[Mama Virtue]

All I have to say is good luck fitting those monsters in a TWO.2 chassis!

[WC]

All I have to say is good luck fitting those monsters in a TWO.2 chassis!

That seems difficult to do. Even harder to do in a THREE.1 chasis with all the extra stuff in it.

[geared4me]

All I have to say is good luck fitting those monsters in a TWO.2 chassis!

Ah,the Two.2 "Hunchback" edition. 

[Jason T]

I am happy to report that the break in is coming along nicely. Most of the brightness has gone and a much smoother more extended treble is emerging. The sound of the M901 with the auricaps was slightly warm with big bass and smooth highs that were slightly rolled off,a very pleasant inviting sound.

With the clarity mr caps the sound now has more drive to it with deeper tighter bass. The mids are very neutral,but not cold,with a much greater clarity. The treble is now more open and airy with great extension. The sound has really come to life with a density of information and spacial cues that had been supressed with the auricaps. The sound from my speakers pretty much filled the room before this upgrade but now it has made my walls disappear with sound that surrounds me seemingly coming from a room away.

The opening to Avatar has a strong drum strike that really sets the mood. This drum stroke rolled through the room from front to back before but now it sounds like I am in a vast open space when that stroke hits and it rolls past with more authority and more clearly defined.

I felt that the sound with the auricaps was balanced toward the lower midrange and softened at the low bass and upper treble. The clarity mr caps seem to be giving a completely balanced range from top to bottom. This additional range makes the amp sound more dynamic and more live. The initial brightness is being replaced with a more real sounding metalic bite to cymbals. All of the sounds that used to lurk in the back of the mix or that were almost totally obscured are now brought out to hear more clearly. The best way that I can sum it up is that the sound is vibrant and full with so much densely packed information and spacial cues that I am hearing familiar music and movies in a totally different way.

I have to say that I am a bit shocked by the difference in sound between yesterday at 7pm when I listened to Bluetech's Sines and Singularities and when I listened to it this morning at 11am. The sound has really opened up and smoothed out while exposing more of the hidden sounds in the mix.

If you can't tell by now I am very satisfied with this upgrade and can't wait to hear what the amp sounds like in a few more days.

Duane

thanks for sharing, I really like the Clarity caps and on my system using many different speakers I have yet to find a cap that will better them.
in my opinion they are more neutral across the board than other caps.

I'm fairly certain you will keep hearing small changes in the caps for about 300hrs, keep us informed.

Duane, do me a favor and listen for a bit without the buffer on and let us know what you think for those guys without buffers that are thinking about a cap upgrade.

Guys for any of you interested the Mod I did for Duane consisted of Clarity Cap MR-3.3uf caps, Auric 18awg wire in twisted pairs (2 per + 2 per -) and costs $220, you pay shipping both ways.

[geared4me]

I have finished comparing the upgraded amp with and without the tube buffer in-line. The results were the same for every movie/music selection I tried. This turned out to be much more interesting than I had expected as I thought it was going to be quick and easy in favor of the tube buffer. With the stock amp I always prefered the tube buffer on to give the sound a little added liquidity and space. The upgraded amp with the tube buffer on also gives the sound a little added liquidity and space but the sound is also a little more diffuse with a little less body and it is a little brighter making the sound a little more vivid. With the tube buffer off on the upgraded amp the sound is a little less spacious and a little less liquid but it is a little more focused with more defined images that have a little more body to them partly because the bass is better defined. The tube buffer also has a little better decay to notes as they trail off into space but then again this may be because it sounds a little further away to begin with. I am having a much harder time deciding which one I prefer and it usually just comes down to the material being played. For most of the movie selections I prefered the buffer off but for most of my music listening I prefered the buffer on for that added space.

Listening to the upgraded amp with the tube buffer off has really made me realize what an upgrade this is. If the amp had sounded like this to begin with I don't think I would have gone for the tube buffer,unless curiosity got the better of me. Now the amp can sound like a very good solid state amp or a very good tube amp at the flick of a switch which is just mind boggling to me. Don't get me wrong on this though,the stock amp sounds really good and is an exceptional value but sometimes you just don't know how good something can sound until some of the cost considerations are taken out of the equation.

I have been comparing the M901 to my Marantz PM-11S2 integrated,which is a 4k amp that some say is the best integrated amp under 5k. I always preferd the Marantz over the stock 901 even with the tube buffer but this upgrade has taken the 901 past the Marantz in every category. Needless to say,I have sold the Marantz. In comparison to my Accuphase E-213 integrated amp the upgraded 901 solid state sounds almost identical. I don't know if I could reliably pick one over the other in a blind test. The upgraded 901 with the tube buffer on has a different enough sound that it would be quite easy to pick in a blind test. I always prefered the Accuphase to the Marantz but now I prefer the upgraded 901 to the Accuphase because they sound so similar in solid state and I have the option of turning on the tube buffer for that tube sound. Needless to say,I have sold the Accuphase.

