Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in Oil

For those who read this in the future and are thinking of a capacitor repair/upgrade.

For me there was some very good sites like Tony Gee's cap review. But what I found hard even after reading his review is what that would mean to me? He says his test based strictly on sound quality and not price. To me that opens a can of worms. That is how I ended up with three of his favs, the budget Sonicap (bang for the buck) Mundorf's seemingly on everyone's list and Duelund's the 12.5 out of 10 according to Tony (best ever tested) vs. the 8.5 Sonicaps at 1/20th the cost.

I read so much about caps it made me sick of caps! Then I just ordered the 4 kinds. (plus having the originals) After realizing I would have to hear for myself.

What I did find out is that the sound difference from one cap to another is nothing short of huge!

To relate the difference to other purchases. One's I class as huge. (Duelund vs. vintage is huge and in the range of these changes)

I owned a Mitsubishi LT20 (lousy turntable big $) then demo'ed against a Rega P3 (budget but real and not a toy) Mine sounded broken!

Getting Lascala's as a kid compared to Sanyo speakers was huge as well.

So Duelund's would rank in the top three biggest upgrades I have ever done.

Big upgrades (Duelund was bigger than these but these were big to me)
1. First Linn cartridge
2. Lp12 (first one)
3. First Linn pre-amp and amp coming from Japanese


Pretty big upgrades (clearly noticeable)
1. Linn Klout from LK series
2. Going to an almost loaded LP12 from basic one on comparison head to head old one was slow and antique sounding. But dimishing returns here. A lot more money

Good upgrades (but now you better have better ears than my friend) (some people would say huge but some people can hardly hear these

1. Linn Kairn from Kolektor
2. Linn Karik Cd from NAD

Upgrades but things that take two or three times comparing and most likely to notice on your system.

1. Went from 18guage to Monster cable 25 years ago. (that was the start of cable makes a difference at the time that was new some thought it was bull)
2. Went from dirt cheap (throw in) IC's with NAD to moderate IC's like $70

Upgrades that to me are crazy
1. Went to bi-amping Linn Klouts (total waste of money in my mind and a lot of $) To me the biggest disapointment ever for the $.

Hope this helps in what caps mean to a regular guy.

Another thing to consider is what do you like. I am love the LP12 sound which many consider to be colored. My speakers are horns which are very dynamic. (some would say colored) So I am from that camp for sure.

Many who liked the Sonicaps heard them as neutral and see other caps as colored.

The friend who heard the speakers thinks in terms of bass, punch, tones, sounding live etc. Until yesterday he never thought all those sounds were coming from an instrument.

So now I know why some guys seek out vintage caps. Vintage oil filled have MASSIVE distortion. This may sound like an insult but it is not if you like a rock concert sound. The vintage caps distortion is not an all bad distortion. The down side is low resolution and EVERYTHING sounds like a concert even when it is not supposed to.

So if you listen to AC/DC or hard rock music you may not want to say with vintage caps. (although you are stuck with everything sounded like a stadium)

What the Duelund's do is remove a HUGE layer of noise and reverb and allow you to see into the music.

I can now hear the distortion the mid caps are doing. Sounds from that range are sloppy and distorted and I can not wait for the caps to get here.

Another huge benefit I did not see coming is the Lascala's have wayyyy more bass. (which I thought the lack of was in the speaker design but that was caused by the capacitors) Although I know there is not more it is just that the high freq noise is massively reduced and balanced is restored.

I expect more of this when the mid caps go in.

Even the friend who "liked" the stadium sound quickly grew tired of it. (and frustrated)

I will have two more reports to wrap this up. One when the mid comes in and one more likely on the CAST Duelund's I am likely to get for the tweeters. The CAST are known as the best on the planet. Tony rated the cheaper VSF's the best he has heard and he had not yet rated the CAST.

Stormen said some buddies consider the VSF's a little rough compared to CAST. That is mind boggling!

One thing for certain anything you think you have heard from a set of vintage Khorns is all wrong. In my mind as a almost 30 year owner ALL for the better with Duelund's!

I did some digging on the Linn speakers and I understand they use Bennic XPP and a 10uf costs about $7. I guess I can understand the hard brittle sound? Supposed to be somewhat better than Solen and around the level of the very lowest Mundorf. What exatly does one pay for in most new speakers????

Volleyguy,

Found this under the news section on the Duelund website:

They also use the CAST inductor, though he doesn't speak about it in isolation.

http://www.speakerbuilder.dk/content/getPage.asp?id=36

You may have to choose: English flag in the upper right corner, articles, tests, Duelund Coherent Audio

His findings seem to mimick yours.

Stormen thanks for the article.

I used to find this DIY stuff kind of nuts. Like how could any DIY guy get speakers to sound better than a major manufacturer? I often thought it was just to the personal tastes of the listener.

I am finding myself starting to move into Art Dudley mentality. I do not know if you have read his latest stuff but clearly moving into some vintage mentality. Stereophile gave huge praise to the Fisher 500c saying it gives up precious little to modern new designs. This is much tougher than one thinks as Fisher does not advertise in Stereophile as it is bankrupt.

By that I mean I really think I would buy whatever speakers I liked used and gut them and put in good parts. The cost of a new speaker (from a major manufacturer) with good parts is/would be crazy. Also I doubt any speaker at a reasonable price uses good parts. (Johnk this is not directed at you as I know you do and can use good parts)

I think the majors must try and get as good as sound as possible while spending as little as possible. Which begs the question can corporations improve audio? Are corporations best suited to cost cutting? When Paul Klipsch sold the company it seems like the first thing the new owners did was cut costs. Cheaper crossover parts, cheaper drivers, etc. The problem is I am sure Klipsch makes more $ today than it ever did using good parts. Just pride stopped Paul from using cheap parts?

Which Stormen brings me back into Steen's camp if crossovers parts were top notch you would not hear the improvements. When $20 resitors are "heard" as an improvement it screams weak link.

Stormen I hear in your thread you mention that passive (Duelund) sounds much better than active for car stereo?

Is this correct?