Jantzen Audio Superior Z-Cap or Silver Z-Cap sounds much better than Mundorf. My subjective opinion.
Aware of the problem with knowing what you have done and its affect on your perceptions (tonight I enjoyed the warmth of the of the open fire on my skin - the fire was a screen saver on the TV; but 100% I felt the warmth) I always ask my girlfriends view of the difference (never the improvement). Sometimes its upsetting - but its always blind.
I can absolutely confirm that in blind tests caps A) sound both different and better / worse from one type and brand to another B) smaller caps of 1/100th and 1/1000th the value have a dramatic affect on not only the high frequencies but the low ones in regard to control.
These are obviously subjective to our ears, my amp, the low level of caps in there etc: But they are blind.
"Blind tests" are generally synonymous with single blind tests. Single blind tests were proven to be highly unreliable in 1907 by Oskar Pfungst https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans.
The first documented double blind tests related to audio were done in 1950 by some Bell Labs researchers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABX_test
This is getting way of OP but:
Yes _ within the bounds of reason - they are. My girlfriend is a) Bulgarian (they have a compleatly different set of facial expressions etc. Nodding the head is NO and shaking side to side is YES etc. Don't try to give a subtle hint to a Bulgarian girl lol.) b) she has just passed a masters in Chemical Engineering - all tests are emperical based on previous notes / scores v current notes scores - not memory c) she sends me out of the room to listen (you have at least given me the answer as to why) d) she listens to music with her eyes closed (so do I actually) e) we live in Burgas - One of the contending cities for European City Of Culture - everyone GF included is an opera singer or musician, we are fortunate enough to hear live music almost every day and in summer it is literally every day, so the tests are referenced to live music v last score and live music v this score not last score v current score.
I am seriously regretting asking the question about capacitor values in the first place, I did not realise how troll infested these woods were, how do I unsubscribe from this forum? I really actually do have better things to do in my life - to those who took the trouble to answer the question on cap values, thank you, I am grateful. Trolls are an invasive none endemic speciese like Japanese Knot Weed or the Aisian Flat Head Carp - culls have proved in affective; but on the up side they are bloody good fun. So if you decide to have a troll cull count me in - especially if it's bow hunting or clubbing to death.
Rationalization doesn't turn a badly designed experiment into a good one.
Whether you like it or not, the correct answer, if you're after high fidelity, is to use a decent capacitor from a large industrial maker (e.g., Wima, Vishay, Panasonic) with a tightly wound dielectric having high tensile strength and low moisture absorption (e.g., polypropylene). Paralleling other caps won't improve the performance for this application and could potentially degrade it.
You've received a lot of answers besides the discussion of listening tests, and they all seem to be ignored.
Whats wrong with the first piece of advice - that you stick to the standard value for these parts?
For example, Where is the requested schematic?
Do you seriously want us to believe that only high end caps are available in Bulgaria?
I see lots of problems with non-responsiveness to these and other relevant questions that should be easy to answer.
One of the characteristics of trolls is that they don't answer these kinds of questions.
Well, that about explains it all, doesn't it?
Thanks for admission of guilt before even being asked, you saved the Court a ton of time and money.
Clever Hans is *nothing* compared to any girlfriend.
Women have been genetically selected for the past Million years to read male minds, pure Darwinism ... by definition.
That they often *claim* not to understand us is just Politics and also meant to achieve something or avoid doing something else they don't like.
Those who don't read Male minds (generally because they don't care) quickly become ex-girlfriends.
You should choose somebody less related to you for your so called "blind" tests.
She'll always say what you are expecting to say.
If you don't like something, she'll confirm it.
Or if you like it, but she's angry, will "dislike" it ... any relation to actual measurable performance is irrelevant.
Now that's a silly statement: even real double blind tests are not that categoric but talk about, say, "60% people preferred A to B ; 30% B to A , 10% found no difference" and similar statistically spread results.
100% confirmation all the time speaks about a *deeply* flawed experiment.
Read above 🙄
Thank you - I appreciate that advice!
I did state that the paralleling with small caps improved the situation for MY situation and my amp with its low quality caps in there.
I can actually get Wima ordered in by the component suppliers here - it is the only one I can actually get to order. Just to clarify, for the benefit of other posters, apart from Wima (3 weeks from order to arrive at the shop) I can not get ANY consistent brand or quality or value of capacitor in Bulgaria. Hence I was going to order from the UK, hence the question.
The Wimas are fine. Good tight winding, good seal, very consistent and reliable. You'll save a lot of pain.
[QUOTE
Clever Hans is *nothing* compared to any girlfriend.
Women have been genetically selected for the past Million years to read male minds, pure Darwinism ... by definition.
You should choose somebody less related to you for your so called "blind" tests.
Now that's a silly statement: even real double blind tests are not that categoric but talk about, say, "60% people preferred A to B ; 30% B to A , 10% found no difference" and similar statistically spread results.
100% confirmation all the time speaks about a *deeply* flawed experiment.
