Kaiju wiring - basic tuning recommendations? Polypropylene cap replacements?

That's good. It's all about what sounds best - to you!  And that is why, no matter what some salesman may tell you about the perfection of his product, there really is no universal best in any of this stuff. For me, a combination of reliability, continued availability over a long period of time and a sound I am very satisfied with is what makes a part the "best".
 
Doc B. said:
It's all about what sounds best - to you!  And that is why, no matter what some salesman may tell you about the perfection of his product, there really is no universal best in any of this stuff. For me, a combination of reliability, continued availability over a long period of time and a sound I am very satisfied with is what makes a part the "best".

Absolutely agree - I got two Kaijus - one already finished just using the parts you provided with the kit - the other one I am just about to build and that's how I want to find out what is "my personal best" or the best to my ears: I thought about replacing single parts and then compare what's changed (guess I have to leave especially the foil caps for quite a while as they have to break in) - so I think I'm going to have quite some fun for the next - let's say - few years to find out - maybe I never will - at least I'll try.
 
thunderfrenchie said:
Can you use oil caps for the  0.1uF coupling caps if the voltage rating is correct?
Sure.  About the only cap I can think of that you wouldn't want to use is a motor start cap.
 
A few years ago, there were several reports of Jensen oil caps leaking current, especially the copper foil+oil ones; these caps were also sold as Angela and Audio Note according to some reports. Also some Duelands were reported to leak oil; those were said to have been made by Jensen. Some posters said that oil caps need to be sealed (e.g. the old Vitamin Q caps), more to prevent corrosion and electrical leakage than to prevent oil from escaping. Reportedly, Jensen has fixed some or all of their own problems in current production, but of course a lot of the older ones are still around in inventory or on ebay.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of these reports, but it's an issue. You might do a little googling some fine afternoon when you have a few hours to spare ...  :^)
 
Back
Top