Ok this has been a lot harder to put down than I first thought but here some impressions on the JFX film capacitors I fitted to my BHCrack.
BHCrack+Speedball+Valab+JFX film capacitors
Tubes Tung-Sol 5998 & Mullard 12au7
Headphones Beyerdynamic Tesla T1
The instantly most noticeable change to the sound has been clarity and it is really hard to put this into words just how much this has improved it is also a bit mind bending to think it wasn’t so clear before.
A visualization might be looking out over a scene on a grey day and seeing an area that is bathed in a shaft of sunlight which makes everything sharper, colours pop out and shapes are more clearly defined and focused. Everything within the area of sunlight is just more vivid.
The perception of sound stage with the T1’s is not much wider than before but it now has greater depth and a smoother and more seamless feel to it. With the improved clarity I can look deeper into the soundstage and recording to focus on individual instruments within, this placement depth and resolution is very noticeable on live recordings.
For lack of better words music just flows better, it rises and falls as needed and washes over you with an effortlessness to the dynamics.
This is really hard to describe but its changed how the T1’s connect me with the music there is no more sense of viewing from say three rows back.
It feels much more like 'being there' I can be further back viewing a musical in a theatre listening to say Les Miserables taking in the whole scene or next find myself sitting across the table from Melody Gardot or Diana Krall, who are now singing just for me. On another track I am right on stage right in the middle of the mix with musicians to the left and right and behind enveloped in sound (this really was a first for me and an amazing “Holy Cow I am on the stage” moment, thank you Florence).
This all makes for an increased feel to the atmosphere and venue on live recordings as the music flows out and fills the venues and gives a sense of air as a beautiful solo vocal floats up high into the vaults of a cathedrals ceiling, it’s just beautiful to hear.
Pretty much all instruments sound better, the distortion of an electric guitar, brushes on drums, the little metal cymbals of a tambourine as they vibrate on both sides when shaken these little details keep coming through, plucks on strings the woodiness of instruments the bounce back on kick-drum or a sense of hollowness to an acoustic guitar or the density of the wood castanets are made of. The transparency of those subtle nuances of tones and textures draw you into the music. To many times just one more track turns into one more album way into the small hours of the morning.
The capacitors sonics have definitely improved as they burned in. I had a strange intermittent buzz noise in the lower frequencies on some jazz tracks I couldn’t quiet put my finger on what it was. It was just not right I wondered if my headphones had started to develop a problem with reproduction of the frequency. After about 60hrs this buzz has become more defined and developed into a thrum resonance sound from a plucked double bass string.
The T1’s are a fantastic headphones in many respects but I was very pleased to hear after about 100hrs a welcome hint of soulfulness develop in the midrange and just a little more warmth, body and loveliness to vocals which I think they are the better for.
The T1’s have scaled well with the addition of the film caps and I continue to be amazed by the reproduction of music I listen to and those out of headphone experiences that catch you by surprise have become much more frequent. I have been very pleased with the results of fitting the film caps.
I hope some of this makes a little sense.
