Audio Research LS2B mk2 cap ugrade


Looking at upgrading the caps to V Caps and although expensive they have good reviews. I have also read not to fill up on these, in otherwords don't replace all of them with V Caps, because of the sonic signature they would give. So my question is, what would you do ?

Audio Research LS2B mk2
Classe CA 400
Pioneer PD R19rw ( for now )
Dali Grande
Cardas NR
slikric3000
I disagree with that. You should retain the same coupling cap values. Changing the value of the coupling caps to smaller values may cause the low frequency bandwidth to shift and possibly cause more phase shift below 10Hz. Keep the values the same. I have updated many ARC products and I don't stray from their values. Also, whatever cap you decide to use for the 5 mfd., change out the .01 as well with the same brand cap. Don't mix them. Were you planning on replacing the film bypass caps in the power supply as well?
Hifigeek1, That's why I mentioned the Classe amp's input impedance which is fairly high. As I recall, it is 68K. It is true that a lower value output coupling cap will cause the bass to roll off sooner, but in this case it won't have any practical effect. A 5uf cap into a 68,000 ohm input impedance will have a -3db roll off frequency of 0.46 Hz. That's virtually DC. Lowering the cap value to 1uf will increase the -3db frequency to 2.3 Hz. Not a problem. It could be a problem with a very low impedance amp but the LS2 isn't really designed to drive low-Z loads.

A more practical issue is the cost of V-Caps. For the TFTF V-Caps, a pair of 1uf caps will cost $405. A pair of 3.3uf caps (the largest value) will cost $1050.
Replace the caps on the power supply bypass, I could yes. Trying to get ideas of what to do with this thread and articles that are on the net. There are caps on the board listed as 625 and the equivelent with V Caps are rated @ 600v, I dunno if that will be an issue, I have no knowledge of electronis except what I can edjucate myslef with. Upgrading with sheilding and other stuff may not be anymore than a tweak, I have talked to a company does upgrade work and that is some of the upgrade work they can do. I am lookin for the best impact, I'm thinking it will be in the caps. But I don't wanna go overboard too much with stuff like sheilding and this and that when I can put that money towards a ARD Ref 1 when the funds come into great supply, I had a chance to get a Ref 1 a few years back for $3200 and I am still kicking myself for not doing it. But when I say get a Ref 1 the LS2B can be run on the SE part of the amp, I always use 2 preamps, with it, SE and BAL.
The voltage rating isn't an issue. The voltage is a maximum rating; as long as you operate the caps at less than the maximum, you're ok. The highest voltage in the LS2 is around 425v. A cap rated at 450v or above will do fine.

I still think you will get the most bang for the investment out of a pair of 1uf V-Caps on the output. Beyond that, I would be thinking about replacing the preamp with something else. By the way, I would also recommend using the V-Caps without a small bypass cap. That's what the V-Cap mfr recommends, and I prefer them that way in my own equipment.
The input, I think if it follows suit with the rest of Classe amps because Classe does not list the manual and without sending a email to Classe, the 100-101 and 200-201 are 75 kohms while the 300-301 and 400-401 are 16 kohms.