It had to happen eventually... capacitor upgrade question for the Mainline

[PassionForSound]

Oh, good point. I was thinking that by doing a reverse order of yours that I wasn't restricted by the other caps at all, but of course they are all connected a linked in a single system.

I'm hoping the teflons will arrive this week...

 

[mcandmar]

That's the thing having two sets in a row its very hard to differentiate each other and makes the whole process that bit more complicated.  Also dont forgot about the burn in time too, the Mundorfs seemed to settle in very quickly for me but the Russian Teflons took forever, as in 100's of hours. Just be prepared to wait it out as they will sound terrible for a while.

 

[PassionForSound]

That's the thing having two sets in a row its very hard to differentiate each other and makes the whole process that bit more complicated.  Also dont forgot about the burn in time too, the Mundorfs seemed to settle in very quickly for me but the Russian Teflons took forever, as in 100's of hours. Just be prepared to wait it out as they will sound terrible for a while.

Is my memory correct that I can burn-in the teflons by rigging them inline with appropriate resistors and driving signal through them from an amplifier? I.e. from positive terminal of output to resistor, then from resistor to capacitor input lead, then from capacitor output lead back to the negative terminal on the amp? I'm thinking of using my Quattro (solid state) amp to do the hours so will rig up a 6.3mm jack to appropriate positive and negative connections similar to speaker taps.

 

[swich401]

Thanks for reminding me of the links.

I'm left wondering which of the 2 options (Mundorf Supreme vs Auricap) will provide a more faithful, transparent rendition of the recordings? I love the Mainline for its neutrality and don't want to make it overly warm. I love the Mundorf Silver / Gold / Oil Supremes in the S.E.X., but there's no doubt they're a little on the warm side so not sure if the Mundorf Supremes polys will bring the same warmth to the Mainline. Reports suggest that the Auricaps have a little warmth too, but perhaps not as much as the Mundorfs. That said, the write-ups you linked to would suggest that the Supremes offer superior transparency... I'm torn!  ???

Check out the new Auricap XO series of caps (www.audience-av.com/capacitors/axo_description.html) over the Supremes if you want neutrality; they seem to be an improved version of the previous version of Auricaps. I'm listening through a pair of HD800's with an Anedio D2 DAC - two very precise/clinical sounding pieces of audio gear - so I wanted to add slightly more musicality to my Mainline through a slightly off neutral cap; Mundorf Supremes.

Also check out the Jantzen Superior Z-Cap:
https://www.parts-express.com/jantzen-10uf-800v-z-superior-capacitor--027-497

Jantzen Audio Superior Z-Cap MKP 800VDC - 2% tolerance

Technical specifications: metallized polypropylene film, high-grade copper lead wire. The finish is a flame-retardant tape wrap, and the end of the caps is resin sealed to protect against humidity. Loss angle tan = 0.00002 to 1K; Loss angle tan = 0.00001 to 10K.

Sound: Very neutral and coherent balance, they don't seem to high-light anything and I mean that in a positive way! They are a little flatter in presentation than their more expensive brother, the Silver Z-Cap but still better than the Clarity Cap SA in depth and spatial information. In direct comparison with a Clarity Cap SA they are less up-front in the lower treble and have a better texturing of acoustic instruments like a violin for example. In the upper treble they are slightly brighter than a Mundorf Silver/Gold which probably explains the good spatial information and separation. Compared to the Jantzen Audio Silver Z-Cap I find them the more musical of the two and I will definitely add them to my favourites list.

Verdict: 10

That was taken from: http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

 

[hopeful]

At least as of this morning, it looks like there's one pair of RTI's left in stock at tctubes if you want to go the teflon route.  (http://tctubes.com/teflon-capacitor.aspx)

Mine are only at 100 hours or so, and I believe Jamie said he was still hearing changes at around 500 hours (which is what AR apparently recommends in terms of teflon burn in) - so I'm probably in no position to give a final verdict.  But they do seem to be excellent caps!

