Hi tublovers 😉 In my humble opnion, all the PIOs i used before are junk (yes, even Sprague, Westcap, Hopkins, SicSafco (France) , especially in coupling because of leaking current . 5Mohms insulation isn't enough to drive securely a "modern" tube (El84 ...) , worse is for old DHT . I agree with "good sounding" character of some of these but moving to Roederstein and WIMA MKP, MKC or FKP1832 and russian Teflons IS a real improvement for the price you can get them at this moment : they're illegal NOW , since 07/01/2006 in EU 
cheers 😉
cheers 😉
My vote goes to Siemens MKV.
I haven't quite found anything that beats these caps yet (including Blackgate coupling caps and Jensen).
They are large and NOS Siemens MKV is very hard to find, but definitely worth your effort to find them.
James
I haven't quite found anything that beats these caps yet (including Blackgate coupling caps and Jensen).
They are large and NOS Siemens MKV is very hard to find, but definitely worth your effort to find them.
James
AuriCap & Mallory 150M
AuriCap for home entertainment & Mallory 150M for guitar amps. The AuriCap produce an accurate sonic signature unlike cheaper caps & the Mallory sound more musical over common Sprague 716P in guitar amps. The AuriCap require about 150-200 hours break-in time (awfully long), but are worth it.
AuriCap for home entertainment & Mallory 150M for guitar amps. The AuriCap produce an accurate sonic signature unlike cheaper caps & the Mallory sound more musical over common Sprague 716P in guitar amps. The AuriCap require about 150-200 hours break-in time (awfully long), but are worth it.
Anyone tried these obligato caps from diyhifisupply?
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/diyhs_ob_caps.htm
I`ve bought them for a project, they were not to costly but quite heavy.
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/diyhs_ob_caps.htm
I`ve bought them for a project, they were not to costly but quite heavy.
I got a bunch of Aerovox AFPS 2.5 µF 220VAC caps from someone on Ebay pretty cheap. I needed a new 1 µF capacitor for use with a servo motor in the chart recorder of a spectrophotometer and the 2.5 µF caps were the closest I found so I got those and put two in series to get 1.25 µF. Polypropylene caps are often used with motors. I tried some in a Heathkit W-5M amp (2 in series to get 1.25 µF 440VAC equivalent) between the output pentodes and the drivers. They work good.
I've had good luck with TRT Dynamicaps... pretty 'capacitor-free' sounding - whatever that means 😀
my friend swears by Vitamin-Qs... but I've had some good luck with the Russian PIOs too
my friend swears by Vitamin-Qs... but I've had some good luck with the Russian PIOs too
When skinning the russian Teflon/foil caps
When skinning the Russian Teflon/foil caps, remember to use nickel or silver paint on the ends, to 'homogenize' the entire foil end to the given 'lead'. This will increase capacitor quality to a large degree (audiophile hyperbola..ie, minor difference!), exactly in the direction you are trying to get to. It's quite simple, actually.
I'm in the process of getting a good tape for the purpose of sealing/skinning the caps. Then, I'm going to pour an epoxy layer on either end to seal them off. Then they'll look JUST LIKE the expensive caps that you pay the big $$ for.
The tape?
Use parcel sealing tape, which is essentially identical to the tape they use to cover a standard cap. Glue on one side, etc. Leave a small end space (after allowing the silver trace repair epoxy to dry) and pour the epoxy in. Then do the other end.
The parcel sealing tape is of a very specific variety. It is the thin tape you find that sometimes is used to seal the plastic bags which hold instruction booklets and the like, within the box of a new piece of equipment you may have purchased. I'm simply trying to illustrate the exact thing (type of tape) I'm trying to get across to you. THis type of tape is thin, of a relatively benign nature and can be found to be wide enough for a single pass.
Do a bunch at once to cut down on the workload issue. You can likely do a few dozen at a time this way,and end up with a set of very professional looking hardy/tough caps that you can then use anywhere. I realize when it comes to absolute purity, the naked cap is best, but we are talking about minor aspects here.
The cap with the nickel paint on the end, left naked, is going to be the better unit, if the absolute audiophile purity bent is your personal desire. However, stressing the cap body with something thin and innocuous, also cuts micro- vibrational issues, a big plus. The nickel also seals off the foil from oxidation.
As the caps stand, once their metal skins have been removed, they are easy to crush and flex. This is not a good thing. Doing the nickel paint, wrapping and sealing, go along way to fixing the micro-vibrational and deflection issues. All good for audio, or even likey to be observable/measurable/quantifyable if the caps were used in a micro (faraday caged, etc) measurement process of some sort.
