More PIO Caps Installed ( Thanks thebes!)

[Curious_George]

Here is some reading that will surely turn your brain into mashed potatoes in short order. If anything, you can learn a lot more adjectives for describing what you hear.
 

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/resistor-sound-quality-shootout.377009/

[Tom05]

My Dad was a pretty smart guy, he was an engineer and audiophile,a big Bozak fan. He told me a long long time ago , “ Tom05, put your money into your speakers , that’s where 99 percent of the variation in sound quality comes from “ .Through the years I’ve found this statement to be quite accurate, so I live by that basic philosophy today,( within reason )I’ve found that a damn good set of speakers is really what its all about, the rest is like tripping over dollars to pick up pennies 🤓

[michaelwjones]

48 minutes ago, Curious_George said:

Here is some reading that will surely turn your brain into mashed potatoes in short order. If anything, you can learn a lot more adjectives for describing what you hear.
 

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/resistor-sound-quality-shootout.377009/

 

Wow. That thread makes us look like saints! I especially like the quote "The words of physics and wine tasting is so much fun, applied to resistors." and that they dis John Curl...

[KT88]

As we are talking passive parts, another possibility to make the sound a bit friendlier without degrading it is to think about new electrolytic capacitors e.g. in the preamplifier. My 35 year old Quad 34 pre amp got yesterday new electrolytic capacitors that are partly in the signal path, at the inputs as a buffer and against possible offset of the stone-age but very good sounding ICs. The old caps had by the row only 70 to 80% of their capacity and the ESR I can not measure will also have risen. Of course I have also replaced the PSU electrolytic capacitor. The new electrolytic capacitors in the signal path are Elna Silmic2 types which have a very nice clear but colorful and powerful sound, most values are 100uF at 16V. My first impression is extremely positive, all the annoying frequencies in the treble range are gone. I was not looking for "change for fun" but I had to gradually change the electrolytic capacitors before they could leak and destroy the PCB. It is a nice side effect that I like the Silmic2 from Elna so much. Currently my BBC speakers are running but I bet a bottle of wine that the Lascala will benefit as well. Some people say the Silmic2s make music with no dynamics, but I say the distortion in the treble is much lower and I hear more music. Of course, I'm comparing against the decrepit caps and I'm not saying that other modern caps aren't also very good. But I chose them because if the Silmic2 are the electrolytic capacitors of choice for Nelson Pass then they should be good enough for me. In the plastic bag are the old caps.

[Audible Nectar]

Everything in the audio path has a signature, whether or not you allow it to matter to you and to what extent you will go through to address that is up to you. It's the hell and beauty of highly revealing horn speakers and I wouldn't have it any other way. Copper vs. silver vs. tin, Philips family factory tubes vs. American vs. modern production. (and all the flavors within them), caps of all kinds and formulas galore. 

 

It's because I put my money into speakers that I had to start putting money and time in to the GEAR that feeds them. Part of the deal........

[DirtyErnie]

RE: Silmic 2:  One of my past forum-crawling binges led me to the notion that the Silmic were best with discrete-component amplifiers and Nichicon really shined with ICs.  Take that for the price of the paper it's writen on, but I could see that being why NP likes them so much.

How are the PIOs treating you lately?