Obbligato.. Solen.. or Mundorf MKP? 250v or 400v?

[matthewmckay]

holy crap!  that was an amazing deal...

 

[langendorf]

If you look at the sellers fedback history you can see that he have sold several sets of Solen Fast Caps. And even cheaper at 35 usd.

So you can wait and se, if he puts up some more, or contact the seller and ask

 

[matthewmckay]

Yeah, its going to be difficult to consider other brands of caps if the solens can still be had for that cheap... I wonder if he's buying at a crazy wholesale bulk rate or if its from some liquidated shop stock.

Langendorf,

did you burn the caps in before you installed them?  have you noticed any improvement in the higher frequencies?

I seem to have great bass response with the stock electrolytics right now, but when I crank the volume up to dance party levels, i cant listen too long without fatigue, due a slightly brittle top end**... I am about 60hrs in with the speedball upgrade and NOS 5998 from tubeworld.


**which is in no way bashing the amp.... this thing sounded amazing even before the speedball.

 

[langendorf]

I haven

 

[Grainger49]

In case you two haven't seen this:

Fast Break In Post

In response to Desmond's post below, film caps are almost always going to be an improvement over an electrolytic in the audio path.  Electrolytics are a cost consideration, the film caps are an expensive investment to add more sophistication to the sound.

 

[Laudanum]

The film caps made for a bit smoother and more detailed high end.  I never found the stock electrolytics to be brittle up top, just a bit grainy, not as smooth when compared to the films. But I didnt find them fatiquing to listen to.  Of course, YMMV escpecially considering sources and tubes and headphones all the other variables. But the film caps definitely were smoother up top, atleast the Mundorf MKP's I used are.  The Solens should offer the same benefit compared to the electrolytics.

 

[matthewmckay]

Ahh...you're right, it is probably just my source components (laptop and *cringe* ipod)... I need to try it with some of the goodness in the other room.

 

[BNAL]

I ordered my Crack with the speedball upgrade during the black Friday sale. I figured I would start by building the amp without any upgrades to see what it could do, a first foe me. I must say that I was actually shocked at how good it sounded through my Senn HD650's. This was with all the parts installed as supplied by Bottlehead. The funny part is I don't feel the need to upgrade from a sonic perspective. Everything sounds great from the bass to the highs with great detail in the mids.

Well I can't leave enough alone, so I started by adding a 2 uF Clarity cap to bypass the last electrolytic cap in the power supply. It seems to have tighter things up a little. The mids seem a little more detailed. The next upgrade will be the Triad choke, but I'm going to hold off on that, so that I can just enjoy the great sound coming through my headphones in the current configuration.

The one area that I will be upgrading, but still not sure which cap to go with is the 100uF output caps. I have seen much written on the Solen, Mundorf, and Axon, but I have not seen anyone comment on using the Obbligato 100uF caps. I have had good experience using the film oil caps in my S.E.X. Amp so was thinking of giving them a try. Has anyone used them?

 

[Grainger49]

Brad,

Cheap mother that I am I would suggest the Black, Polypropylene In Oil (630V), cheapest Obbligato caps for the power supply.  I used them in my FP 2 and Seduction for the output caps.  Great bang for the buck in the audio path and truly incredible in the power supply.  Another Bottlehead on the old forum posted about these quite a few years back, I'm just a fan.

That is a real film cap!  Very smooth in the mids and highs.  It adds a sparkle the stock cap doesn't have (at least in the FP 2 and Seduction).  I can't imagine it is not a step up from an electrolytic.

Don't get me wrong, Bottlehead has to put in electrolytics at this point to make the kit reasonable, but a film is a big step up.  Even if you don't keep the Obbligato blacks there they are extremely cheap for the values and you will use them elsewhere.

Edit: The 70uF Film ($29 each) will be fine for a replacement of the 100uF electrolytic.

 

[Dr. Toobz]

The stock electrolytics don't sound bad, but I wholeheartedly agree that upgrading to anything film-based will be an improvement. It's not an Earth-shattering change, but is noticeable. I have even re-swapped the film caps I had put in with the stock electrolytics, just to see if the difference was real. The stock caps sounded somewhat more "nervous" and zingy to me, and the image had collapsed slightly in comparison to the Solens. So, the comments about smoothness and a reduction in "grain" are spot-on.

That said, the addition of the CCS boards and/or a change in tubes leads to a change of almost the same magnitude. It's nice to have so many options for "seasoning" the amp to one's individual tastes.

 

[Noskipallwd]

I'll 2nd the Obbligato blacks. I used 3 47uf in the PS of tube rectified amp, very happy with them. Great caps for the price. I ended up using Mundorf MTube caps in the output of the Crack, I know...their meant to be PS caps, but someone convinced me to give them a try, (already had them around). So I clipped them in and wow, I liked them better than the Mundorf MKPs and Solens I had. So I left them in. Caps are subjective so experiment a little.

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[earwaxxer]

Interesting cap conversation! I never really thought about bypassing power supply electrolytics. I have replaced my electrolytics with Elna RFS Silmic ll's. I did find them to sound better (smoother) over stock Panasonic's etc. Very cheap as well. If I were to bypass them, though, I would probably use a very low value, high quality, film cap. That is, if I understand the concept of the "bypass" cap correctly. If wired in parallel they only add a small amount to the value. I guess my thought would be to use a .1uf Mundorf silver/oil 1200V if I was to spend $30 a pop.

Maybe someone knowledgeable could weigh in on the "bypass" concept. I have read several technical opinions on the subject, and I was not convinced it made sense until I tried it myself in a speaker crossover. I bypassed a 10uf Ampohm aluminum paper/oil with a 2.2uf Mundorf silver/oil that I had kicking around. Big difference. Everything cleaned up. Like wiping a soap film off a window. 

Fun stuff, in an insane sort of way!