Where I can buy some of the Russian Teflon caps (KK) for my Seduction?

[Pfenning]

Is Ebay the only source for these? I have some Vitamin Q caps I got from Bottlehead years ago. Is the general opinion that the Russian Teflon's are favorable to the vintage Vitamin Q's? I plan to build Grainger's burn in kit this weekend and start the burn in process on the Vitamin Q's. I'm installing C4S right now, and plan to listen to it for a while, so I'll have time to get them run in.

Thanks, Pfenning

 

[berniebanks]

I bought my KK's from ebay they were shipped our real quick only took a couple of weeks for me to get them.

 

[Grainger49]

In eBay you search for "capacitor teflon" but no more.  The values can be stated as 0.1uF or 0,1uF.  So if you search for one you miss the other.

I've bought from several of the sellers.  They come in 10 days to two weeks.

 

[Pfenning]

Should I swap out all the capacitors for teflon's except the power supply capacitors? Are there other parts upgrades in Seduction that I should be considering? I got lucky on the tube lottery when I purchased it (yes it's one of the first runs of Seductions) and got Amprex bugle boy gold pin tubes. I haven't done any tube rolling. Any suggestions for other tubes to try?

Thanks, Pfenning

 

[berniebanks]

I started a thread here http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,2403.0.html a while back which asked pretty much the same questions.

 

[Grainger49]

Bernie,

Spot on!

Pfenning,

If you bought from the first run you probably need to change the tubes.  I did too and I have changed them out 6 times or more.  

BTW, I just bought a pair of 0.47uF@200V from Alexer1.  I have bought from him a half dozen times, both tubes and capacitors.

Since the pictures in the other thread are now gone here is one.  The HUGE ones in front are 0.47uF@200V:

 

[Pfenning]

Do you think my tubes are worn out? My system was packed away for several years, so they haven't seen thousands of hours of use. I have an old tube tester, I should dig it out and test them. Sorry for doubling up on the topic Bernie had. I read through all the pages and didn't see it.

Pfenning

 

[Paul Joppa]

I'll post some notes on cap changes and tube lifetime in the Seduction section.

 

[ironbut]

You guys ever see voltage rating for the .47uF teflons higher than 200v?
I have tons of .22 that go all the way up to 1kv but not the .47 ?

 

[Grainger49]

The highest value I have seen is a 0.22uF at 600V.  There are reports of a 1.0uF at a 500V and a 4.7 at 125V but these are as scarce as hen's teeth.  

There are 0.47uF at 200V and 0.22uF at 1000V (not often seen), 600V and 200V (often found) available.

 

[sl-15]

i am currently looking into a cap upgrade for my seduction. after some reading and research i can not believe how cheap these russian caps are on ebay. are they really any good you wonder. i am torn between russian paper in oil or teflon's for the output caps. what does KK stand for btw? any insight on PIO versus Teflon? thanks!

 

[Grainger49]

The way I figure it the USSR Military didn't pay any royalties to DuPont for using Teflon.  The AuriCap Teflon and V-Cap Teflon caps sound better but the USSR surplus Teflon are the great bang for the buck caps out there.  The drawback is that they don't come in large values or very high voltages.

 

[Doc B]

The way I figure it the USSR Military didn't pay any royalties to DuPont for using Teflon. 

How do you know they didn't buy it from Dupont? The titanium used in the SR-71 was bought from the USSR.

 

[Grainger49]

I don't, but they are so cheap. 

 

[sl-15]

anybody can shine some light on what KK stands for? thanks.

 

[Paul Joppa]

Kommie Kaps. Out of date now.

 

[Grainger49]

KK=Kommie Kap, an affectionate nick name.

I didn't know what Wanderer says below about them being marked under that name.  Makes sense.

They were called that when we had a group buy of some 0.1uF@500V for the Paramours way back on the old forum.  That is what I have always heard them referred to.  The same name can refer to all USSR military surplus caps.  I have some fine sounding PIO 2.2uF@200 that I bought a drawer of (well, a dozen).  I still have 4 left.

 

[Wanderer]

anybody can shine some light on what KK stands for? thanks.

I believe it's "Kommie Kap" 'cause somebody sold them under that name for a while,  but I stand ready to be corrected.

A little "Googling" around I it seems I don't know what I am talking about. Type "KK" seems to be an ac coupling cap but I don't have a better answer and hope somebody else does. 

               Kevin R-M

 

[tpatton]

Someone may have said this already, but I'd do an eBay Search for "Russian Teflon FT-3 capacitors" and then look for listings by Ural Spirit.  Real name Dmitriy, and in my repeated experience a great guy to work with.  Buying a lot reduces the price (counting in the shipping) per cap, making them very cheap, and IMO they sound as good as any cap I've used, including Mundorf Premium Silver/Oil.  I've even made a clear improvement on a fancy pair of Black Gate caps, one of the fancy types, F or K (if memory serves), by using 0.1 uf FT-3's as bypasses.

 

[tpatton]

I have a pair of .22 uF FT-3's in my Seduction, where the stock value is about double that.  Output caps, but I don't notice any bothersome loss of low frequencies.  They're physically big, and using two per channel would make things crowded, though I was prepared to do it in a larger custom chassis if I had to.  But I didn't have to.