 

[JamieMcC]

At least as of this morning, it looks like there's one pair of RTI's left in stock at tctubes if you want to go the teflon route.  (http://tctubes.com/teflon-capacitor.aspx)

Mine are only at 100 hours or so, and I believe Jamie said he was still hearing changes at around 500 hours (which is what AR apparently recommends in terms of teflon burn in) - so I'm probably in no position to give a final verdict.  But they do seem to be excellent caps!

Hi Mike.  My RTI's took a shade over 500hrs to settle down they have been stable for the last week or so now. I'm looking forward to hearing some feedback from you guys on how they are working out in the Main line. I can not imagine doing without them now.

Jamie

 

[PassionForSound]

Thanks for the various links.

In Australia, buying high quality caps is a little tricky. So far the only local retailer I've found stocks Mundorf and Auricap (hence my suggested options for the Mainline). Shipping from companies like Parts Connexion, etc. is prohibitively expensive

 

[George Napalm]

Just pulled the trigger on those last 2 RTI teflons for my Mainline. My first cap upgrade! Pretty excited

 

[hopeful]

Just pulled the trigger on those last 2 RTI teflons for my Mainline. My first cap upgrade! Pretty excited

Glad you were able to snag that last pair!  They're a little too large in diameter to fit down against the top plate where the stock caps sat, so I ended up sticking zip tie mounts on the sides of my output transformers to hold them in place.  In truth, the leads on the RTI's are so stiff that this really isn't necessary, but I understand vibrations can impact the sonics of caps so I figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[George Napalm]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the hint. Did you order your RTIs matched? Also, did you notice any improvements in sound?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

  In truth, the leads on the RTI's are so stiff that this really isn't necessary, but I understand vibrations can impact the sonics of caps so I figured it couldn't hurt.

It's good that you anchored them down, the 5 lug terminal strips will thank you.

 

[JamieMcC]

A curious question about fitting those rti caps in the Mainline.  Would there be enough room to fit them in the space they are currently position but closer to the top plate if the boards were offset a little to make the gap wider or is there something hidden that I cant see that will not allow them to drop down or perhaps increasing the height of the boards stand off so they would slide in underneath? Main line build pics are a bit thin on the ground to see.

 

[Hornet900]

Mainline Jamie... it's your destiny  ;D

 

[PassionForSound]

A curious question about fitting those rti caps in the Mainline.  Would there be enough room to fit them in the space they are currently position but closer to the top plate if the boards were offset a little to make the gap wider or is there something hidden that I cant see that will not allow them to drop down or perhaps increasing the height of the boards stand off so they would slide in underneath? Main line build pics are a bit thin on the ground to see.

Jamie, I need to do a little work on my Mainline so I'll take a look when it's upside down and see if I can take a pic or 2 for you.

 

[PassionForSound]

Jamie, here are some pics and even a video that will hopefully help...

http://youtu.be/MVpA4FvrmrI

The link above may not be live straight away as it's still processing at the time of posting.

 

[JamieMcC]

Lachlan that's great actually thanks.

Edit actually its fantastic because I can clearly see the easiest option as there is plenty of space would be to move the OT transforms slightly further to the back of the Mainline. If not covering the top like I have done with carbon on the Crack I would fill the holes with weld sand flush and re-drill the top plate for the new position. 

Thanks

Jamie

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Most 10uF caps that carry a 200V rating will fit without this much effort.

You may also consider using longer standoffs under the C4S boards, if you are just on the edge of being able to squeeze them in.

 

[Paul Joppa]

... the easiest option as there is plenty of space would be to move the OT transforms slightly further to the back of the Mainline....

If you move the transformers that direction they will pick up hum from the power transformer. They are centered fore and aft on the power transformer because there's a null in the pickup pattern at that point.

 

[PassionForSound]

What do the caps attached directly to the 6C45 tubes do? Any point replacing them?

I've just ordered some Russian Teflons for the caps on the 12AU7 board and will probably get some Mundorfs or Auricaps to replace the 10uF Dayton. I've read as much as I can and still can't decide between M-Cap Supremes and Auricap high resolution. Any suggestions?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

What do the caps attached directly to the 6C45 tubes do? Any point replacing them?

These are RF suppression caps that are out of the signal path. Substituting them with something else would potentially make the amplifier sound a lot worse.