Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Quickie => Topic started by: tubefrk on August 06, 2012, 10:16:00 AM
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;D Hi, I'm a newbeeee, I just purchased a Quickie, from the Queen (great gall) note... not pollitcly correct. Anyway, has any one tried the new auricap xo"s I'm going to try a pair in the Quickie. Thanks, Mike
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I dont have any auricap's, not sure what their 'house sound' is like. The Quickie is a fun kit to swap parts in and out. I know that my Quickie with Mundorfs subbed in for the stock parts sound quicker, rounder, bigger, smoother, easier. You might want to replace the electrolytics with films as well. Not as big a deal as the coupling caps.
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It's hard to say what the differences might be (other than the higher price) between the original Auricaps and the new Auricaps.
I can say, however, that the film and foil caps from Solen (SM) and Parts Express (Dayton) are excellent for the price. There are tons of metalized film caps floating around, but I prefer the real film and foil caps instead.
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Thanks guys, I've never liked much the sound of Auricaps in most electronics. A little to rounded off @ the freak xtreems for me, but I'll give'm a shot. They say they have fixed the problems. I'm going to change the electrolytics with some Elna silk's. I have used Mundorf's in the past and love them, I'm sure i'll make my way to them eventually. I lust after (Teflon) the price, Oh shit........
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On a tagent - I recapped the crossovers on my old Spica TC-50s, replacing the electrolytics with Solen films. The results were amazing. Granted, most of that is probably due to the age of the original caps (25+ years), but I was surprised at how much cleaner the sound became.
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Hi all, well I did it. built the kits added the new Auri xo's. Before I get to that I better tell you what all I did to the Quickie. First I used silver over copper hookup wire for the signal path. I used an Allps blue box volume, used all PRP resistors, except for higher watt, I used Roadies. Went to Elna Sims for the electrolytics.. Now for the caps. I really need more time to burn in the parts, but I can"t wait. I've only got about 20 Hrs. on things. I know some of you, (Eric) will think I'm full of Shit, or my ears are waisted from years of standing in front of a twin stack of Marshalls. I have for years used Mundorf's and I love them. But I have to tell you these new Auri's I think are wonderful. They still have a nice mid bloom, but,me thinks making them cover the full freq. spectrum did something overall to the sound. The old ones to me were short on articulation, (to soft) (mudd). The new ones ( sorry Eric) sound more like Mundorf's to me. Less money. After I put some more time on things I will put a set of Mundorf's in and get a direct comparison. (a steel string acustic guitar, really sounds like one). Love, Mike
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And I, just put some Obliggato's in mine. It's not fired up yet, 'cuz I got some other stuff to do, but things are moving in the right direction.
True Love, Greg
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Hey Mike - sorry if I come across as a Mundorf 'devote'! Really I'm agnostic when it comes to caps. I have switched back and forth so many times I'm really not sure what it is that I really 'like'. A recent example is I subbed my Jantzen Superior Z's back in to my crossover for my maggies. Just for the hell of it. I have a 'clear' memory of not liking those caps, compared to the Obligatto's and then finally to the AmpOhm P/O's. I havent heard them in several years, and there have been innumerable changes to my system since then. I figured I would give them another try bypassed with the Mundorf S/O's, since the AmpOhms sounded so much better with the bypass, but the Obligatto's clearly didnt. I expected that the Jantzens also would not. That was one combo that i hadn't tried. Well for shits sake! They sounded exactly how they were reviewed to sound in Humble Homemade HiFi (clean but not bright, good definition/resolution, non colored, even frequency response). I bet the auricaps sound fantastic and I will add that to my 'review data bank in my head'. One thing is for sure... Caps DO make a difference!
Peace, Love, Dope - Eric
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Hey Greg... I thought you weren't going to build the Quickie right now.. Had 'better' things to do!
I am curious though as to the sound of the Obilggato's. I have a couple of 22uF's that I used in my speaker crossover. I could probably sub them in on the coupling caps, although I've got the Mundorf S/O's in there now. Not sure, but if I liked the Obliggato's better than the Mundorf's I MIGHT go to hell!
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Eric,
I checked at DIY HiFi and now count 6 different kinds of Obbligato caps, 3 more than when I bought a bunch of them. Some are made in Japan and some in Europe (France it appears).
There are Teflon (green), Gold Premium, Copper, (black) PPE or PA, the (black) Film/Oil that I have used and (black) PSU film.
Just saying, which Obbligato did you try?
Link to all Obbligato at DIY HiFi:
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/catalog/145
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No kidding! I'm going to have to check that site. I bought mine when there was only a couple to choose from and in the high values there was only one choice - the Obliggato "Premiums" (copper/brass colored, I think they are also called Obliggato Gold).
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Thanks again Greg,, I have never heard the obligato's. I will give them a try. My wife took a look @ the Quicky and said, so that only cost $150.00 give or take. I said yes, she said I have seen credit card statments for Capacitors that cost more than that. I had to laugh, or maybe I should cry. I have orderd some Takman resistors I'll give em a try..... Peace, love, dope, two dogs, sex (not to old yet) Mike.
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Hey Granger - I ck'ed out DIY site. Those Teflon/tin foils look like they would be a good bypass cap option. Curious as to how they would sound compared to the S/O's.
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Eric,
There are no larger value Teflons. They only go to 0.47uF. So bypassing is a good use, or interstage in the Stereomour or Seduction. The real question to me is whether at $64 each for a 0.22uF they are better as a bypass than the 0.22uF KK Teflon for $8 each?
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That depends upon the construction. IME Teflon and tin foil sounds very, very good after some break in whereas the metallized Teflons we have tried didn't sound too good, even after 1000 hours.
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It seems that V-Cap has set the bar as far as TFTF's go. At about $100 for a .22uF there is plenty of room to challenge them! So far I have not seen any 'reasonably' priced challengers (Audionote etc.). No doubt the Chinese are trying though!
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Psvane introduced what was listed as a teflon cap, CuTF like the V-Cap. It was still pretty expensive though. There was a big stink, turns out there was no Teflon dielectric in the cap, only teflon insulated leads.
Cheers,
Shawn
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DIY HiFi Supply sells Obbligato Tin Foil/Teflon 0.47uF@1000V for $95 and 0.22uF@1000V for $64.
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/catalog/36
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Yep - I would like to read a comparative review of the Teflon V-Caps and the Obliggatos. Hint, hint - Humble Homemade Hifi.
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Eric,
You send me your V-Cap TFTFs and I'll compare with the Obbligato!
Hey, you started it.
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Hi folks, after putting some time on the Auricaps they sounded good. same mid bloom as before, possibly a bit more detail. I decided to swap them out for the silver in oils, Ok all bets are off, the silvers have the same bloom, but speed and detail in spades. Larry Carltons guitar sounds live, on the new Foreplay cd. James taylor, again sounds like a fifteen thousand dollar Olson. I have not heard the obligatos, and I probably won't for a while, my sys. sounds so good i'm going to enjoy it for a while. I can't say enough sbout the Quicky, for the money it's simply amazing even after one hundred and fifty dollers in new parts.....I love Batteries....Mike
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Mike - wow cool! I havent experimented at all with swapping caps on the Quickie. Its good to hear about others that have. I just slapped in what I thought was good and left it at that. Now, are you talking about the output caps right? Did you use 2.2uF or did you go higher?
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Eric,
You send me your V-Cap TFTFs and I'll compare with the Obbligato!
Hey, you started it.
Hey Granger - the thought of buying and comparing caps to me is like scraping my nails across a chalk board! I really dont want to do it. I like it when other crazy people do it for me! Then I will buy it!
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Eric,
You misunderstood me. You don't have to do any comparing at all. I'll do that nasty cap comparison for you if you buy the cap that costs twice as much as the one I volunteered to buy.
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Ya I get it! - thanks pal!
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Those Obbligato caps look very similar to the Solen S3Q Teflon FEP Film & Tin Foil Cap (sizes look similar too).
http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_solen_teflon_fep.html
Prices on the Solens are a little cheaper.
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Qestion for Grainger, and or Eric. I have been playing the tube game with the quickie. so far I have tried+ RCA's, Sylvania, I understand, and I have read somewere, that Amprex bugles were good, but finding them is like finding the body of Jimmy Hoffa. Thanks Mike.
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The 'bugles' are in Hoffa's left coat pocket.
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Mike,
I am not familiar with all the "flavors" of the Quickie tubes. Amperex Bugle Boys (there are tubes blowing bugles on the circumference) are highly regarded tubes. I don't know if they are available in the tube number for the Quickie.
Sorry!
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Amperex DL92s, that is one tube I have not come across yet. Often you can find Mullards at http://www.dbtubes.com/, but no Bugle Boys so far.
Cheers,
Shawn
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I have a set of bugle boys in my Quickie for a couple of years now. The biggest improvement is that micro phonics is pretty much eliminated. They are also extremely quiet. I believe I bought mine from Tube World.
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Hey Mike - I have found that tube rolling with the Quickie to be challenging, from the standpoint that there are real 'differences' with various tubes, but the 'psycho-acoustics' are the tricky part. I think we (humans) like to hear a 'change'. Its hard to determine when that change is for the better. - As an example, I put my Aladdin's back in about a week ago. I was getting some crackling from one of my RCA's and thought 'why not'. I never liked the Aladdin's since I bought them. They seemed bright and not particularly 'tubey'. Well, they sounded quite good. More 'even' in frequency response compared to the 'rock and roll' RCA's. With the system changes that I have made recently (cables, caps etc), I like the Aladdin sound. Along with hardware changes I have also experimented much more with software re-sampling and replay gain. What results is a more vinyl like sound, less dynamics and more 'real'. A 'tamed' digital if you will.
Back to the topic - I would get as many different brands as you can! Dont hesitate to order from the cheapy websites that dont guarantee what you will get. Thats how I got the Aladdin's. I have some Telefunkens on the way.
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hi guys, thank you for the response. So far I have tried- Sylvania::: sounded bad to me, not clean, no bass. The RCA's so far sound the best to me, But I also have some Telefunks on the way, some Mullards also..... we will see//// ahh I love this stuff my hard earned dollars keeping the economy going.
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Interesting... I like the sound of certain Sylvanias. The problem is that there were a hundred (my exaggeration) different variations of each manufacturer's tube. I like the 6189 (12AU7) JAN from the 70s, a lot! Most tubes has many variants.
Maybe not for the Quickie. I know it is an odd duck.