturer and replace it with 3.6 parallel runs of something considered 'special'. When questioned about the yards of magnet wire in the coil, the thesis usually states something like, 'it does not matter for ____'. Since I can't get away with saying what I really think, y'all should translate 'love' slightly differently differently from Webster...LOL
cheers,
Douglas
I just love the thesis that lead material matters. Take of the crud applied by the manufacturer and replace it with 3.6 parallel runs of something considered 'special'. When questioned about the yards of magnet wire in the coil, the thesis usually states something like, 'it does not matter for ____'. Since I can't get away with saying what I really think, y'all should translate 'love' slightly differently differently from Webster...LOL
cheers,
Douglas
I would trust DrLowMu with the low energy storage approach as he's built many an amplifier over decades of time.
DrLowMu uses very small values of inductance with DCR 10 ohms or less. (They are not expensive )
with values below Lcrtical, voltage will rise so the OP can't blindly select the input choke based on DCR alone.
A MOSFET cap multiplier would make an interesting comparison.
DrLowMu uses very small values of inductance with DCR 10 ohms or less. (They are not expensive )
with values below Lcrtical, voltage will rise so the OP can't blindly select the input choke based on DCR alone.
A MOSFET cap multiplier would make an interesting comparison.
Yes, you answered yourself - not at all.
What kind of 50uF Russian PIO could this be? This has to be huge!
Keep in mind, MBGx capacitors are not oil impregnated, but with ceresin, wax like substance.
KBG capacitors are immersed within vaseline.
As far as I've opened, only MBGCH (МБГЧ) looks like multiple KBGs in parralel, and it's vaseline impregnated.
AFAIK, K40-U and K42-U are PIO caps. K75-10 is oil + hybrid (paper with something synthetic).
What kind of 50uF Russian PIO could this be? This has to be huge!
Keep in mind, MBGx capacitors are not oil impregnated, but with ceresin, wax like substance.
KBG capacitors are immersed within vaseline.
As far as I've opened, only MBGCH (МБГЧ) looks like multiple KBGs in parralel, and it's vaseline impregnated.
AFAIK, K40-U and K42-U are PIO caps. K75-10 is oil + hybrid (paper with something synthetic).
It wouldn't make a big difference. it is just a bit higher voltage and the dynamics maybe are 0.5dB more. You need a more powerful output tube.
The lower resistance will create much bigger voltage spikes when switching on, you better use an inrush limiter or the russian cap might blow.
The lower resistance will create much bigger voltage spikes when switching on, you better use an inrush limiter or the russian cap might blow.
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There's a bit more to it than just low energy storage - after all, nobody ever said that Nelson Pass amplifiers lacked dynamics, yet they are often built with significant energy storage in their power suppliers, in the form of capacitance. You need to look at the behaviour of the PSU and it's response to transient demand from a single ended output stage. And even then, with some output stages that employ a cathode-to-B+ capacitor for signal return, the so-called Western Electric approach, the psu is no longer as much in the picture.
I think Jeff has more to say about bypass capacitors, about listening and selection of cathode bypass caps that is relevant to selection of the 'C2' in power suppliers that use 'C2' as the signal return path.
Capacitance multipliers are another issue, you really need to put a lot of real capacitance after them to avoid their being in the signal path for circulating currents in single ended output stages. Hugh Dean played with them and found them to sound poor, as have others and Nelson once remarked he never uses them without a lot of local rail capacitance near the output devices (sorry, it's posted on the forum but can't point to it).
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"I would trust Dr. LowMu…"
And there is where the rot sets in. Jeff wound up hitting on something interesting once, the slightly resonant beast that got labeled as 'flywheel'. It got named after some analysis, and as soon as it was published as to how it worked he disowned it and went on to something much more gaseous and impossible to critically analyze as 'doing what he says it is'.
what-forkin'-ever...he is the picture next to 'religious fanatic' in the book.
cheers,
Douglas
And there is where the rot sets in. Jeff wound up hitting on something interesting once, the slightly resonant beast that got labeled as 'flywheel'. It got named after some analysis, and as soon as it was published as to how it worked he disowned it and went on to something much more gaseous and impossible to critically analyze as 'doing what he says it is'.
what-forkin'-ever...he is the picture next to 'religious fanatic' in the book.
cheers,
Douglas
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No it's worse, it's just Jargon based on utter rubbish by people who invent terms and sounds that don't exist. 🙄
Cagomat - I have a EMIA phono stage, EMIA Elmaformer and Ilumnia Magister speakers (90db). I use a bluetooth streamer for digital and a refurbished, highly modified Gates CB500 transcription table.
When you use 90db speakers with 4.5 Watt 45 amplifiers you never get good transient response and "snap"
I suggest am minimum sensitivity of 97db
I suggest am minimum sensitivity of 97db