Question About Capacitor Upgrade in Tube Amp

@alexberger 

Yes the Mundorfs seemed to be a best bang for the buck. I found an online dealer selling them around $30-$40 each depending on the value for SGO Supremes.

And while the Willsenton at around $900 plus shipping might seem to be a cheap amp compared to other equipment discussed on here I do have to say that it sounds on a completely higher level than my Luxman or Naim soild state amps when paired with the Forte IV speakers. Like sitting in the front row of a jazz club. The music surrounds you and you can pick out the location of all the instruments. Mind you that is with Lumin U1 and Denafrips Venus II front end.

I firmly believe that we should support products from USA, UK, and others as opposed to from some other locations with questionable governments but if you are looking at buying products like Line Magnetic, PrimaLuna, Cayin, Icon Audio....The Willsenton and Muzishare can also be considered from the same factories and for less than half the price. Maybe just benefiting from a few capacitor upgrades as I have done.

People should also be aware that dealers from this country of origin can be pretty sketchy so for some the extra cost of a USA based dealer with the other brands is well worth it....but that is another discussion entirely.

And while the Willsenton at around $900 plus shipping might seem to be a cheap amp compared to other equipment discussed on here I do have to say that it sounds on a completely higher level than my Luxman or Naim soild state amps when paired with the Forte IV speakers. Like sitting in the front row of a jazz club. The music surrounds you and you can pick out the location of all the instruments.

I don’t doubt this observation at all. SET if properly implemented will connect you with the core of the music. Exceptional naturalness and realism  in my listening experience.

Charles

there was an improvement in frequency response and lower distortion replacing the cheap factory caps with one of better and different material construction.

Did you measure the C or look up the ESR and ESL of the caps or just read the value printed on the schematics / old cap?

Did you measure the frequency response, distortion, phase shift, transient response, etc. or just listen?

@calieng 

Does anyone know how the power supply bypass capacitor effects high end frequency response?

Capacitors have properties Capacitance, Equivalent Series Resistance [ERS] and Equivalent Series Inductance [ESL], all of which are frequency dependent. Dielectrics, foils, leads and geometry affect the frequency response of these properties. At some frequency the combination of these properties will make the system self-resonant. Hence a band limited digital system may exhibit different response when fed by a disc system with much higher bandwidth.

Most think the capacitors just filter the DC from the rectifiers. However, current flows in @ 60/120Hz [50/100Hz] and out of the capacitor bank @ DC to many kHz.

Add in additional effects of construction, circuit design, wiring, printed or otherwise, program, level, related equipment, environmental conditions and universality approaches ZERO.

The expectation that the sonic effect in one device will translate to all others is pure fantasy.

The expectation that the sonic effect in one device will translate to all others is pure fantasy

Yet experienced listeners who try better regarded capacitors report consistently of improved sound quality. I don’t believe that this is coincidence. Upgrading coupling capacitors will far more often than not improve sonic performance. I believe what they say they hear.

Charles

Upgrading capacitors is a no-brainer. Ditto resistors, wire, tubes, sockets, transformers, connectors, layout, etc. 

Expecting 'warmer mids' or 'silky highs' when installing Caps-4-Bux or any other component change in myriad divers applications is hubris.

The lack of rigor in accommodating environmental and CBLF changes negate generalized comments.