Output Capacitor Upgrading Questions

[Hornet900]

I just grabbed these two from Hifi Collective.  The price is very good at the moment.

nice  ;D  I nearly bought those once  

I have the standard 100uf  mcaps  and like them quite alot but I haven't tried any other nice film caps , I did reinstall the standard caps to see if I could hear a sound difference and I could def hear a difference.  the mcaps do make the amp sound better and even better with burn in I think
I bypassed them few months ago with small Mundorf MCap Supremes  and that changed the sound again , 

The sound does change and get better with burn in dont it?

 

[EarWorm]

Grabbed these a while back for the power supply.  I'm on an extremely super slow build while I work on other things and wait for sales on upgraded components.  For some reason the crack is compelling me to buy these components.  I probably need help. ;D

 

[JamieMcC]

Grabbed these a while back for the power supply.  I'm on an extremely super slow build while I work on other things and wait for sales on upgraded components.  For some reason the crack is compelling me to buy these components.  I probably need help. ;D

That one surely belongs on the Capacitor Porn thread  ;D

http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=4744.msg61116#msg61116

 

[Grainger49]

I agree, capacitor porn.  I posted a pair that were bought for my Paramours.  They are the volume of 3/5 of the underside of the amps.  Unusable unless outside the amps.

 

[EarWorm]

I actually have three of those.  I posted them back in capacitor porn before the forum update but somehow the photos got lost.

Also grabbed two hammond 159 chokes.  ;D

 

[Grainger49]

I didn't realize what was below the caps till I clicked on the picture.  Those are much bigger than the ones I got for my Paramours.

 

[grausch]

Just received the Jantzen Cross Cap 100uf 400V. The diameter of these is too large to mount them to the chassis top-plate so I will need to either make an alternate plan (perhaps using standoffs with a mounting plate) or just buy other caps. Guess the cost will be roughly similar.

Anyway, we don't have soda cans in the house, but have a 500ml Vitamin Water bottle for comparison.

 

[ZacharyP]

A zip tie through a zip tie holder attached to the inside of the wooden base might do the trick!

 

[grausch]

I thought the same thing, but am not really that keen on attaching anything to the base itself. I will need to remove zip ties every time I pick up the top plate, and I quite frequently go under the hood of my Crack.

Mike has provided an excellent idea in his thread - http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=1632.15. I could also use terminal strips and then accomplish the same goal. The caps are pretty light so letting them hang on their leads should be ok.

Another option would be to use one zip tie around the cap, with a 2nd zip tie between the prior zip tie and the cap. Then thread the 2nd zip tie through a zip tie mount on the top plate. Difficult to explain, but the 2nd zip tie will just be used to hang the cap on. Thus, the cap will not be firmly affixed until the leads are soldered in place, but the weight of the cap will be borne by the mount and not the leads. However, by hanging the caps this way, the clearance issue with the Speedball may be avoided.

In any case, these were cheap caps and based on some other recommendations, I could install 47uf caps in that position and not lose too much low-end. That will solve a lot of my real-estate problems.

 

[ZacharyP]

Just bypassed my 100uf Solen mkp coupling caps with a 1uf 250vdc kommiekap K73-11 PETP, which I then bypassed with vishay-roederstein mkp 1837 .1 uf, 160vdc caps.

First listen I hear better separation of the instruments, better bass extension with more realistic feel, and a touch more smoothness to the mids in the best way.  Can't wait to let them fully burn in.

 

[ZacharyP]

And today I replaced the last electrolytic with an obbligato PSU film cap, 100uf (I already have a choke installed).  Debating whether to now bypass the remaining two electrolytics with 2.2uf chinafilm caps, and bypass the obbligato with a higher quality, small value Teflon.

Upgraditis is a Helluva disease.

 

[Colin]

It's an awesome to find this 'capasitor rolling' in here. Iam a newbie, very enjoy my crack(stock) in a year. Looking for take some upgrade with capasitor for its first. Have read many reviews, mundorf  cap got many good reviews. Plan to buy mcap 100uf 400v & supreme 1uf(how about supreme silver-gold-oil, very expensive, is that worth?)BEFORE.

After reading on this, i got Mundorf cap are "overprice" in generally line up. Can anyone help to choose for me the caps with same or even better than mundorf with cheaper price? Or Mundorf worth in their price?

Thank You
Colin

 

[JamieMcC]

It's an awesome to find this 'capasitor rolling' in here. Iam a newbie, very enjoy my crack(stock) in a year. Looking for take some upgrade with capasitor for its first. Have read many reviews, mundorf  cap got many good reviews. Plan to buy mcap 100uf 400v & supreme 1uf(how about supreme silver-gold-oil, very expensive, is that worth?)BEFORE.

After reading on this, i got Mundorf cap are "overprice" in generally line up. Can anyone help to choose for me the caps with same or even better than mundorf with cheaper price? Or Mundorf worth in their price?

Thank You
Colin

I had some Mundorf Mcap 100uf 400v capacitors in my Crack for a while they are very nice sounding capacitors I picked mine up used for half the retail cost at the time off of ebay. The two disadvantages with them are their size they are significantly bigger than the 250V version and space in the Crack is limited in addition cost of buying them new is expensive. 