When skinning the Russian Teflon/foil caps, remember to use nickel or silver paint on the ends, to 'homogenize' the entire foil end to the given 'lead'. This will increase capacitor quality to a large degree (audiophile hyperbola..ie, minor difference!), exactly in the direction you are trying to get to. It's quite simple, actually.
I'm in the process of getting a good tape for the purpose of sealing/skinning the caps. Then, I'm going to pour an epoxy layer on either end to seal them off. Then they'll look JUST LIKE the expensive caps that you pay the big $$ for.
The tape?
Use parcel sealing tape, which is essentially identical to the tape they use to cover a standard cap. Glue on one side, etc. Leave a small end space (after allowing the silver trace repair epoxy to dry) and pour the epoxy in. Then do the other end.
The parcel sealing tape is of a very specific variety. It is the thin tape you find that sometimes is used to seal the plastic bags which hold instruction booklets and the like, within the box of a new piece of equipment you may have purchased. I'm simply trying to illustrate the exact thing (type of tape) I'm trying to get across to you. THis type of tape is thin, of a relatively benign nature and can be found to be wide enough for a single pass.
Do a bunch at once to cut down on the workload issue. You can likely do a few dozen at a time this way,and end up with a set of very professional looking hardy/tough caps that you can then use anywhere. I realize when it comes to absolute purity, the naked cap is best, but we are talking about minor aspects here.
The cap with the nickel paint on the end, left naked, is going to be the better unit, if the absolute audiophile purity bent is your personal desire. However, stressing the cap body with something thin and innocuous, also cuts micro- vibrational issues, a big plus. The nickel also seals off the foil from oxidation.
As the caps stand, once their metal skins have been removed, they are easy to crush and flex. This is not a good thing. Doing the nickel paint, wrapping and sealing, go along way to fixing the micro-vibrational and deflection issues. All good for audio, or even likey to be observable/measurable/quantifyable if the caps were used in a micro (faraday caged, etc) measurement process of some sort.
Siemens MKV is the best I've heard (great tone + very detailed) and can be found under 20$ a piece if you're patient -- you'll need to bring out the big bucks to do better... (V-caps teflon?)
I consider nos pio as standard for values over 0,1µF (Philips are good - unmarked but used in Philips electronics - Russian pio also); the even better standard Russian teflons are available in 0,1µ and smaller values, also great for bypassing decoupling caps in single-ended output and driver stages.
BTW: Great to find a manual on how to tweak those; will let Babel fish loose on that Moxtone website, have a laugh (at the translation🙂 and hopefully extract some information...
Simon
I consider nos pio as standard for values over 0,1µF (Philips are good - unmarked but used in Philips electronics - Russian pio also); the even better standard Russian teflons are available in 0,1µ and smaller values, also great for bypassing decoupling caps in single-ended output and driver stages.
BTW: Great to find a manual on how to tweak those; will let Babel fish loose on that Moxtone website, have a laugh (at the translation🙂 and hopefully extract some information...
Simon
Klimon said:
I don't think Babelfish does Croatian... but ofcourse, you can always ask the authors for help 😉
This is potentially a good tape for this particular use. Hard to say.
The stretch characteristic, keeps the whole cap under constant stress which is like a damped spring, that is self-tightening.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...rmation/repair_maintenance/stretchy_tape/lot/
I'm going to buy a roll and see what happens. See how well it ages, etc. Potentially find the 3m MSDS sheet, etc.
One can go 'full-pro' on this with a quick search on the 3m site or via similar companies. I'm just farting around right now, nothing critical.
The stretch characteristic, keeps the whole cap under constant stress which is like a damped spring, that is self-tightening.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...rmation/repair_maintenance/stretchy_tape/lot/
I'm going to buy a roll and see what happens. See how well it ages, etc. Potentially find the 3m MSDS sheet, etc.
One can go 'full-pro' on this with a quick search on the 3m site or via similar companies. I'm just farting around right now, nothing critical.
A good review about film caps, though used on speaker filter:
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
My choice would be Clarity cap SA series. I use the cheaper PX as output coupling cap fo a DAC and I agree with the reviewer.
They are on sale here:
http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php?cPath=35_41
Regards
M
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
My choice would be Clarity cap SA series. I use the cheaper PX as output coupling cap fo a DAC and I agree with the reviewer.
