coupling capacitors for the quickie

[aragorn723]

hi,

So my quickie is now on order, and I plan to build it stock first, but have plans to do a lot of upgrading too.  More than likely the first upgrade will be the caps-what is a good cap to use in terms of bang for the buck?  I have looked around and seen some caps in the $90 + range (each) and don't really want to spend that much (unless there is a really compelling reason in terms of sound quality!).  Where is a good place to start?  My music tends to be vocal oriented- Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Dido, Eva Cassidy..  But also instrumentals and popular music.  Do caps have a big impact on the tone of instruments?

[Paul Birkeland]

Where is a good place to start?

I'd recommend starting with the stock caps.  There are plenty of "upgrade" caps that don't sound as good. 

[charger]

are you talking about Mundorf ? becouse i mounted i pair of them , maybe it's better i go back ?

[corndog71]

It's always recommended to build it stock first for 2 reasons:

1. You're less likely to make mistakes.

2. It gives you a reference point for better understanding what any part changes actually accomplish.

Mundorfs are good caps from what I've read but I would still recommend keeping it stock for a couple weeks.

[mortron]

Sorry to Hijack, but I was wanting to try some coupling capacitors, and since the cap I want to try is only available in 2.0uf, is it possible to add two 0.1uf caps in parallel and get the 2.2uf? The caps are Obbligato film oil, and Vishay MKP1837 bypass.

[corndog71]

Sorry to Hijack, but I was wanting to try some coupling capacitors, and since the cap I want to try is only available in 2.0uf, is it possible to add two 0.1uf caps in parallel and get the 2.2uf? The caps are Obbligato film oil, and Vishay MKP1837 bypass.

It's not necessary to get exactly 2.2uF.  I'm not a fan of bypassing line level coupling caps although others may have a different opinion.  Those Vishay caps are cheap enough that you could try them if you really wanted to.  Otherwise the 2uF caps should be fine.

[matthewmckay]

i've had positive results with various bypassing arrangements at the cathode bypass position in the quickie, (I believe i am using an elna silmic bypassed with auricap bypassed with russian PIO), but did not find any arrangement of multiple caps that I was satisfied with at the coupling position.  (I am using an ampohm tin foil PIO in this position)

Once I hit the sweet spot on what I was looking for in sound, I left it alone.  I don't plan on doing any more experimentation with this quickie, so I bought another one to have something to play with while I do my listening with the first.

[aragorn723]

Where is a good place to start?

I'd recommend starting with the stock caps.  There are plenty of "upgrade" caps that don't sound as good.

Thats surprising, what kind of caps are in the Quickie?

[Paul Birkeland]

Metalized polypropylene. 

[aragorn723]

You know, that's kind of interesting about the Quickie 1.1 caps.  I noticed that most of the "modified" Quickies are the original ones with the switch instead of the knob for the selector switch.  Are there still a good number of areas where the Quickie 1.1 could be upgraded?