Mundorf MCap EVO Aluminium Oil

[Greg.]

Well, that’s the point of being patient and wait for the caps to run in because all that ‘in your face’ brightness tends to go away as the bass rises to the occasion. It’s one of those things. I can remember when we used Blackgates, some of us reckoned they took up to 200 hours hours before they were finally settled in.

The copper foil Jensen PIO’s I recently fitted to Intenso’s KaT6550 took at least a fortnight of regular use to run in. I then fitted Jensen aluminium foil PIO’s into his KeL84 and these needed hardly anytime to sound good. Intenso spent a few days with the KeL84 and then went back to the 6550 which then needed another few days to sound good again.

Sometimes it just takes a bit of time. After a while, any amp will sound good at switch on, allowing of course for the 20 minutes or so for the valves to warm up. If you can’t be bothered with the fuss, industrial grade components still work well, but generally, I doubt you’ll wring the last bit of performance from the system. Having said that, I can well remember Richard and his KiT88. He started with Orange drops. Went all round the houses with other industrial caps and a selection of boutique varieties, only to end up back with the Orange drops permanently.

[Phil Y]

Hello Bob,

I must admit to being confused and intrigued by your continued dislike of all things "boutique". You give the impression that you are in a continual battle to keep the high end of your system in check and anything can push it over the edge into unpleasantness. Like you are fighting with a badly trained German Shepherd on a short lead

It has crossed my mind more than once that there is something underlying this. Bright speakers perhaps, or a very sparsely furnished and reflective listening room? After all, huge numbers of people all around the world (and even on this forum!) are happily using these parts and find them of benefit. Having said that, obviously all that matters is that you like the sound of your system.

With a few exceptions, (tantalum film resistors were one)I have found these parts to give greater clarity and openness to the sound rather than being obviously " brighter".

Yours slightly confused, phil

[G Willis]

Just to add that I changed the caps in my phono3 to Mundorf Gold/Silver/Oil and I prefer the overall sound and balance of my system after having done so. These things are so system/room/taste/musical preference dependent that I don't see how it is reasonable to make a definitive judgement on the worth of any given component in isolation.

[pre65]

I was the recipient of these capacitors, and at the time I had no particular use for them.

However, my latest project is a MoFo (Mosfet follower) amplifier, and they will be used on that. So, thanks again Bob.

An interesting point is the use of a microwave oven transformer as a choke. I'll start a new thread once I get the heatsinks sorted out and construction starts.