Upgrading Quicksilver preamp or amp caps -- warranty impact?

If you work on the amp changing caps, if its not done at the factory you void the warranty plain and simple. To get around this problem we offer coupling cap options. We use the copper foil V-Caps as they are some of the most neutral made, and have the further advantage of reliability.

That latter aspect is important. We've auditioned a lot of parts and one thing I've noticed is that while nearly all of the paper and oil capacitors sound excellent, over time they can develop a slight amount of electrical leakage. In an amplifier circuit this can throw off the operating point or bias of the circuit! That in turn can fry power tubes and output transformers- definitely not for the faint of heart to put it lightly.


So you might want to consider that when looking into boutique capacitors.

@atmasphere  Thanks. I'm not touching it while it's in warranty!

@hilde45, regardless of how quiet the system sounds, it can be quieter. If you look at the specs for self noise, metal film are good, but are far from the best. The lower you can bring down the noise floor, the more micro info will be uncovered. I can't post an attachment here, but if you google vishay metal film self noise, you should be able to find the PDF vishay published a few years ago.

@johnss I hear you -- and you make a good point about the effects which will become evident once the noise floor is lowered. I remember the early flat screen TV's. How great they looked. And then came the true black OLED technology -- and boy, did we realize now what we didn't realize then. I trust this is the kind of truth you're referring to, and I'm game to experience it.

Sitting here listening with my MD FM tuner, and its hard to believe I’m listening to radio - upgraded caps in the tuner, DAC, preamp, mono amps. Depth, transparency, micro detail, decay. Piano and guitars just sound amazingly good even with FM, and better with streaming too.

One of the most affordable and effective upgrades with my past three systems. In every case it brought my integrated, preamps, amps to a truly enjoyable level of listening. If you do it, don’t skimp, buy really good caps. +1 what @johnss said too. Will never forget my first modded CD player.  Extra high quality parts make a real difference.