[sdiy] Orange Drop Capacitors?

[Weber Paul Dhillon]

Barry,

I have restored a lot of gear -- audio and synths over the years.  My  
big last project, completed in October, was restoration of a circa  
1980s 1/2" MCI JH110B professional 4 track tape machine that came out  
one of the large studios here in San Francisco.  Tape machines have  
several EQ circuits for record, playback as well as gain, HF emphasis,  
de-emphasis, biasing, etc.  In addition to replacing all the  
electrolytic (power, bipolar DC de-coupling, etc.) I "upgraded" all  
the ceramic disc EQ caps in two of the four channels with polystyrene,  
polypropylene and, where appropriate, non-polar de-coupling  
electrolytic.  Finally, I swapped out roughly 25 5532 with FET OPA134s  
(with new compensation).  I then TIGHTLY calibrated the machine,  
recorded and blindly played back identical material on all four  
channels.

Could I hear a difference the two pair of channels?  Yes, but it was  
very, very subtle
Could I determine which pair of channels sounded better?  ABSOLUTELY NOT
Could I attribute any of the change in sonics to either the op amps or  
caps, (including DC De-coupling)?  No
Do I think that my upgrade was worth the trouble and expense?  No

I have to admit that there is an aesthetically delicious notion that  
these changes will improve, indeed, make more robust, the sound of  
your equipment.  I have discovered again and again that design is  
everything and that the choice of components, unless of very poor  
quality with high manufacturing variance, makes virtually no  
difference.  Someday, I will get control of myself and stop making  
these kinds of upgrades but it is simply too much fun.  Ditto for my  
synth modules.

My lesson: design/use quality components with low variability but no  
need to go overboard.

Paul



On Dec 30, 2009, at 09:51 , Barry Klein wrote:

> I have always wondered if anyone has ever tried taking this theory  
> of the caps "sound better" and running
> with it by increasing the number of them in series or parallel and  
> listening compared to a DC-coupled circuit....
> Seems simple and recordable...?  Instrumentation can then follow to  
> discover what sounds "good" or "bad".
> Also some may depend on a DC bias being present to begin with...
>
> Barry
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "thx1138" <thx1138 at earthlink.net>
> To: "Tom Wiltshire" <tom at electricdruid.net>; "Ian Smith" <taciturn_unquiet at hotmail.com 
> >
> Cc: "synth diy" <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 9:21 AM
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] Orange Drop Capacitors?
>
>
>> On 12/30/09 2:15 AM, "Tom Wiltshire" <tom at electricdruid.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I think it's because..
>>>
>>> THEY LOOK COOL!
>>>
>>> T.
>>>
>>> On 30 Dec 2009, at 00:41, Ian Smith wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hey all,
>>>>
>>>> What's the deal with orange drop capacitors? They're everywhere in
>>>> "vintage" audio stuff and there's all sorts of talk about them
>>>> making things sound better and having better tone, but nothing on  
>>>> why.
>>>>
>>>> Can you guys help me out?
>>>>
>>>> -Ian
>>>>
>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>> Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free.
>>>> http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222985/direct/01/
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Synth-diy mailing list
>>>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Synth-diy mailing list
>>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>> Well it is sort of like the Monster cable effect.
>>
>> If I spend $100 for an interconnect cable, it has to sound better.
>>
>> I use lamp cord for my speaker set up in the lab vs Monster Cable and
>> measured it on my Audio Precision and found no real difference.
>>
>> By the way, I measure cable by wife acceptance factor and find that  
>> they
>> prefer no cables.
>>
>> I have had Tom Holman come over several times for the holidays and  
>> he never
>> noticed that I was using cheap audio cables. But usually thinks my  
>> EQ could
>> use a small amount of tweaking.
>>
>> Perhaps I should run this question of caps and cables past him as  
>> well.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Terry
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Synth-diy mailing list
>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy