Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Foreplay III => Topic started by: glynnw on January 11, 2010, 02:55:00 PM
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I just replaced the .22 uF caps on the Shunt Regulated Active Load PC Board on my Extended Foreplay with some paper in oil caps I bought off ebay from Taiwan. The stock ones are the brown lumps at either end of the middle PC board - a very easy switch. I sense a little more clarity on vocals now, but recently I have been also adding some acoustic panels on the walls of my room, so I cannot be sure if these new caps really changed anything. Since I had to buy several of them, I have some extras and will send two of them to the first two people to email me with their address. I matched them as close as I could with a meter- interesting that all of these new ones measure about .21 while the stock ones were right at .22. The only condition is that at some point in time you need to come back to this thread and tell us if you think there is an improvment in the sound or whatever.
[email protected]
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No takers? Free stuff?
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Glynn sent a pair to me and they are nice looking. Better than the KK POI that I bought a while back. Can't wait to try them!
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Still have 1 pair of these free to next person to email me with request. Thanks
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All gone - thanks
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Thanks Glynn, I received the capacitors and installed them early this week. I should clarify for the rest of the group that we believe these capacitors are actually metalized polypropylene; not paper in oil as they were advertized on eBay.
These film capacitors look nice enough and performed well. I was a little concerned about desoldering the original caps, as I'd hate to chance lifting a pad or trace off the pc board, but the operation went well. I listened for changes this past week. I think if there is a difference, it is too subtle for me to clearly identify. Maybe drums kits sound a little punchier and complex passages are somewhat more articulated. Of course, that could either just be in my head, or simply due to cleaned connections from reconnecting the cables. I'll leave them in because they're performing fine, but I don't think I'd recommend the update to others for a few reasons: the old caps (also metalized film) were sturdier, the part swap requires rework on a printed circuit board, and the circuit location is unlikely to change the sound much. I'm looking forward to Grainger's feedback.
The final point I'd like to make about the update, is that I had a good time anticipating it, performing the update and listening for changes. I had been letting a little dust settle on the rig so it was nice to be reminded to enjoy the system. This is a great hobby! Thanks again to Gylnn for his gracious offer (free stuff!) and subsequent off board communication. I hope he's enjoying his remodeled room right now.