What would you do?

[Bryon]

It's been a while since I've come to you all asking for advice and I know the community will help me out.  I'm not sure which board to post this question in, but I guess the Eros board is as good as any.

The situation I find myself in is that since replacing my beloved Extended Foreplay III with a Beepree, I find myself with a pair of early production 2uf 600V V-cap TFTF's which need to find a new place in my system to reside.

Do these caps have a defined lifespan like Electrolytic caps?  VH Audio doesn't make them anymore and if they did I couldn't afford them now.  They have a lot [really a lot] of hours on them and I don't want to put them in another amp if they are going to die and take other components with them, which I have unfortunately had happen before. 

If I should be giving them a new home,  I'm not sure where to put them  - in my Eros [presently has 1uf ClarityCap MR caps], in my Beepree [presently has 10uf Rike Audio S-caps] or in my Paramounts [presently have 3.3uf Mundorf Supreme Silver & Oil caps.]

I'm about to put the BeeQuiet attenuator upgrade in the BeePree and will probably have to remove and re-situate the caps to make it fit, so I thought this would be the time to figure out what to do with the V-caps.

So what do you think would be the best place to put them - the Eros, the BeePree or in the Paramounts?  or should I just be happy that they haven't failed yet.

thanks for your opinions

Bryon

 

[johnsonad]

I can't reply to the lifespan issue but the BH team will.

As far as where to put them, the Eros is overkill.  Solen makes a great Teflon 0.47uF cap that's cheap and a better fit if you want to go that way in the Eros.  For both the BeePre and the Paramount's, it's worth a try but know that you will lose some bass response, especially in the BeePre.  The Paramounts would be the place I tried them first if they were mine.  I bypass Auicaps with V-Caps in my amps and love the combo. 

 

[Natural Sound]

Buy a S.E.X. amp and use them in the parafeed location.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I agree that they should go in the SEX amp, but they are huge!

I would expect the lifetime of that cap to be in the millions of hours.

 

[Bryon]

Thanks for the ideas - you all have made good points that I will have to consider.  It's great to hear that the Vcaps might have a few more hours left in them.

I forgot to mention a few things in my initial post which might have a bearing on your advice.

I listen to vinyl about 99% of the time so putting the Vcaps in the Eros would "catch" almost every bit of music I play. The  Solen Teflon solution is interesting - will .47uf work in the Eros?  I've always been of the opinion that you should make sure your source and the quality of the components nearest the source are the best you can afford. [sort of an electronic equivalent to trickle down economics, though, hopefully, more successful]   

I use an active tube crossover, a Marchand XM26, so the bass response wouldn't be an issue in the Paramounts, as they only deal with frequencies above 200hz.  Would this setup also alleviate some of the bass response problems if the Vcaps were put into the BeePree?  I'm not sure the bass amp could enhance frequencies that were cut off before the signal made its way to it.

I do have a SEX amp that I could put the Vcaps in, but it isn't part of my main system and, as good as the Beepree is, I kind of miss what the Vcaps add, or don't add, to the sound. 

Maybe I should put a pair of Solen Teflons in the Eros, the Vcaps in the Paramounts, and leave the Beepree as good.

thanks again for your input

Bryon

 

[Paul Birkeland]

What is the high pass frequency you have set on your active crossover?

 

[Bryon]

I'd have to open it up to know for sure but if I remember correctly it is either 180hz or 200hz