They are on sale here:
http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php?cPath=35_41
Regards
M
Re: When skinning the russian Teflon/foil caps
Vuki (and I) didn't find this necessary because the contact between the entire foil and the lead looked perfect. Anyhow, if one decides to use paint on the ends, extra care should be taken to prevent the paint from leaking through to the foil/capacitor.
Regards,
Milan
KBK said:
Vuki (and I) didn't find this necessary because the contact between the entire foil and the lead looked perfect. Anyhow, if one decides to use paint on the ends, extra care should be taken to prevent the paint from leaking through to the foil/capacitor.
Regards,
Milan
Re: Re: When skinning the russian Teflon/foil caps
I have painted some strips on a bit of cardboard, with my version of 'nickel print'. I let it dry a bit, and tested it. It is sooooo bad, in terms of impedance, that it can only worsen the quality of the capacitor, so I'll leave the cap as it is. Perhaps the nickel print needs a full day to dry and have all the solvents leave it..so the particles can press together and conduct properly. I'll wait until tomorrow, and test the strips again - but it does not look promising. Silver print should work better. My bottle of nickel print/is was about 10-13 years old, and I had to refresh it with some acetone, so a fresh batch might do better.
moamps said:
I have painted some strips on a bit of cardboard, with my version of 'nickel print'. I let it dry a bit, and tested it. It is sooooo bad, in terms of impedance, that it can only worsen the quality of the capacitor, so I'll leave the cap as it is. Perhaps the nickel print needs a full day to dry and have all the solvents leave it..so the particles can press together and conduct properly. I'll wait until tomorrow, and test the strips again - but it does not look promising. Silver print should work better. My bottle of nickel print/is was about 10-13 years old, and I had to refresh it with some acetone, so a fresh batch might do better.
Hello vuki,
Please! It would be great if you could sum up the main steps of the modification 😀 What can be expected sonic-wise?
Simon
I did it slightly different than showed in the pictures. First I cut off the top of the capacitor metal tube. It's better to do it that way because if you cut deep you won't damage the cap (its ca. 5mm shorter than metal tube on each side). The easiest way to do it is to use dremel tool. When the tube is cut you have to pull out the solder pin with a top of the cap tube. Do it slowly and carefully not to breake connecting wire and when done cut it off.
Now you have to take cap out of the tube. To do it you have to grab the solder pin with a pliers and manipulate it strongly enough to breake the ceramics that hold it in tube. When the solder pin is loose the cap will fall from the tube by itself or by light tapping the pin. Now you just have to cut off the solder pin.
Capacitor can now be wraped with the tape (as suggested) or glued in tube of some kind. We choose paper tube and epoxy glue.
We didn't compare original and modified versions but we (moamps and myself) believe that there is no place for Fe in (or around) the high-end cap. The caps sound very nice!
Sorry for my english!
Now you have to take cap out of the tube. To do it you have to grab the solder pin with a pliers and manipulate it strongly enough to breake the ceramics that hold it in tube. When the solder pin is loose the cap will fall from the tube by itself or by light tapping the pin. Now you just have to cut off the solder pin.
Capacitor can now be wraped with the tape (as suggested) or glued in tube of some kind. We choose paper tube and epoxy glue.
We didn't compare original and modified versions but we (moamps and myself) believe that there is no place for Fe in (or around) the high-end cap. The caps sound very nice!
Sorry for my english!
vuki said:
your English writing is in any case equally good as my English understanding,but-certainly -light years ahead of my English speaking.....
😉
Thanks for sharing your experience vuki, your English is too good to warrant apologies though! I'll give it a try in a little while + do my easy 'A-B'-test: one channel with the unmodded cap & the other with the stripped cap; than compare running from left to right speaker 😀 I'm also curious what the direction of connection does with these as it makes a big difference on some other caps.
IMO removing the iron can only improve performance - there's a Dutch website where a few guys experiment with removing black gates from their capsule and then pot them in a wooden cilinder; they claim it improves their sound. Also the beeswax cover of Jupiter capacitors might very well play a role in their acclaimed sonics. And lastly the openness the sound gets when removing a metal cover from output transformers gives a hint at how sonically detrimental metal casings can be.
Simon
IMO removing the iron can only improve performance - there's a Dutch website where a few guys experiment with removing black gates from their capsule and then pot them in a wooden cilinder; they claim it improves their sound. Also the beeswax cover of Jupiter capacitors might very well play a role in their acclaimed sonics. And lastly the openness the sound gets when removing a metal cover from output transformers gives a hint at how sonically detrimental metal casings can be.
Simon
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