Capacitor Replacement

[JohnA]

I have been a vocal proponent of updating capacitors (and some other mods) since I got my La Scalas in 1999.  I usually say listen first, and replacing the original caps can't hurt, but perhaps not persuasively enough.  I have at least found an exception.  Maybe 15 years ago I bought a pristine H-WL-12 H700 made in 1967 to use as a center rear channel in my home theater.  Good components, but it sounded pretty muffled, awful.  New caps cured it.  Last month I bought another H700 (H-HR-12) from 1968, with all of the same components, especially the cast frame SP-12B K-22.  It seems to have come from an estate sale.  Perhaps it was used regularly (speculation from the seller's statement it came from a working environment) because it sounds virtually identical to my '67 with newer film and foil caps.  I haven't yet checked, but I believe I reversed the polarity of the squawker and tweeter in the '67 possibly accounting for a *hint* of extra brightness from the '68.  It is not dull or muffled at all and it has the original Type C xover, unmodified. 

 

Bottom Line:  Be prepared to change your old caps, but listen carefully for a while.  You might save yourself some effort and money. 

 

Listening to Sting and Boney James, just excellent!

[Deang]

So, now they are mismatched, with a measurable ESR disparity of .00374. The image drift must be terrible. 😄

 

[ClaudeJ1]

3 minutes ago, Deang said:

So, now they are mismatched, with a measurable ESR disparity of .00374. The image drift must terrible. 😄

 

Hope I"m not the only one who caught this "dripping with sarcasm" comment from Mr. Crossover Caps himself.

[Deang]

😂 

[Deang]

Hijacking your thread John, sorry!

 

I want to build some AL-3’s, and I’ve been taking a hard look at these. 

 

http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/arizona-capacitors-blue-cactus-20uf-200vdc-p-5188

 

I know, there’s something wrong with me.

[JohnA]

10 hours ago, Deang said:

Hijacking your thread John, sorry!

 

I want to build some AL-3’s, and I’ve been taking a hard look at these. 

 

http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/arizona-capacitors-blue-cactus-20uf-200vdc-p-5188

 

I know, there’s something wrong with me.

 

 

I have been eyeing those caps, too.  Seems like a pretty good price, especially if you add on the precision matching.  But, why do you need paper, Mylar AND oil? 

 

I guess I'll hold off since the caps in my H700 are running well.

 

Looks like your avatar  fits!!!!!  😁

 

[moray james]

12 hours ago, Deang said:

Hijacking your thread John, sorry!

 

I want to build some AL-3’s, and I’ve been taking a hard look at these. 

 

http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/arizona-capacitors-blue-cactus-20uf-200vdc-p-5188

 

I know, there’s something wrong with me.

I love the sound of Mylar caps and yes I  know audiophiles love to hate polyester. I find Mylar caps remind me of Pentode amplifiers very ballsy sounding. Those do look very interesting, thanks for posting the link.

[Deang]

On 10/7/2018 at 3:45 AM, JohnA said:

But, why do you need paper, Mylar AND oil? 

I wondered about that too. The oil makes a bit of sense, using paper and Mylar together doesn’t make any sense at all. 

[Deang]

On 10/7/2018 at 5:42 AM, moray james said:

I love the sound of Mylar caps and yes I  know audiophiles love to hate polyester.

I’ve only heard the metallized variety, and they sounded fine to me until I heard polypropylene, which just sounds cleaner. Polyester imparts a gritty quality that you don’t notice so much until it’s gone. 

 

The Arizona isn’t metalized. It’s a film/paper in oil, and it’s hertmetically sealed. It’s just an interesting part that I would like to try some day. 

[moray james]

4 hours ago, Deang said:

I’ve only heard the metallized variety, and they sounded fine to me until I heard polypropylene, which just sounds cleaner. Polyester imparts a gritty quality that you don’t notice so much until it’s gone. 

 

The Arizona isn’t metalized. It’s a film/paper in oil, and it’s hertmetically sealed. It’s just an interesting part that I would like to try some day. 

I am not a cap expert but I suspect that the grit you are hearing is probably not the dielectric but rather has to do with the process of how the metal was deposited onto the plastic film. I  found that caps using separate plastic film and metal film or foil as we call it on the west side of the Atlantic sound better than deposited metal caps. Never the less there is much more of a difference in sound in various caps than most would ever suspect. Waiting for caps to stabilize can also throw a lot of listeners off as well with some taking a lot of play time to sound the way they will.