[Escott1377]

I bought a new pre with the idea to easily change out capacitors.  Please see below:

1. Stock Obbligato gold coupling capacitor is 630V 2.2UF. Capacitance can be 1.5UF – 4.7UF. Voltage needs to be >=350V. Nonpolar.

2. Stock Bennic power filtering bypassing capacitor is 350V 6.8UF. Capacitance can be 0.1UF – 10UF. Voltage needs to be >=350V. Nonpolar.

Obviously Sonic Craft and other web sites have the expensive audio brands.

Can anyone recommend something from Mouser / Parts Express / etc. where they have a successful outcome?

Thanks in advance -

[JCarney]

I may be incorrect, but Obbligato caps are very high quality, I would suggest making sure you are not switching it our for an inferior one.

Best of luck,
JCarney

[Rocket]

Hi,

You might consider checking out Parts Connexion. Most of these boutique components are expensive though.  I also thought Obbigato capacitors were good quality the Bennic's less so.

Cheers Rod

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have used Parts connexion for caps before.  I built a Pass B1 preamp/buffer and messed around with swapping caps.  I tried the Obbligato golds which were nice sounding but settled with Clarity Caps.  The bass had much more slam and was much better controlled.  It was night and day.

[wushuliu]

I bought a new pre with the idea to easily change out capacitors.  Please see below:

1. Stock Obbligato gold coupling capacitor is 630V 2.2UF. Capacitance can be 1.5UF – 4.7UF. Voltage needs to be >=350V. Nonpolar.

2. Stock Bennic power filtering bypassing capacitor is 350V 6.8UF. Capacitance can be 0.1UF – 10UF. Voltage needs to be >=350V. Nonpolar.

Obviously Sonic Craft and other web sites have the expensive audio brands.

Can anyone recommend something from Mouser / Parts Express / etc. where they have a successful outcome?

Thanks in advance -

Obbligato are boutique caps so it won't be cheap to improve on them.

An affordable excellent sounding alternative is the ClarityCap CSA available at Madisound.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I would look at Audyn, MiFlex, Mundorf Evo SilverGold Oil and Supreme Evo Oil in addition to Clarity Caps.  You can do a lot better than the Obbligato Golds which are a nice budget boutique cap but IMHO do not compare to some of the more expensive caps.  You should read up on the sound of some of these caps

http://www.laventure.net/tourist/caps.htm

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html   -This review is for speaker crossovers but I actually found it useful in picking caps for my preamp.

[Escott1377]

I have read different opinions regarding the power caps vs the output caps as far as sound impact.

It seems to me that the output caps would make the biggest difference, but a few pages that I have read say the opposite.

Can anyone speak from experience?

Thanks in advance -

[Tyson]

Input and output caps make the biggest difference.  Bybass caps on the power supply make less of a difference (but still a nice improvement).

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Agree that input and output caps will make the most difference.  I would say that output caps would make the most difference since they are the last in the chain.  In the preamp that I built, I used Mundorf's for the input caps and the higher end Clarity's for the output caps.

By the way, resistors also matter.

[Escott1377]

Thank you for everyone chiming in.

In regards to the capacitor size, is it better to go to the high end of the range that I mentioned?

Storing and dissipating energy is what I learned as an electrical engineer, but have done mechanical for 20 years and obviously never in regards to an audio discussion.

Thanks -

[SET Man]

Hey!

    Beside Sonic Craft, Part Connexion is another good place for fancy high end caps.

    As for what cap is best? I can't say. Beside the issue with the size of the new cap. This is depending onyour pre, how the overall sound of your system right now and what you would like it to be.

    But one thing I can tell you is that more expensive cap doesn't always mean that it will make your pre sound better. So, with that I do recommend that you carefully remove those caps that came with the pre. Take care not to damage them in case you like them better than the new caps so you can put them back in.

   Another thing if possible, break in those caps before you put them in, at least 100hrs. This will save you a lot of time after you put them in your pre. Good luck.

Buddy

   

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Hey!

    Beside Sonic Craft, Part Connexion is another good place for fancy high end caps.

    As for what cap is best? I can't say. Beside the issue with the size of the new cap. This is depending onyour pre, how the overall sound of your system right now and what you would like it to be.

    But one thing I can tell you is that more expensive cap doesn't always mean that it will make your pre sound better. So, with that I do recommend that you carefully remove those caps that came with the pre. Take care not to damage them in case you like them better than the new caps so you can put them back in.