Read above 🙄[/QUOTE]
First I'll admit it is a silly thing to say - your right. It is also a deeply flawed test as it compared capacitors on only one amp and it only has a test subject number of 1 most of the time, I was hoping my qualification covered that adequately.
Re girlfriends being overly keen to please - Bulgarian / Ukranian girls circumvented that Darwinian selection by substituting another Darwinian selection rout. They are so jaw dropping'ly gorgeous men will suffer any amount of abuse and they will not become an ex. I jest but genuinely in the Balkans girls are chosen for there looks and cooking skills - you may not like or approve but that is still the case. They believe there role is to cook good food and to look fantastic when they go out - agreeing with you is not part of the deal. Bulgarian men simply ignore them but being English I get trapped in endless long discussions. Cutting to the chase - no Bulgarian girl I know is going to tell you your clothes look good, your car is nice, your hair is nice or your hi fi sounds good if she thinks it does not! There culture is to express opinions openly - to anyone coming from the polite societies where to offend is almost a crime, this really takes some getting used to.
Clever Hans is *nothing* compared to any girlfriend.
Women have been genetically selected for the past Million years to read male minds, pure Darwinism ... by definition.
You should choose somebody less related to you for your so called "blind" tests.
Now that's a silly statement: even real double blind tests are not that categoric but talk about, say, "60% people preferred A to B ; 30% B to A , 10% found no difference" and similar statistically spread results.
100% confirmation all the time speaks about a *deeply* flawed experiment.
Read above 🙄[/QUOTE]
First I'll admit it is a silly thing to say - your right. It is also a deeply flawed test as it compared capacitors on only one amp and it only has a test subject number of 1 most of the time, I was hoping my qualification covered that adequately.
Re girlfriends being overly keen to please - Bulgarian / Ukranian girls circumvented that Darwinian selection by substituting another Darwinian selection rout. They are so jaw dropping'ly gorgeous men will suffer any amount of abuse and they will not become an ex. I jest but genuinely in the Balkans girls are chosen for there looks and cooking skills - you may not like or approve but that is still the case. They believe there role is to cook good food and to look fantastic when they go out - agreeing with you is not part of the deal. Bulgarian men simply ignore them but being English I get trapped in endless long discussions. Cutting to the chase - no Bulgarian girl I know is going to tell you your clothes look good, your car is nice, your hair is nice or your hi fi sounds good if she thinks it does not! There culture is to express opinions openly - to anyone coming from the polite societies where to offend is almost a crime, this really takes some getting used to.
MOD
Can you split this into two threads 1 on capacitor values for replacement caps and 1 on the validity of listening tests?
Both are valid issues but combined they make for a unhelpful read to anyone with the same question I started with.
Can you split this into two threads 1 on capacitor values for replacement caps and 1 on the validity of listening tests?
Both are valid issues but combined they make for a unhelpful read to anyone with the same question I started with.
People new to this forum may sometimes struggle to understand that the aim of a forum (at least, this forum) is to comment on and debate issues raised by others. This will almost inevitably lead to some amount of disagreement; experience shows that the fact that something is true does not guarantee that all will agree, while the fact that something is demonstrably false does not guarantee that all will reject it. Belief systems can be hard to change. As a result of this, newcomers often are taken aback by what they misunderstand to be some sort of personal attack, as though this is the first time in their entire life that someone has told them that they are mistaken. They can then start calling longer-serving inmates "trolls"; this is a misuse of the term which should be kept for people who deliberately create trouble, rather than those who are trying to be helpful.
Anyone who asks here for "quick simple capacitor advice" is clearly not familiar with this forum. When he expects uncritical advice about selecting boutique parts, well... "Been on the riverboat long, Mr Maverick?"
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Well having been slated to hell and back for mistaking what was apparently helpful capacitor advice for a personal attack*; I did at least have the grace to follow the advice given and installed WIMA caps. So far I have to say I hate them. They have imbued a "tight control" over the music that rather sound like they don't want to let it out of the speakers. Now before I rip the little chaps out - am I missing something ? Do they take 20 hours to "burn in" or something? The values were replaced like for like.
.* I'm a bit paranoid and overly aggressive (sorry guys) on account of brain damage received last July when I was mugged. I was beaten with steel bars for a very long time and Climbed out of a police body bag 7 hours later. I also have trouble putting sentences together - they all tend to sound far more aggressive than is intended. I have virtually no functional memory and I also get "false memories" - so it is entirely possible I was reacting to something that no one ectually wrote. It does make life a little trying.
.* I'm a bit paranoid and overly aggressive (sorry guys) on account of brain damage received last July when I was mugged. I was beaten with steel bars for a very long time and Climbed out of a police body bag 7 hours later. I also have trouble putting sentences together - they all tend to sound far more aggressive than is intended. I have virtually no functional memory and I also get "false memories" - so it is entirely possible I was reacting to something that no one ectually wrote. It does make life a little trying.
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