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Black Gates - Standard vs FK/Non-Polars

Hi guys,

I replaced 12 stock electrolytic caps (teapo) in the signal path of my amp with 10 Standard and 2 Non-Polar Black Gates, and after 2 months of burn-in, the sound is better in some ways (lower noise, better detail and resolution) but tonally it has become a little colder and leaner, which is not of my liking.

I was wondering if by using Black Gates Npolar or FK instead of the Standard ones would I recover some warmth in the midbass, or if it would be about the same.

Does anybody have experience with the different Black Gates? are they tonally different? Or should try something different like maybe Nichicon Muse?

Thanks for any input.

Jov
jdec
forrestc
114 posts
 
I replaced all the electrolytics in my old Threshold SL-10 preamp with Blackgate Standards, and was totally blown away with how good it sounded after just a little break-in time. Of course, I was replacing 25-year-old dried-out electrolytics with brand new caps.
dgarretson
2,597 posts
 
If truly the caps were couplers in the signal path, you'd do much better with teflon or oil/paper couplers such as REL, V-Cap, or Mundorf. If they are power filtering caps then OK. Personally I prefer the sound of less expensive Rubycon ZA and ZL electrolytics over either type of BG. The small Rubys can be wired in parallel arrays to increase capacitance while decreasing impedance.
jdec OP
123 posts
 
Thank you all for your responses.

To be honest, I don't know which caps are couplers, I just replaced all (12) small caps... that is, I did not replace the big power supply caps (8 of 6,800uF). Is there an easy way for someone without experience (like me) to recognize the coupling caps? are they maybe the very low value caps? (there are one 1uF and one 10uF caps per channel, the others are one 220uF and 3 100uF caps per channel).

Would it be a good idea to try something like REL/Auric/Hovland in place of the current 1uF and/or 10uF electolytics, even if the amp is solid state?

Thanks again for any help.

Jov
dejanm
72 posts
 
You should first check the kind of caps that you are replacing and then to try to find the appropriate replacement. It will not produce big problems I guess but you may end with better results. Here is one useful article about replacing caps:

http://www.bext.com/replace.htm

Another top candidate are Elna caps but to be honest, Black Gates are fine choice.

Concerning the sound that you prefer - warm vs. lean - it may be that the new caps produced improvement in sound, but the improvement that you don't like. It may be that in absolute terms you have better sound now that you like less. And that is much more difficult question to answer ...

Regards
Dejan
pauly
1,012 posts
 
Jov, LOL.

While I will always encourage somebody to tweak, you should do a little research first on the amp. Changing coupling caps makes the biggest difference, so it is worthwhile to locate them and start there.

Another suggestion I would make is to only do two caps at a time. That will give you a good idea of what each tweak brings to the table. It also allows you know where the problem is when something goes wrong. (and that does happen, believe me)

Forget about Auricaps and Hovland caps. The caps Dgarretson mention are good. If they prove a bit pricey, for film caps I would recommend Dynamicaps as a cheaper alternative.

Regards
Paul
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