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In Reply to: Re: Vitamin Q caps - who what when where why? posted by Al Nico on April 11, 2007 at 07:28:03:
I agree with Al. The Illinois MPW are quite tuneful in most vintage gear, including a 260 I just helped a guy out with. I also like the high temp rating and the relatively compact size.
Follow Ups:
I was the guy Jim helped out with on the Pilot SA-260, and I used the Illinois caps based on a recommendation by Al Nico. THANKS guys!!But I also used Russion K40 PIO caps as coupling caps between the driver tubes and the output tubes.
I'm totally pleased with the result and I've become a huge fan of the Pilot amp. It's gutsy, and fast and clean, and and and (I ran out of words). Anyway, I like it a lot better than many of my other vintage amps (Dynaco, Eico, Citation V, Scott). It's not as nice as my McShane-mod Citation II, but it's even better than the Citation on the North Creek speakers I'm using at the moment (some synergy thing). I'm just ga-ga, spinning one LP after another and marvelling.
Sprague VitaminQ caps are one of the nicer and long-lasting variety of PIO caps, but they've largely disappeared from the open market in voltage capacities suitable for tube amplifiers. I used them a lot 20 years ago, but they've become pretty rare today. They are very neutral, and I generally like them better than Orange Drops, or Auricaps or Sonicaps in electronics. But there are plenty of alternatives, and even more opinions about best caps for your vintage amp. Perhaps more of a religion than a scientific basis for comparison. Let your own ears decide, if you care to swap caps to try lots of different varieties (Hovlands, Dynamicaps, Obbligato's, Jensens, etc). Every once in a while you might find synergy and love!
Just my $.02
I find orange drops to sound raw. A friend did a Fisher 6BQ5 amp with them and I could not listen to it with CDs (it was not tried on vinyl or R to R etc). I talked him into using the Illinois as the output coupling caps and he said that fixed it. I also tried them in a heath UA2 and again they had the pronounced grit. So many people seem to like them that I hesitate to bring up the subject. Could it be something to do with the lead entry system and/or the epoxy casing? I am at a loss to explein it. I sure can hear how nice a good PIO sounds.I did my favorite Eico HF-81 with Dayton film and foil polypropylene from Parts Express and it blows people away consistantly. The problem grit does not exist and it sounds much better than my others. Please see the link below but 400 volt rating is the max I believe.
Enjoy your Pilot.
Al
Hi Frank!As you know and maybe some others here don't, I strongly believe in mixing caps in a given piece of gear. I don't want one cap's sonic signature to dominate, so I use different brands/types/etc.
Your choice of the PIOs was fine (as you know!). I might have also used a polystyrene or a film & foil polyprope in the same spot so I would have that difference.
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