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Audiocap Theta Audyn True Copper Mundorf Supreme

I had opportunity recently to change out and A-B the Audiocap Theta, Audyn True Copper, and Mundorf Supreme capacitors in my Kora Hermes DAC. Steve Sank of Talking Dog Transducer Company Tucson, modified my DAC with some screw in connectors which allowed me to change the Caps out with little difficulty.

The original Solen Caps in the Kora sounded good, yet not near as good as the Theta or True Copper and and are perhaps best served with use in the power supply rather than the signal path as used in the Kora Hermes DAC.

All of these caps are highly regarded. I am not going to engage in an exhaustive comparison, just give the general impression of these capacitors and compare some differences in my system which now consists of a Kora Hermes DAC or Cary 308T playing into an Almarro 318B Amp, with Zu Druid Speakers and Transparent MM2 Super speaker cables.

The Audiocap Theta and Audyn True Copper were the best of the lot. The Mundorf Supreme to me seemed a little less 3D and spacial than the others and sounded slightly glassy to me. Hard to pinpoint it, but something about the sound seemed a little off in my system.

The Audyn True Copper vs the Audiocap Theta was a more interesting comparison. They both sound wonderful and both excel at what they do and both project a different sonic signature.

To me, both the Audiocap Theta and Audyn True Copper are very alive, vibrant and musical. Both have great 3D imaging and have great bass midrange and treble presence. The Theta project a little more forward and revealing sound in the upper midrange and treble, and the Audyn True Copper have an impressively rich bass and midrange and are a little more linear in the treble region. The treble with the Audyn is still nicely present, open and alive , just a little less vibrant than the Theta. The True Copper do not sound dull at all. I would say that voices sound perhaps just a little warmer than real life in a very good way. The Audiocap Theta, seem to go ever so slightly the other way, rendering voices a bit more vibrant and detailed than real life, but never harsh or sterile or any of that.

Both sound wonderful. Which is better is probably system and taste dependent. If you want to maintain warmth yet want a little more detail in your system, the Theta is probably the best choice, if you would like to warm your system slightly with richer mids and a more linear upper treble which perhaps colors the sound slightly warmer than real life in a very nice way, the Audyn True Copper may be your capacitor.

Although I was hard put to find space for the mini beer cap and expensive Audn True Copper, I ended choosing the Audyn True Copper as I wanted a touch more texture, body, and richness in the midrange, and was still very pleased at how the Audyn Caps maintained a good treble presence and naturalness to the sound. However, the Theta offered a more energy and shimmer with a vivid portrayal of the sound from the upper midrange through treble that I would have liked to keep also. Apparently, there is always a tradeoff.

The difference in sound reminds me a little of the difference I heard comparing the Transparent MM2 Super speaker cable to the Acoustic Zen Satori. The Satori were very natural, warm, and revealing and never strident or harsh and the Transparent cable had mids which were slightly warmer, and gave up just a little in the highs.

It seems everything in your system balances others and contributes toward the net sound. I now wonder, having warmed the sound of my system with the Transparent MM2 Super speaker cables, and the Audyn True Copper capacitors, if I might have better synergy with the more open Satori speaker cables. With the Satori speaker cables in place, both capacitors would have sounded slightly more forward and my impression of both may have changed a little.

In a nutshell, if you do not mind coloring your sound slightly warmer than real life, I highly recommend the Audyn True Copper capacitors if you have space in your gear and the money for them. They a have great 3D soundstange and a rich and natural open sound to them across the sound spectrum with a full warm midrange presence that is the best I have heard.
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audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,134 posts
 
I would go one step further. In my Spatial audio M4 speakers I was using the new Evo  silver gold oil caps . These huge caps are 70% bigger and they just slightly upgraded to a max version make 2% better. These are a great cap IMO
Better then Mundorfs best much more fleshed out not quite as airy on top but more real and forgiving especially with all the crappie recordings out there.
Vs the Jupiter caps these Audyn Copper true caps are more fleshed out then the HT or flat stacked Jupiter caps .the Jupiter Copper are richer and slightly deeper 
But for example the Audyn  1.5uf is $ 55  esch, Munrorf $115 and Jupiter Copper
Over $200. Without question the Audyn Copper ,and max which are almost same price ,but not in US yet parts connection is dragging their feet Best buy of any high end capacitor Period They take a minimum of 300 hours to fully runin in though.
sherod
1,690 posts
 
I have to agree with the great sound of the new Audyn True Copper Max. I have been experimenting with many caps in my preamp outputs for many years now. I tried Hovland Musicap, Claritycap MR, Duelund VSF, Ampohm oil, and Stealthcap. All had their pros and cons. So I ordered a matched pair of the new TC Max from Hifi Collective in England. They have been running for about 200 hours now and although there was still a slight thickness in the sound up to this point, I can hear things that are starting to make me smile. That thickness is going away and the timbre, tonality and dynamics are sounding very lifelike. I am hearing music now in a better way than I had with any previous cap. They are starting to become my new favorite in this position. I also ordered a pair to try in the tweeter crossover of my Reference 3a Dulcet and MMC speakers. This will be my next project assuming I still see the improvements in the preamp outputs. I currently have an Audyn Tri-reference cap in my MMC monitors and they are amazing. If the TC Max is that much better then I should be set for a while. The 3.3uf and 4.7uf TC Max are huge in size and weight. I had to do some crazy shoe-horning in my preamp to fit them in. 
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,601 posts
 

Thanks! for sharing. Love the MM2 series of Transparent cabling.

Happy Listening!

bigkidz
3,381 posts
 
I recently tried the Audyn copper caps in the Direct Heated Tube DAC I make.  I have been using the V-Cap PIO with great success.  The copper cap presented a deeper sound stage and a different sound but overall in my design I preferred the V-caps.  What voltage cap are you using?  I tried the 2.0 250V but found the sound of the 1.0 600v to be an improvement.  Also try installing Caddock resistor as your output resistors TF020R (I think) 1 MEG size,  Expensive but an improvement.
barrysandy
192 posts
 
I’m rather partial to the Jupiter Copper Foil Paper & Wax caps in electronics (not the ones mentioned above). Very nice. Manageable size. Just used them in a major parts replacement in my Pass Labs XVR-1 3 way XO. Helps to burn them in on a cable cooker first.  These are used in the higher level Lampizator DACs, one reason I decided to try them.
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