   Another thing if possible, break in those caps before you put them in, at least 100hrs. This will save you a lot of time after you put them in your pre. Good luck.

Buddy

 

Great advice.  And I totally agree with the break in.  I replaced all 12 output caps in my BAT preamp with the stock caps and I thought I ruined the preamp it sounded so bad.  But at the 150 hour mark it was back to sounding like it was supposed to.  And I am getting ready to do it again since one of the caps has gone bad after 5 years.  Unfortunately they don't make that Jensen PIO cap any more so I will be hopefully upgrading to something better.  It is going to be expensive.

[rotarius]

Thank you for everyone chiming in.

In regards to the capacitor size, is it better to go to the high end of the range that I mentioned?

Storing and dissipating energy is what I learned as an electrical engineer, but have done mechanical for 20 years and obviously never in regards to an audio discussion.

Thanks -

The cap value will depend on the amp impedance.  Too small a value and the bass will roll off.  If you want to drive a typical 47k ohm load, 2.2uf is fine, actually anything above 1uf will work in that case.  Pick the smallest value you can get away with as larger the value, the larger is the sound coloration.

[SET Man]

Great advice.  And I totally agree with the break in.  I replaced all 12 output caps in my BAT preamp with the stock caps and I thought I ruined the preamp it sounded so bad.  But at the 150 hour mark it was back to sounding like it was supposed to.  And I am getting ready to do it again since one of the caps has gone bad after 5 years.  Unfortunately they don't make that Jensen PIO cap any more so I will be hopefully upgrading to something better.  It is going to be expensive.

Hey!

    Yeah, the break in... it is real and not voodoo. I actually stop watching one of the audio reviewer on YouTube because after all the time I spent watching his speaker review near the end of the review he said he didn't really break in the speaker he is reviewing! 

   Anyway, you and I have the same problem with the Jensen caps. My amps and pre have Jensen in them. And after 19 years one of the coupling cap failed in my amp last year. And as you already know Jensen is gone. I contacted Part Connexion looking for a comparable replacement, the rep told me that Dueland bought out Jensen and they do have a line of caps "JAM" that is basically Jensen copper PIO caps but better built. Last I check they don't have much there, don't know what Dueland is going to do with this line.

    Well, I tried a few caps and luckily I have a spare pair of Jensen .22uf copper PIO so I put them in and it was back to sound of my amps I've known for the past 20 years.

Buddy

[Escott1377]

I settled on Jantzen Silver Z cap @ 3.9 mf for my output caps.

I bought Mundorf MCap Supreme EVO Oil @ 10 uF as my power caps.

I purchased the Musical Paradise MP-701 MK2 Tube Preamp Pre Amplifier.

Their DAC has been highly praised and I was in dire need of a new pre.

I know this puts me out of the realm of Cheap and Cheerful, hoping the moderator will leave up the thread since everyone has so been so helpful.

So, understanding that the purchase from Parts Connexion can returned, did I make at least a decent choice to start from?

The values somewhat bother me since I do not want them to be too high yet they are under the limits for the device.

Thanks in advance -

[Letitroll98]

If a product bounces into a thread about capacitors that doesn't disqualify the thread from Cheap & Cheerful, you're allowed to purchase whatever you like even though you post in C&C, ha ha.  I hadn't really looked at the 701 before, very interesting that the manufacturer makes it easy to change the coupling caps, heater voltage for tube rolling, and gain setting for different amps.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

If you want a cheap & cheerful film cap that's available at the likes of Mouser and DigiKey, look at the Cornell Dubilier 940C series. https://www.mouser.com/Cornell-Dubilier/Passive-Components/Capacitors/Film-Capacitors/940-Series/_/N-9x371?P=1yycd3vZ1z0zlgf

I recently got a few to try that I have yet to install but it's widely a budget favorite around DIYAudio and AudioKarma. If you read that giant HumbleHomemadeHifi film cap comparison, you may have seen that they are also fans of the 940C

[77SunsetStrip]

I can endorse the CDE 940C series capacitors.  Used them in two speaker crossover rebuild projects with great results.  Discovered them via the Humble Homemade Hifi capacitor review.  If you just scan the numerical ranking, might not appear to stand out.  Read the description and think you will get a different perspective. 

[Escott1377]

I ended up with some jantzen silver caps on the out with the Cornell in the bypass position.  I picked up some clarity caps for the power filter side although I am still unsure what a good investment will be.  The Mundorf was WAY too big and I had read on here about the clarity and seemed to be described as neutral.

Just finished the install today and my pre is running to break in right now.