CAPS

[evan1]

I've been thinking about upgrading the capacitors on my Odyssey Candela preamp. Anyone have any suggestions. I do no want to spend much money . The Candela has Sonicaps in it. I would like to keep the upgrade between 100-150.00. Mike get Carl ready with his soldering iron /

[Face]

What value and voltage?  How much space do you have?  How are you looking to change the sound?

[evan1]

What value and voltage?  How much space do you have?  How are you looking to change the sound?

Not looking for anything in particular just wanting to see what the outcome would be. They are 1 microfarad not to sure on the voltage .heres a pic of the inside

[richidoo]

Looks like you have the 600V version judging by the width. They are input or output coupling caps, so you will hear a difference, for better or worse.

I would try these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=027-766
$18.54 each

They are .4" longer than what you have now. The leads can be bent under the cap to go back into the PCB. There is enough room between the caps to fit the extra length. Silver film at a reasonable price, and Jantzen caps are well reviewed.

You can read the review of your current caps, along with the Jantzens and many other candidates. Obbligato is another popular upgrade cap with good price/performance. http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

[Rob S.]

Hey, those insides look familiar.  Evan, let me know how your project goes, you're braver than I am.
I'll be staying tuned. 

Rob

[topround]

I would try the Auricaps...cheap and delicious

[Face]

Looks like you have the 600V version judging by the width. They are input or output coupling caps, so you will hear a difference, for better or worse.

I would try these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=027-766
$18.54 each

They are .4" longer than what you have now. The leads can be bent under the cap to go back into the PCB. There is enough room between the caps to fit the extra length. Silver film at a reasonable price, and Jantzen caps are well reviewed.

That's an excellent recommendation.  The Mundorf Silver/Oil is another great cap in your budget.  I also love the Claritycap MR as a coupling cap, but it's much larger, physically.

You can read the review of your current caps, along with the Jantzens and many other candidates. Obbligato is another popular upgrade cap with good price/performance. http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

There is no direction correction between the sound of capacitors used in signal level caps versus crossover caps.  Different applications can sometimes produce very different sounds.

I would try the Auricaps...cheap and delicious

Yes, and sans the leads, the construction is very similar to Sonic Caps, I'd pass for this application.

[bpape]

All depends on what you want the sound to be.  Ven Haus OIMP's, Ven Haus Teflon, and the silvers (not heard these) will likely have completely different characters.

Another option would be to leave those in place and simply bypass them with something yummy.

Bryan

[evan1]

All depends on what you want the sound to be.  Ven Haus OIMP's, Ven Haus Teflon, and the silvers (not heard these) will likely have completely different characters.

Another option would be to leave those in place and simply bypass them with something yummy.

Bryan

Can you tell me what you mean by bypass. My neighbor has the VH in his Spectron. Forget which ones though . Plus those are to rich for me right now.

[evan1]

the mundorf silver/oil seems to be a happy middle as far as price and that may be a starting point. I'm very happy with my sound. I'm just curious. When I had my Salk Songtowers I spoke to Jim about upgrading the caps in the crossover and even though he offered the option he felt it wasn't worth the 400.00 upgrade.

[Barry (NJ)]

Can you tell me what you mean by bypass. My neighbor has the VH in his Spectron. Forget which ones though . Plus those are to rich for me right now.

Hey Evan, By-Pass equates to leaving the stock cap in place but adding a lesser value but higher-quality cap in parallel. This tends to give the sound quality of the more expensive cap with the reserves of the less expensive cap already there. YMMV

[evan1]

Can you tell me what you mean by bypass. My neighbor has the VH in his Spectron. Forget which ones though . Plus those are to rich for me right now.

Hey Evan, By-Pass equates to leaving the stock cap in place but adding a lesser value but higher-quality cap in parallel. This tends to give the sound quality of the more expensive cap with the reserves of the less expensive cap already there. YMMV

Sounds like you would want to do this so you don't have to pull out the old ones ? Just 1 less step for us lazy people ? what other advantages. If you put in a better Cap it should be better ?

[richidoo]

You can bypass with these:

True polyprop film and tin foil cap, not metallized film. 400V.  $0.74 ea
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?PartNumber=027-450  
Dayton caps overall are very good. Regular Dayton metallized poly caps are used as main coupling caps (unbypassed) in Carl's and Shane's Belles preamps, which sound great.

Or these Vishay polyester caps that I use a lot, they are excellent. 400V. $0.89 ea

Both of these are only rated 400V, while your stock caps are 600V. I think it is only because with Sonicaps the other choice is only 200V which is too low for your 225-300V tubes. For a tube preamp running 250V B+ these 400V caps should be enough, but you have to ask Klaus to know for sure. You could also ask him what's his favorite cap in that spot. I  bet he has tried a lot of them.

Ideally a bypass cap should be ~1/100th the size of the main cap, so you would need .01uF (aka 10nF). It is a good idea to try a bypass, they can make a big difference for little money.  Be careful not to equate big money with great sound, especially with caps. There are some good cheap caps. But generally the very best caps are gonna be pricey. If you can afford the Mundorfs that's a good choice. But be prepared for extreme increase in resolution, not everybody wants that from a tube preamp, but usually it is nice to hear even more of the tubes goodness.

The Mundorf Silver in Oil is 1/4" longer than what you have (TWSS) so it should fit the board OK.  

[evan1]

I've narrowed it down to either the Mundorf silver/oil or the silver/gold/oil . I will let you know what happens

[Face]

True polyprop film and tin foil cap, not metallized film. 400V.  $0.74 ea
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?PartNumber=027-450  
Dayton caps overall are very good. Regular Dayton metallized poly caps are used as main coupling caps (unbypassed) in Carl's and Shane's Belles preamps, which sound great.

I've tried Daytons as coupling caps in a few amps and preamps and I thought they were awful, same for Jantzen standards.  I found Nichicon FG and Muse electrolytic caps an improvement.  YMMV of course.