Performance wise I thought both budget Solen and JFX with a inexpensive Russian Teflon bypass sounded very similar and more preferable to my ears at least. I did think the Mundorfs where one of top sounding standalone MKP caps I tried. With my own cap swapping adventures I found I developed a personal preference for the paper in oil type.

For consideration Parts connection are still running a promotion on the Claritycap PX100uf 250v 52% off but they are big beasts so some careful measuring would be required to check they fit http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_claritycap_px.html)

Some posts on my cap rolling adventures below.

http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=5284.msg50963#msg50963

Some food for thought while the Mundorf are very good for a similar budget you could seriously hot rod your Crack with a budget 100uf film cap and Teflon bypass + stepped attenuator + choke power supply mod + film cap in powers supply, which ends up looking something like the pic below and sounds amazing.

If you don't mind waiting and doing a little hunting on ebay etc you can pick up some bargains. Like this ASC 200uf film capacitor for 0.99p 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-200uf-400VDC-300VAC-Foil-Capacitor-EC-Capacitors-New-and-Unused-/231438541917?rmvSB=true&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=oab3YTcegYaD4KrLU5J1AY0q4BA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Have fun 

 

[Colin]

Thank you JamieMcc. Great from seeing your reply. How about clarity cap px 100uf 250v bypass by mundorf supreme 1uf? Bypass cap must 1 : 100 value? Shoulf telflon bypass would an advantage?
1more confuse question, my friend told me to add a pair caps for coupling between pot to rca, is that true way? I see that should give resistors in here not caps. Thank you

 

[JamieMcC]

If you felt you needed to or wanted just to try bypassing the clarity cap then I would go straight for a Russian Teflon which seems a well trodden path by Crack users.  The 100:1 rule seems more for guidance sometimes bypassing doesn't work its just a case of trial and error to find combinations that do. Also a non Russian Teflon is hideously expensive around $300+ for 1uf! While the Russian ones may not be on par they do work and at a fraction of the cost are fun to try.

I have had some nice results with these ones you can find larger uf values but the size also increase quiet dramatically with the larger values. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-056uF-500V-5-TEFLON-Capacitors-K72P6-Lot-of-4-/201318145383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2edf7f1d67

I have never seen capacitors between the pot and rca's on any Cracks resistors are sometimes used to attenuate and lower the volume so their is more range of adjustment on the volume pot before comfortable listening levels are exceeded.

 

[Grainger49]

Because bypass caps don't always sound just right I always suggest putting them in with jumpers (alligator clips and a short wire) first.  That would allow you to try 3 or 4 different caps before turning on the soldering iron.

 

[pingping]

Has anyone experience of bypassing the 100uf output capacitors with a much smaller .1uf or .01uf capacitor?

I was considering going with a 1/100 1uf bypass but I don't think I have the room in the case for the type I want, a high quality AmpOhm Polyester Film. I could fit a lower quality 1uf bypass and bypass that with an even small high quality .01uf or I could just use a single high quality .1uf bypass.

Any opinions on which would be the better option? My output caps are already polyprops.

Cheers

I tried some 100nf poly-p caps across the stock +/-'s. There was a change for sure, and they're still there whilst I sort out getting round to ordering some M-Caps or whatever, so they're not ruined my enjoyment.

I'm sure you'll find somewhere else to use them if you don't like it anyway

 

[pingping]

I tried some 100nf poly-p caps across the stock +/-'s. There was a change for sure, and they're still there whilst I sort out getting round to ordering some M-Caps or whatever, so they're not ruined my enjoyment.

I'm sure you'll find somewhere else to use them if you don't like it anyway

Oops - skipped back in the thread somewhat further than I thought!

4 years later I reply  :

 

[properlydeafened]

I just finished adding some Mundorf film caps (MKP 100uf 250v) to my crack and I thought I'd post some pics in case it helps someone else. I debated how to mount them and then followed someone else's lead and built some stands.  I got a small polycarbonate sheet from Lowes and a knife to cut it.  I cut it into a single strip and then cut that into 6 squares.  I used some Loctite epoxy to glue three squares together to make each stand.  After that dried, I scraped the double sided tape off of a pair of zip tie cable mounts and glued them to the stands with the same epoxy.  Once dry I mounted the caps and then glued the stands to the Crack making sure they would clear the sides when it went back together. 

Pretty simple really...making the stands is by far the most time consuming aspect of the swap.

 

[Rhok]

I just finished adding some Mundorf film caps (MKP 100uf 250v) to my crack and I thought I'd post some pics in case it helps someone else. I debated how to mount them and then followed someone else's lead and built some stands.  I got a small polycarbonate sheet from Lowes and a knife to cut it.  I cut it into a single strip and then cut that into 6 squares.  I used some Loctite epoxy to glue three squares together to make each stand.  After that dried, I scraped the double sided tape off of a pair of zip tie cable mounts and glued them to the stands with the same epoxy.  Once dry I mounted the caps and then glued the stands to the Crack making sure they would clear the sides when it went back together. 

Pretty simple really...making the stands is by far the most time consuming aspect of the swap.

Very helpful, thanks for sharing - this is next on my agenda.

How was your personal experience with the swap?