auricap xo

[tubefrk]

  Hi, I'm a newbeeee, I just purchased a Quickie, from the Queen (great gall) note... not pollitcly correct. Anyway, has any one tried the new auricap xo"s I'm going to try a pair in the Quickie. Thanks, Mike

[earwaxxer]

I dont have any auricap's, not sure what their 'house sound' is like. The Quickie is a fun kit to swap parts in and out. I know that my Quickie with Mundorfs subbed in for the stock parts sound quicker, rounder, bigger, smoother, easier. You might want to replace the electrolytics with films as well. Not as big a deal as the coupling caps.

[Paul Birkeland]

It's hard to say what the differences might be (other than the higher price) between the original Auricaps and the new Auricaps.

I can say, however, that the film and foil caps from Solen (SM) and Parts Express (Dayton) are excellent for the price.  There are tons of metalized film caps floating around, but I prefer the real film and foil caps instead.

[tubefrk]

Thanks guys, I've never liked much the sound of Auricaps in most electronics. A little to rounded off @ the freak xtreems for me, but I'll give'm a shot. They say they have fixed the problems. I'm going to change the electrolytics with some Elna silk's. I have used Mundorf's in the past and love them, I'm sure i'll make my way to them eventually.  I lust after (Teflon) the price, Oh shit........

[jmv]

On a tagent - I recapped the crossovers on my old Spica TC-50s, replacing the electrolytics with Solen films.  The results were amazing.  Granted, most of that is probably due to the age of the original caps (25+ years), but I was surprised at how much cleaner the sound became.

[tubefrk]

Hi all, well I did it. built the kits added the new Auri xo's. Before I get to that I better tell you what all I did to the Quickie. First I used silver over copper hookup wire for the signal path. I used an Allps blue box volume, used all PRP resistors, except for higher watt, I used Roadies. Went to Elna Sims for the electrolytics.. Now for the caps. I really need more time to burn in the parts, but I can"t wait. I've only got about 20 Hrs. on things. I know some of you, (Eric) will think I'm full of Shit, or my ears are waisted from years of standing in front of a twin stack of Marshalls. I have for years used Mundorf's and I love them. But I have to tell you these new Auri's I think are wonderful. They still have a nice mid bloom, but,me thinks making them cover the full freq. spectrum did something overall to the sound. The old ones to me were short on articulation, (to soft) (mudd). The new ones ( sorry Eric) sound more like Mundorf's to me. Less money. After I put some more time on things I will put a set of Mundorf's in and get a direct comparison. (a steel string acustic guitar, really sounds like one).   Love,   Mike

[4krow]

And I, just put some Obliggato's in mine. It's not fired up yet, 'cuz I got some other stuff to do, but things are moving in the right direction.

                       True  Love, Greg

[earwaxxer]

Hey Mike - sorry if I come across as a Mundorf 'devote'! Really I'm agnostic when it comes to caps. I have switched back and forth so many times I'm really not sure what it is that I really 'like'. A recent example is I subbed my Jantzen Superior Z's back in to my crossover for my maggies. Just for the hell of it. I have a 'clear' memory of not liking those caps, compared to the Obligatto's and then finally to the AmpOhm P/O's. I havent heard them in several years, and there have been innumerable changes to my system since then. I figured I would give them another try bypassed with the Mundorf S/O's, since the AmpOhms sounded so much better with the bypass, but the Obligatto's clearly didnt. I expected that the Jantzens also would not. That was one combo that i hadn't tried. Well for shits sake! They sounded exactly how they were reviewed to sound in Humble Homemade HiFi (clean but not bright, good definition/resolution, non colored, even frequency response). I bet the auricaps sound fantastic and I will add that to my 'review data bank in my head'. One thing is for sure... Caps DO make a difference!

Peace, Love, Dope - Eric

[earwaxxer]

Hey Greg...  I thought you weren't going to build the Quickie right now.. Had 'better' things to do!

I am curious though as to the sound of the Obilggato's. I have a couple of 22uF's that I used in my speaker crossover. I could probably sub them in on the coupling caps, although I've got the Mundorf S/O's in there now. Not sure, but if I liked the Obliggato's better than the Mundorf's I MIGHT go to hell!

[Grainger49]

Eric,

I checked at DIY HiFi and now count 6 different kinds of Obbligato caps, 3 more than when I bought a bunch of them.  Some are made in Japan and some in Europe (France it appears).  

There are Teflon (green), Gold Premium, Copper, (black) PPE or PA, the (black) Film/Oil that I have used and (black) PSU film.

Just saying, which Obbligato did you try?

Link to all Obbligato at DIY HiFi:

http://www.diyhifisupply.com/catalog/145

[earwaxxer]

No kidding! I'm going to have to check that site. I bought mine when there was only a couple to choose from and in the high values there was only one choice - the Obliggato "Premiums" (copper/brass colored, I think they are also called Obliggato Gold).

[tubefrk]

Thanks again Greg,, I have never heard the obligato's. I will give them a try. My wife took a look @ the Quicky and said, so that only cost $150.00 give or take. I said yes, she said I have seen credit card statments for Capacitors that cost more than that. I had to laugh, or maybe I should cry. I have orderd some Takman resistors I'll give em a try..... Peace, love, dope, two dogs, sex (not to old yet) Mike.

[earwaxxer]

Hey Granger - I ck'ed out DIY site. Those Teflon/tin foils look like they would be a good bypass cap option. Curious as to how they would sound compared to the S/O's.

[Grainger49]

Eric,

There are no larger value Teflons.  They only go to 0.47uF.  So bypassing is a good use, or interstage in the Stereomour or Seduction.  The real question to me is whether at $64 each for a 0.22uF they are better as a bypass than the 0.22uF KK Teflon for $8 each?

[Doc B.]

That depends upon the construction. IME Teflon and tin foil sounds very, very good after some break in whereas the metallized Teflons we have tried didn't sound too good, even after 1000 hours.