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In Reply to: RE: Coupling Caps - Cary 300sei posted by Devils Advocate on August 17, 2015 at 09:01:35
Do you like the sound of the amp as is? If not tell us what you don't like that rolling an input tube won't fix. That may be all you need to do.
Changing caps is like adding spice to food. We have preferences and there is no right or wrong just what works for you in your system. :-)
Follow Ups:
Amp sounds good (real good), no complaints except there seems to be a bit of suck-out in the high bass/low midrange region, nothing that I can really put a finger on other than it seems that it sounds a bit muted compared to how I'm used to hearing on albums that I'm familiar with. Maybe it's because I've listened only on SS gear all these years and need to acclimate to tubes? Also getting a lot of stridency (sibilance), but that is probably just room reflection. I tried rolling tubes but that didn't help, suck-out & sizzle are still there regardless.
The reason why I'm thinking about swapping out the coupling caps is mostly 'ok, if it sounds this good with the stock caps in there how much better could it sound with the Jensens or Clarity caps'.
Listening to music thru the 300sei has been an eye opener and I'm enjoying it very much, playing albums that I've listened to many times over the years are like a whole new experience, I'm hearing nuances that I didn't know were there before, it's kinda like rediscovering your music collection all over again, fun!
If you can, open the amp up and look at the coupling caps. There should be two of them and see if you can read what is on them. You can't decide where you want to go if you don't know what is there now. Is the bass muddy or boomy? Also, consider that your tubes are not settled in yet. That could be the source of the stridency.
Edits: 08/17/15
Audio 1 caps.
They are paper in oil caps but I'm not sure who made them. To change them requires a little soldering that you could easily do. I won't suggest a replacement at this time because I think that is a personal decision. You are new to tubes and your tubes have not settled in so to change caps at this time would be a roll of the dice. Google capacitor reviews and you will find a lot of information that should be taken with a large block of salt. Read them and you should get a feel for the basic sonic character. Personally, I change capacitors after I have had an amp a while. Some combinations of caps and tubes in a given circuit are truly magical but it takes a little experimentation to find out what works for you in your system. I feel it is worth the effort. Also, the most expensive caps may not sound the best to you and what you have now may be just fine.
My 2 cents.
Good advice, and you're right it would be easy swapping them out, I could do it myself and save $$$, and experimenting with different brands might actually be kinda fun too.
Absolutely. :-)
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