RIAA capacitor upgrade in seduction

[matthewmckay]

Installed some new RIAA filtering caps in the seduction last night.  I had made additional upgrades (listed below) about a year ago, so every other component has been nicely run in before the substitution.  The new caps made a noticeable improvement to the quality of the sound... really opening up after about 2 hrs playtime.  The upgrade process took about 30 minutes to accomplish.

I would describe the overall change in sound to an improvement in textural qualities... possibly more lower order harmonic information... not sure. I am terrible at describing what I am hear, but the improvement was immediate and substantial (not psychoacoustics).  I am laying on the floor as I write this, listening to the telluride sessions album by strength in numbers (thanks Grainger!), and now I can feel every individual bass nuance excite the carpet (and my skin) in the apartment.

I plan on doing the hammond chokes in the future, but this has definately taken the edge off of my desire to upgrade for now.


Parts list_________________________

Parts Connexion will hand-match caps for $1.00. 
The RTE's are +/- 2% tolerance. 
The AMCO have gold plated OFC leads and are +/- 5% tolerance.

2 Each 0.033uF 630V, AMCO Metalized Polyester  5.95 x2    $11.90

2 Each RTE-1200pf 600V RELCAP CAPACITOR US 6.98 x2    $13.96  +  $1.00 matching

2 Each RTE-0.01uf 600V RELCAP CAPACITOR US  6.22 x2    $12.44  +  $1.00 matching

= $40 overall (+ like 6 bucks or so for shipping)

___my setup___

Seduction  -  (with following changes - PJCCS upgrade, solid copper RCA jacks, DIY monstercable powerline 400 powercord, auricaps @ output, hand-matched russian teflons @ interstage, and Siemens-Rohre 6922's)

Turntable - audio note TT-2, arm-two, iQIII MM cart

Preamp - quickie (C4S-upgrade, auricaps,  solid copper RCA jacks, elna silmic II's, 22awg solid silver hookup wire, mullard tubes)

Amplifier  -  NAKSA 70

Speakers  -  Yamaha Soavo-1

[saildoctor]

I just upgraded my RIAA caps this past weekend as described above.  Partsconnexion had the Amtrans AMCO 0.033uF and Rel-Cap RTE 0.01uF but not the 1200pF version.  Instead they had some  Amtrans AMCH film & foil 1200pF which have nifty gold plated leads.  During the install I used a pair of pliers to undo the C4S board I have installed from the plastic riser clips and pushed the  board up out of the way.  Also, using a copper de-soldering braid to remove the cap leads from the ground plane was helpful because it left the holes empty of solder which made inserting the new cap leads a snap.

I noticed a spec sheet for the AMCO's after I had already ordered and everything was already in the mail - saying that the tolerance was +/-20% !! I did ask to have them matched at least.  They tested very close to 0.033uF with my Fluke meter though.  Whew!  But just wanted to give a heads up to anyone who may think of ordering these for an upgrade.

Still far from broken in - but sounds good already.  I Just listened to the She & Him Christmas album (yeah yeah, i know.  Take your best shot.  Hey I like the way Zooey sings ok? Heh.) - so much more nuance!  I remember hearing a few songs on the album where Zooey's voice sounded a bit harsh on some notes - now that quality sounds completely gone and everything sounds much more natural and detailed.   I installed a gas voltage regulator tube to my seduction last February and that seemed to improve the low end and fast transients.  This is different - it's letting those subtleties that may have been glossed over a touch stay in the picture.  

[viridian]

I redid mine with all Sonicaps, as they come matched to 5%. Cost was about $30.00 with one of their sales. Great sound and a great improvement. While ordering them I purchased a Takman Rex resistor to set the 47K input loading, but I have been so happy with it that I have not yet made the change.

[earwaxxer]

More cap junkies! The more the merrier! I find it a fascinating field of study. It can also drain your wallet. Some cap test references for those that have perused them already:

http://www.altavistaaudio.com/caps.html
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/0708/capacitor1.htm
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
http://www.10audio.com/sonicap_oimp_multicap.htm
http://www.goodsoundclub.com/PDF/capacitorshootout.pdf
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/1108/capacitor2.htm
https://www.head-fi.org/t/284863/orgy-of-capacitors-the-cap-thread
http://www.laventure.net/tourist/caps.htm
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/testing_capacitors2_e.html
http://www.dhtrob.com/impressies/super_e_cap_en.php
http://www.co-bw.com/Audio_High_End_Capacitors.htm

[chard]

Thanks for the links Eric. I found them helpful as I plan signal cap upgrades for my stereomour and seduction amps.