Bottlehead Forum

Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Quickie => Topic started by: boulos on June 26, 2015, 08:56:30 AM

Title: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: boulos on June 26, 2015, 08:56:30 AM: Hi,
My Quickie 1.1 has the stock Nichicon 150ÂµF 16V capacitor. I have 3 pairs of other capacitors and I'm wondering if it's worth replacing the stock caps with any of the below:

-- Elna Cerafine 100uF 25V
-- Nichicon Muse KZ 100uF 25V
-- Black Gate 47uF 100V

I'm leaning toward the Cerafine. I'm also happy keeping the stock caps if there's not much benefit in making the change. Thoughts?

Thanks!
Boulos
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: mcandmar on June 26, 2015, 09:09:41 AM: You need to try all three and report your findings :) They all sound like good options to me.
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: Doc B. on June 26, 2015, 09:21:25 AM: You might consider a film cap in that position. It will be big, but will probably sound better than any of the non-film types. The Black Gate in particular needs to be biased all the time to sound good - which isn't too practical in a battery powered preamp.
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: aragorn723 on June 26, 2015, 10:51:23 AM: Is the Black gate an electrolytic? I put a set in my quickie to replace the 150uf. (Not sure of the value, maybe 220uf?). It really opened up the treble and resolution on the Quickie. Doc B, not to hijack the thread, but what would be involved in biasing it? The Quickie sounds pretty good now, but it sounds like there is an opportunity to improve things!

Dave
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: Doc B. on June 26, 2015, 11:28:56 AM: You switch it on.
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: aragorn723 on June 26, 2015, 02:20:38 PM: switch on the quickie?
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: boulos on June 26, 2015, 06:41:20 PM: Quote from: mcandmar on June 26, 2015, 09:09:41 AM
You need to try all three and report your findings :) They all sound like good options to me.

I had a feeling someone was going to suggest that :)
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: boulos on June 26, 2015, 06:50:08 PM: Quote from: Doc B. on June 26, 2015, 09:21:25 AM
You might consider a film cap in that position. It will be big, but will probably sound better than any of the non-film types. The Black Gate in particular needs to be biased all the time to sound good - which isn't too practical in a battery powered preamp.

I'll skip trying the Black Gate then. The film caps (even 47uF) are quite big! I found Panasonic EZPE series, WIMA, Solen, Bennic/DaytonAudio, and AVX (unlike the others, these are actually Polyester dielectric 65uF 160V). What's a good cap to start with here?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: Strikkflypilot on June 26, 2015, 07:10:56 PM: Daytons are sometimes delivered as parafeed caps for the Mainline, I think Solen too, can't be half bad for the price. These questions tend to get about as many answers as there are posters:)
Someone has suggested using clips on the fly leads to easily switch back and forth and test till Youre happy
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: boulos on June 28, 2015, 11:27:34 AM: The Muse are in! When I want to change them, I will cut the leads flush with the cap (sacrificing the cap), make a little loop at the tip, and solder whichever other caps to the loops. After that, changing caps will be easy.
Title: Re: Help choosing a cathode bypass cap
Post by: corndog71 on June 29, 2015, 09:46:38 AM: I used a 51uF Erse Pulse-X film cap. It seemed a little smoother than the stock caps.