[gatesgt]

Hoping to receive some suggestions on capacitors that would make the M451 sound even better then it does.

[Tarzan]

In the summer l think l may go for the Clarity MR upgrade or some some nice Audionotes......... the world is your lobster, just try to get some that fit the sound you are looking for, l just went battery powered and for the money it is a big leap in sound quality

[gatesgt]

Thanks for your feedback. I have been eyeballing some caps at Madisound and will probably try them soon. I too used a battery on my One.2 for a while before we moved across the country. I did a home-made 24v rig with a couple of Panasonic UPS batteries. Hard to believe the already quiet background got even more black. The Virtue's are have amazing current capabilities when they are not restrained by the power supply.

[Tarzan]

Thanks for your feedback. I have been eyeballing some caps at Madisound and will probably try them soon. I too used a battery on my One.2 for a while before we moved across the country. I did a home-made 24v rig with a couple of Panasonic UPS batteries. Hard to believe the already quiet background got even more black. The Virtue's are have amazing current capabilities when they are not restrained by the power supply.

Do let us know how you get on.

[Jason T]

the Clarity MR caps are amazing and I have done many mods using them with great results.
you wont regret using them, however they need to be installed with great care and you will need to heat shrink the leads due to them being raw and you dont want that touching anything.

[jb26]

Hi, are you only looking at capacitor upgrades or other items as well?

[cynan]

A question about the Clarity MR caps. Do they also benefit from the platinum bypass capacitors? Excuse my ignorance, but what do the bypass caps actually accomplish?

I have the 2.2 uf Auricaps that came stock. I like how they provide a slight bit of warmth and smoothness as one of my sources is a bit on the bright side of neutral. Jason raves about the Clarity MR. I have no doubt they are excellent, but from what I've read, it seems that they excel at opening up the sound stage a bit more and perhaps provide more detail, which makes me think they might rob some of the warmth the auricaps offer?

I like the idea of the tube buffer as this would theoretically allow me to use a tube that added a bit of warmth that was defeatable for other sources - but it looks like I missed the window on the tube buffer.

[Jason T]

I cant speak for everyone here but what the Clarity caps did for me (which is also the reason I started offering them) was open things up. soundstage got bigger more detail appeared (allot of people mistake added highs for detail but thats not the case)
better instrument separation, bigger better more detailed bass, congestion is gone.

in a nutshell they seemed to clear things up all around in my system.

I may be biased here however doubtful if you ask around 
lets see if we can get some others to chime in here.

[cynan]

Thanks for the response, Jason.

Is this comparison vs the Auricaps, Sonicaps or just most caps in general?

The Clarity MRs seem like a no-brainer. A bit more bass authority from the Sensation can't hurt either (its only "weakness").

Do you run platinum bypass caps in parallel with the Clarity Caps? Why or why not?

Parts Connexion is still stocking the Clarity MRs. $60 for the 2.2 uf  and ~$71 for the 3.3 uf versions. Do you think it's worth the extra ~$25 or so to go for the larger ones?

Finally, what diameter heat shrink do you find works best for these caps?

[Jason T]

I've changed amps from all types of caps to the mr's my amp had auricaps in it.

I don't use the bypass caps. With a cap as good as the MR caps I didn't notice a difference.

go with the 3.1 or 3.3's if they have them especially if your looking for more bass.

I have some 1/8" 3:1 heat shrink that I use. It doesn't have to fit tightly it just needs to protect the leads from touching anything.
you'll find that you will need to make the diameter of the caps leads smaller in order to fit them into the circuit board. I typically use my dremel tool for doing so.
also be sure to solder through to both sides of the board. The left channel has one of its traces on the top, the rest are on the bottom.

[satori]

Hello, has anyone had chance to compare any Mundorf Supreme Silver/Oil caps with Clarity MR caps? I've heard great things about both the Mundorf and Clarity caps, so I'm curious to know why the Clarity MR's are more popular in this forum. Is it simply an availability issue?

[jeffh]

Parts Connexion is still stocking the Clarity MRs. $60 for the 2.2 uf  and ~$71 for the 3.3 uf versions. Do you think it's worth the extra ~$25 or so to go for the larger ones?

Madisound has the 3.1uf and 3.3uf on sale for $49.00.

[Jason T]

WOW thats a good deal!