What's better than a Duelund cap?

[Tam Lin]

Q: What's better than a Duelund cap?
A; Two Duelund caps.

I previously wrote about my experience replacing the caps in the signal path of my system with Duelund CAST tin-plated copper. But I didn't replace the output caps in my DAC. Why? I was planning to retire the DAC, Duelund caps are expensive, and the modified Audio Note DAC already had AN PIO silver foil caps. Well, plans have changed and I still have the DAC and will probably keep for some time.

As it happens, I had a couple Duelund JDM tin-plated copper, of the right value, left over from another project, so, what the hell; I soldered them in place of the AN PIO. It was a nice improvement but nothing to write home about. So, in my application, the JDM caps are better than the AN PIO but not quite as good as the CAST. No surprise as they are half the price.

But, as it happens, I also had a pair of Duelund JDM tin-plated copper bypass caps. I soldered them in parallel with the other JDM caps. Shazam. The improvement was similar to what I first experienced with the CAST. Hmm, I wonder, what would happen if I added a JDM bypass to each of the CAST I previously installed?

 

[Alrainbow]

Bypass works if you follow a few known rules
one is the ratio 10 to 1
or 100 to 1 and so on.
next is the type of cap used to bypass.
caps them selves have a sound
be it paper
plastic
oil
various metals and variants like metalized types
trial and error is the third rule
lastly if the cap used has a better top end and you need this it’s good.
for me the most neutral naked cap is best overall and the size used effects the tone and weight
enjoy the journey

 

[Blue58]

Or 6 Duelled caps ? Each of my monoblock amps has 4 JDM Sn/Cu bypass and 2 Ag bypass plus bypasses on my speaker crossover. I’ve not heard anything better though the Miflex and Jupiter copper are runners up.

Thanks for leading me down this path Tam Lin.

Blue58

 

[oldhvymec]

I was taught that a bypass was actually a frequency collection cap. Marantz did it and so did a lot of hot rod DIYs in the 60-70s. Black beauties were the go to FC cap back then. They were everywhere too.

I found out, too high a voltage seems to detract from fidelity and takes forever to break in. They also have longer leads, (beware of RF) I use teflons with OCC tinned bypass (FC caps) or Silver BP from Deulund. I REALLY like Stealth with silver BPs. I use WiMa for tone control or volume pot tweaks. I check for direction on my caps to, it reduces noise in spite of a better cap. One way has better RF rejection, with longer leads they can be noisier if you're not careful which way the end of the cap roll is pointing.. Usually to the negative or away from the positive.

Regards

 

[Tam Lin]

Thanks for leading me down this path Tam Lin.

You are welcome.
It looks like I need to get some more JDM bypass caps. If they improve the CAST caps half as much as they did the bigger JDM caps it will be worth it.

 

[L3RD]

Better? How about different? I am really happy with VH AUDIO's ODAM capacitors. There is nothing wrong, as long as your bypass caps are within the tolerance of the existing cap, of using multiple bypasses, but why limit yourself to one flavor? Now if a particular cap causes smearing, you can always replace it, but I personally would try some ODAM caps along with the JDMs. I have replaced the caps in my DS2 preamp with Don's current production caps, ODAMs, and now that I am content with them, I plan a JDM bypass when I have some spare time. YMMV