Output Capacitor Upgrading Questions

[Tom-s]

Yes, the combination will work just fine (if it fits).

[mcandmar]

You don't need a bypass if the 100uf is already a film cap.

[Paul Birkeland]

Try to find the lowest possible voltage 100uF film cap you can use.  You're paying a lot of money for that 350V rating, and they will likely be quite a bit larger than they look.

[yay]

350 seemed to be the lowest i could find locally, but will do some more research before i order

[TurbOSquiD77]

You don't need a bypass if the 100uf is already a film cap.

Could you elaborate?

Say if I wanted to bypass a set of 100uF Evo Oils with a 1uF cap, would the 1uF cap's attributes not show?

[corndog71]

Could you elaborate?

Say if I wanted to bypass a set of 100uF Evo Oils with a 1uF cap, would the 1uF cap's attributes show?

Possibly.  Or it could make it sound worse.

In the signal path electrolytics generally don't sound as good as a film cap.  I'm not smart enough to explain why, it's just a phenomenon I've encountered as have other folks.  That's not saying it won't work or even sound bad.  Since the Crack has such a huge output cap it's cheaper to stock it as an electrolytic.  Bypassing it may help smooth out the sound of the electrolytic but it's kind of a band-aid for a compromised situation.  Swapping the electrolytic with a single film cap is IMO the best "upgrade" solution.  No need for a bypass because it's no longer a compromised situation.  Of course you're welcome to try adding the bypass and hear it for yourself.  It's your money.

[Tom-s]

I didn't really notice much of the FT-3 teflon bypass when i put them in.
So after 1000+- hours (a few months later), i removed them. I immediately noticed something was missing.
This is with 90uf paper in oil caps for the output.

[ohshitgorillas]

A friend of mine gave me some vintage Russian NOS 1uF paper-in-oil caps for bypasses on my Crack's output caps, and a third for bypassing the last cap in the power supply (which I've replaced with a 100uF film cap). To my ears, there is better impact/slam but otherwise I don't hear much. I'm not complaining since I got them free but it's not something I'd spend my own money on.

[Julyan9]

Hello!

Just installed some mundorf Mcap 100uf/250V and now the big board leds are all dim. Anyone else have this happen after output cap swap?

[Paul Birkeland]

Hello!

Just installed some mundorf Mcap 100uf/250V and now the big board leds are all dim. Anyone else have this happen after output cap swap?

I would recommend starting a new thread and posting your voltages.  Dim LEDs don't really mean anything unless you measure the actual DC voltages. I bet you'll find some that aren't what they are supposed to be!

[manther]

Bit of a weird question here but, Ive ordered some film caps for my crack. I use the crack 50/50 as a headphone amp and as a pre-amp to my Sony power amp. My Sony is an old TA-3200f that I recapped. I carefully chose nice electrolytic nichicon caps. They are nice but probably not as nice as the film caps I'll be using in the crack. Question is (and this is probably unanswerable) how much of the capacitor work (or tube rolling for that matter) is being dilluted and or wasted down-path from the crack when I use it as a pre-amp? I looked into replacing the caps in the audio board on my Sony. It was all fine until I got to the largest 470 caps. I'd have to do bypasses on those.

[Paul Birkeland]

That would be something you would have to experiment with, since there can be a lot of variables in the amplifier/speaker realm.

[manther]

Thanks. Just got done replacing the two output capacitors with 100uf audyn Q4's. I'm measuring resistance on 7 and 9 before going any further and the resistance is maxing out my multimeter. No longer in the 2.9k ohm range. Is this normal or a problem?

[Paul Birkeland]

Thanks. Just got done replacing the two output capacitors with 100uf audyn Q4's. I'm measuring resistance on 7 and 9 before going any further and the resistance is maxing out my multimeter. No longer in the 2.9k ohm range. Is this normal or a problem?

Do you have the Speedball installed?

[manther]

Yes I do.
I actually went back and redid all the resistance checks listed in the original crack guide and also the speed ball guide. Everything checks fine except 7, and 9 are over limit.