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Excuse my ignorance, but what difference does the capacitor make in the sound of an amp? I was just reading a review of the Duelund VSF Copper Capacitor and I thought for $150.00 per, they must really enhance the sound quality of the amp. Next question is, can you just change Capacitors without changing everything else? Thanks for not laughing. Cheers.
Follow Ups:
The signal capacitors do affect the overall sound presentation of the amp. The difference is most easily detected in a/b comparions; that is, switching back and forth between capacitors.I heard a comparison between ic capacitors, which are inexpensive ones, and oil caps. The ic's are a bit sharp and the foils are mellow by comparison. So the ic's can have more bite which is good or not depending on all the other variables that you have.
The choice of which signal capacitor to use could be related to the sound that the amp has, depending on driver tubes and output tubes, and whether for instance where on the sharp/mellow dimension you want the sound to be. It could be related to the speakers you are using or how well broken in the amp is. All these variables can affect sharp/mellow for instance, and one differentiating characteristic of the capacitors.
John Hogan generally used either ic's or various oil caps such as Jensens. Later on, he began to appreciate the large brown ones that came in the vintage amps. I could not really tell the benefit of them.
DJNThe Duelund capacitors have a rating of ONLY 100 volts.
Their low voltage rating limits their use to cathode bypass but
their low capacitance makes them unsuitable for even that IMO.
They were designed for use in speakers which have completely
different design parameters than those designed for coupling duty.
That's why many capacitor companies designate them either for
coupling use or speaker use (Hovland & DynamiCap come to mind).I don't know what review you were reading but I included
a link to a review of the sonic characteristics of
several name brand capacitors below. FWIW
Other caps are more up to the task of coupling duty.
I like to have all the caps (except the cathode bypass ones)
rated to handle full B+ under no load conditions.
Then it will be blow-up proof in case something disastrous happens
which we all don't want to happen but better safe than sorry.DanL
Hi DanL, yep, that is the articles I was reading. I just ASSUMED that they would work well in an amp as well as a crossover. Thanks. Cheers.
What Jeff said and Yes you can just change the cap without changing anything else. Make sure the voltage rating is the same or higher and the mf. value is the same.Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
...are subtle, rather like the differences among interconnect or speaker cables--but I'm no golden-eared audiofile, just a (see my signature). Others are indeed golden-eared and can hear lots of differences among caps or cables.Still others speak and write in superlatives, as in 'huge' improvements or 'the difference between night and day' or, my unfavorite, 'totally different'. To the latter, I ask 'totally different'? Hmm...if the system was tonally attractive and well balanced previously, it's now tonally UNattractive? If the bass was extended and well defined previously, it's now NOT extended? NOT well defined? If the midrange was highly transparent previously, it's now opaque, veiled? See what I mean?
What do YOU hear among different good-quality IC cables? IMO you're likely to hear the same kinds of differences among good caps of different types and brands.
Do understand that capacitor quality follows the same kind of rapidly rising cost v. quality that all music-reproduction equipment does--it's easy to spend 10 times as much, but for some of us, the sonic differences may not even be audible or will be, at best, subtle.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tin-eared audiofool and obsessed landscape fotografer.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
The change from cap coupling to transformer coupling makes a pretty big difference in sound quality. The arrangement of drop cap in a parafeed, along with the value of the cap in a output stage makes a difference too. As does the quality and materials used in the cap.Mundorf silver and Jensen/AN copper PIO are always pretty good bets. IME. But I am not particularly fond of Black Gates.
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