2. amps-preamps
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Preamp Caps?Auricap,Mundorf, Hovland, jensen,solen

Hello,
I have a preamp with only 2 Signal caps directly in front of two tubes shot right out to the amps, extreme simplicity and excellent sound. This is the first preamp that came stock with Auricap's I have owned or heard, most in the past have always had Multicaps, Kimber caps in my previous pre's. I can say I think the Auricaps are quite a bit better but not that expensive or the end all-be all that I understand. Now I have had some crossovers and a Preamp with Solen fastcaps in it, and they are the best in Bass I have heard out of all of them, not that it makes them superior just an observation. I have also purchased Jensens oil and put them in Tube equipment in the past, not bad but did not blow my doors off.. And Finally Hovlands, not my Cup if you know what I mean, I found them the most expensive and the least impressive, could be the mix of component used in, but whatever too dry for me. Mundorf is a little newer on the scene to me and I thought the Hovlands were pretty obscene in cost, however these are the new Cost and hype leaders from what I can tell today. I am considering trying the Mundorf Silver in oil supreme caps at no small cost to see if they are gonna create more magic than the Auricaps. . What is the character of this cap? I want very 3d and open yet still have some intimate warmth and very powerful bass. Is this a cap worth venturing over all the other explanations I left here? Needs a liquid sound, and get that fairly deep bass solen seems to be capable of for only a couple dollars a cap, cause I do not want to soften the already slightly soft Tube bass. Thanks to all that know about this tweaking and expereance with these caps . . Again its only 2 Caps, very easy to install so its hard to keep my hands off, but do not want to go backwards or waste the cause if its not gonna be very significant in this specific application, Anybody know of any good tube equipment or preamps using these mundorf super caps? By the way my tubes are Mullards NOS. Preamp manufacture would seem to be irrelevant here and yes I am pretty dang happy with the sound for the money already, but there is always more right 
undertow
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
I've used Mundorf Supreme S/Os as couplers in a couple pieces of equipment. Altho I'm no GEA who can hear all kinds of subtle differences, I found the MSS/Os to be rather clean and detailed (but never edgy) yet a tad warm sounding. You may well love their sound.

That said, I now use Cardas Golden Ratio as my 'affordable' cap and SoniCap Platinum as my best-money-can-buy cap. The CGRs are more tonally neutral than the MSS/O while not losing any of music's harmonic richness. The SPs are even cleaner and quicker than the CGRs. Since you need only 2 caps, do consider the SCPs. If you need a large value, say, more than a couple microFarads, you might consider a large CGR bypassed with a SCP.

http://www.soniccraft.com/products/capacitors/film.htm

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matrix
305 posts
 
Jeffreybehr, never knew about those. I will check them out, Thanks
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 
The V-Cap Teflon is one of the coupling caps in existance. There really aren't any paper and oil parts that challenge it. Paper and oil is nice, but in nearly all of them there is a slightly shelved high frequency character (mind you- not a rolloff) that causes them to have an overly delicate character. Nice for a lot of things but annoying if you play the complete range of music on your system.

Good Teflons like the V-Cap are also smooth, but actually have more detail without the price of a bright coloration. Certainly they are more detailed than paper and oils with considerably more neutrality. Paper and Oil caps can develop electrical leakage over time that can damage other parts- this is something that most other dielectrics including Teflon don't tend to do!

If you want a musical instrument (but not a musical reproducer), paper and oils will be a good choice. If you actually want music itself, you'll have to go with Teflon, and the V-Cap is one of the best out there.
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