I had gotten a little crazy over the years and thought that I needed a stereo system in every room I might be in but lately I have been trying to sell most of this stuff and just have one system in the living room for all to enjoy. I am very pleased to say that this upgraded M901 has made that possible. On my way up the audio ladder when I was willing to spend plenty I don't think the 901 would have even gotten my attention,and obviously it didn't,but because I was looking for something like this I decided to give it a try and boy am I glad I did!

[virtue]

Wow, what a thoughtful analysis.  Thank you!

[geared4me]

My pleasure,thank you for producing such a fine product. When I put the 901 in our main system my wife said "THAT'S the amp? That little thing right there? Hmmmmm" Then she played some of her music and became a believer. I have to say that I am amazed by the amount of drive this amp has with the battery power supply hooked up to the Mark & Daniel Rubies. The amount and depth of the bass is something else. I have been looking at a couple pair of 92db floorstanders and may just give one a try now that I know the amp is up to it.

[geared4me]

And for those wondering, my room is 14'X19'X9' with a door at the back left of the speakers that can be opened to act like a bass trap and very large pocket doors on the opposite wall just ahead of the right speaker. The house is 100 years old so the walls are plaster and lathe with the original wallpaper that looks and feels like silk which I think has a lot to do with the great acoustics of this room.

[OzarkTom]

And for those wondering, my room is 14'X19'X9' with a door at the back left of the speakers that can be opened to act like a bass trap and very large pocket doors on the opposite wall just ahead of the right speaker. The house is 100 years old so the walls are plaster and lathe with the original wallpaper that looks and feels like silk which I think has a lot to do with the great sonics of this room.

What tube are you running? You might have mentioned it.

[geared4me]

What tube are you running? You might have mentioned it.

I'm currently using the Create Audio 12AX7 which I prefered over the stock tube.

[mcgarick]

I have Sonic caps in my One.2 and they have never sounded harsh at all to me, just open sounding.
I think they will reveal any harshness upstream though. My 2 cents.

[tenantman]

This upgrade sounds enticing. Is it adding more power and authority? Its not required in my set up. Any additional benefits besides improved balance?

[Rclark]

OMG I am such a sheep. but I've read nothing but supremely good things about these caps, and learned some stuff about the company itself so I think I am primed to go ahead and let Jason put a pair into my TWO. I was at first quite adamant about Sonicap gen II's bypassed by Sonicap Platinums, as seems to be the Audiocircle default choice, but I get that there are other options out there and what I've read about the ClarityCaps seemed just as compelling. No bypass required.

 I am quite familiar with the VirtueCap sound having run the amp in hi-pass for some time before sending it in for a little TLC.  So even though it will be from (a rather sharp) memory I think I will be able to give a rough comparison once it comes back.

 It is a little scary, knowing these caps are so large that installing them effectively permanently disables the preamp (Auricaps removed... Hey I'm gonna want those back just to have), but I found the preamp section didn't sound as good as my Emotiva XDA-1 DAC with volume control so I never used it. I was always running the VirtueCap section. Sounded mighty fine as was so hoping for an improvement with ClarityCaps.

[oskar]

Perhaps a crazy reckless thought but can one do this cap upgrade oneself? The hassle and expense of shipping from Canada and being without tunes for a couple of weeks makes me hesitate.

[OzarkTom]

Perhaps a crazy reckless thought but can one do this cap upgrade oneself? The hassle and expense of shipping from Canada and being without tunes for a couple of weeks makes me hesitate.

My buddy is shipping his from Hawaii. Shipping is so high to and from Hawaii. I am still looking for my box so I can get mine to Jason.

[wsturner]

Perhaps a crazy reckless thought but can one do this cap upgrade oneself? The hassle and expense of shipping from Canada and being without tunes for a couple of weeks makes me hesitate.

Cap upgrade isn't hard - as long as you have a little soldering skill, and can work from the wrong side of the board

Scott

[oskar]

I think I can handle soldering. Are you say that the board should come out? That doesn't appear too daunting. Are the bypass caps history then? I run full range so maybe that doesn't matter.

[geared4me]

Even though I run my amp fullrange also Jason managed to keep the bypass caps in. If you look really close you can just see the edge of one peeking out from under the mr caps.

[oskar]

Hmmm... I take your word for it 'cause I can no see no ting.

[geared4me]

I had trouble uploading the image to this thread so I had to put it in the gallery. Just click on gallery and it is  titled "There she is!".