Tube Nube Needs Guidance

[KauaiBass]

Aloha Guys,

I am stoked to find a nice 60's tubed LaFayette 224A amp on craigslist in Honolulu for $125 (I like cheap). The guy who selling it is a tube enthusiast and he's going to do a rebuild for $50-100 according to my wishes/parts. He's asked me what type of new caps I want to go in and I wanted to get some input from you way more knowledgeable people.

Here's what he says:

Right now i have some highly regarded Auricaps which are a current
favorite among audiophiles and also some k40y9 russian mil spec oil
caps and sprague vitaminQ type. The stock cap i will put in cost about
3.00 each at no charge to you. But if you want to upgrade to the k40 it
would be 5.00, sprague 7.50, auricap 10.00 per capacitor with 4 caps
required. While the sonic differences between each type is not huge it
is readily apparent with high quality speakers like yours. You can
expect improvements in imaging, bass, and frequency response with the
better caps.

So for $40 I should probably go for the Auricaps, yeah?

Any *other* things I should request? I was going to have him upgrade the RCA inputs to gold ones and see if he can upgrade the speaker terminals as well. This amp will only be used for line level input - no phono.

From all I've read this amp gets decent marks and since shipping to Hawaii is so expensive I'm happy to find this guy nearby.

Currently I'm still listening to my LSIs through this awesome 8W LIHAO t-amp I got for $40...sound is simply amazing. Even my very non-audiophile wife noticed when I swapped it over from the gnarly Sherwood receiver..

Thanks for the help!

ps here's what else is part of his $50 rebuild...

"includes replacing the 4 coupling capacitors,
changing the bias supply capacitors, check tolerance and replace if
needed all power B+ supply, and bias resistors, clean and lube all pots
and switches."

[mark1101]

Personally, I like the auricaps. That's what I had put into my HH Scott vintage units, and I also use them in all my Klipsch aftermarket crossovers. However, it is like the flavor of ice cream. Others may tell you differently from their experiences because the caps all do sound different. I will tell you that in general any poly cap (like an auricap) will sound more open and have a crisper top end than a Russian PIO which will have more strength in the midrange.

[KauaiBass]

Thanks Mark!

I did a bit more digging and I see the Auricaps getting lots of praise.

I got $40 for that...auricaps it is.

[KauaiBass]

OK back for more guidance from the gurus of electrons...

Here's what Armand over on Oahu has done thus far to the LaFayette amp:

12.00 for 4 68uf x 400v power supply caps parts only labor inc.

40.00 for the 4 0.1uf x 400v auricaps parts only labor inc.

12.00 for the 4 250k resistors P&L (parts and labor)

15.00 for the new switch P&L

15.00 for 2 33uf x 6v elna silmic caps + 2 1.0k 1/2 watt resistors P&L

10.00 for the 2 .01x2000v safety caps. P&L

All the switches and pots have been cleaned and lubed. No charge for replacing 2 defective B+ supply wiring.

OK here's my question...I'm now at abut $225 for this whole project, should I have him go ahead and install

4 new matched Russian military 6p14p-ev power tubes for $30 more?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions from the knowledgeable mob that hangs around here. [8-|]

[bluesboy]

I'd go for it. Sounds like you've got a hell of a deal so far.