Help choosing a cap upgrade

[Bubbatwoa]

I've been very impressed with my Moreplay's performance in stock form, but I've decided to see what a cap upgrade can do.  From some of the reading so far, it seems that upgrading the 2.2uF output film caps is the way to go.  Am I right?

Unfortunately, while I'm great at soldering and following directions, I'm not sure which brand/type to choose.  I've heard about Auricap, Jupiter and Mundorf.  Just focusing on Mundorf for a second, I've found the following available at Parts Connexion:

Mcap EVO
Mcap EVO Oil
Mcap EVO SilverGoldOil
Mcap Supreme
Mcap Supreme EVO Oil Black SEO
Mcap Supreme EVO SilverGoldOil Black SESGO
Mcap Supreme SilverGold
Mcap Supreme SilverOil
Mcap ZN

The ZN is tin foil polypropylene, and all the rest are metalized aluminum/gold/silver.

Any advice as to which ones are standouts?  I don't really care about price.  Or, are the better options in another brand?

TIA!

[Mucker]

Like climbing a slippery slope covered in banana peels ...........

Cap ratings* ...(*use at own risk) ....

https://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

[Bubbatwoa]

Thanks Mucker.  Interesting info.

As it turns out, most of the Mundorf series that I listed aren't available in 2.2uF.  The regular Mundorf Supreme is.

But at this point I'm most interested in the Jantzen Superior Z-Caps and Silver Z-Caps.  It seems the Silver line is a small step up from the Superior line, but I note that the Silvers have pure silver leads.

The question I have now is, can I use the same solder (Kester 60/40) to attach pure silver leads?

[Paul Birkeland]

Yes, you definitely want to stick with 60/40 or 63/37 solder.  You can also increase the size of the coupling cap.

[Mucker]

Thanks Mucker.  Interesting info.

As it turns out, most of the Mundorf series that I listed aren't available in 2.2uF.  The regular Mundorf Supreme is.

But at this point I'm most interested in the Jantzen Superior Z-Caps and Silver Z-Caps.  It seems the Silver line is a small step up from the Superior line, but I note that the Silvers have pure silver leads.

The question I have now is, can I use the same solder (Kester 60/40) to attach pure silver leads?

I have 2.2 Mundorfs in my Moreplay and upgraded to 16V ELNA Silmic II for the the 220uf caps. I have the Jantzen Superior-Z Caps in my SEX amp and they perform very well. I just ordered the 2.2uf Superior-Z's for the Moreplay to hear if there is any change compared to the Mundorfs. The Silver Jantzens look interesting but I'm not sure if they would be any better than the orange Superior-Z, which seems to be well liked from nearly all of my reading and experience with them.

The preamp is awesome as is (straight out of box parts) but fun to experiment if the cost is minimal in which this case it is.

[Larpy]

I heard a satisfying improvement when I replaced the stock coupling caps in my Moreplay with Auricaps.  Not earth-shaking, but noticeable.  More transparency and resolution.

What made a larger audible difference was then taking out the stock Alpha volume pot and replacing it with a Goldpoint stepped attenuator.  That was more of a "wow!" upgrade.

[adeep42]

Hello Larpy,

Which Goldpoint attenuator are you using?

[Larpy]

It's the stereo 24 step version.  50K Ω.

[Paul Birkeland]

You would want a 10K Goldpoint in there, a 50K is very likely to give some undesirable treble roll-off.

[Bubbatwoa]

Yes, you definitely want to stick with 60/40 or 63/37 solder.  You can also increase the size of the coupling cap.

Thanks PB.  If I went to 3.3uF, what sort of benefit would there be?

[Bubbatwoa]

The Silver Jantzens look interesting but I'm not sure if they would be any better than the orange Superior-Z, which seems to be well liked from nearly all of my reading and experience with them.

I'm doubtful also that the silver ones would be audibly "better" than the orange, but may sound different.  A pair of the silvers are only $20 more than the orange ones, so I'm going to give them a shot.

Upgrading can be a slippery slope, which I'm going to try to resist.  I don't think I'll upgrade anything else to the Moreplay after doing the caps.

[Paul Birkeland]

I don't think you'd hear much of a change between 2.2uF and 3.3.uF.

[Larpy]

You would want a 10K Goldpoint in there, a 50K is very likely to give some undesirable treble roll-off.

Oops! Yes, 10K is what I have.  So much for relying on my age-impaired memory.

[Mucker]

I'm doubtful also that the silver ones would be audibly "better" than the orange, but may sound different.  A pair of the silvers are only $20 more than the orange ones, so I'm going to give them a shot.

Upgrading can be a slippery slope, which I'm going to try to resist.  I don't think I'll upgrade anything else to the Moreplay after doing the caps.

Certainly not a cost issue. My experience with silver cable compared to copper is that I interpret it to be brighter all of the times I tried it. And, I am referring to headphone cable with high quality headphones.

With the Silver Jantzen caps they only mention the leads being silver. With such short pieces of leads connected to possibly the same exact internals as the orange caps??? Can't say for sure but that cap comparison does mention some brightness over the more neutral Superior-Z for whatever that's worth. I have settled into preferring copper for everything and have been quite satisfied.

Certainly different horses for different courses ....

[Mucker]

Oops! Yes, 10K is what I have.  So much for relying on my age-impaired memory.

I used a stepped attenuator in a Little Dot amp one time and thought the audio did indeed improve. I have not tried one in a Bottlehead build but would be interesting to hear one. However, I decided the Audio Note pots I am using are adequate.

I couldn't imagine using one in my Moreplay. The volume pot range is incredibly limited and with a stepped attenuator it would probably only be 2 or 3 clicks before the volume was too low or too high. But I bet it does sound good.

Do you use specific resistors to achieve a range covering all steps for better resolution? Can it even be done?