RAMBUS_King
"Perfect Sound Forever"
My mind is flooded with rivulets of thought...
Bypassing (shunting) 'lytics with small value polyprop's (or other films) is highly recommended for use in sensitive circuits (think input stages, phono preamp circuits, etc., for example), and will also help lower AC ripple currents in power supply filter caps. To do so, just add a small value cap in parallel to the larger 'lytic, by simply soldering them directly to the 'lytics leads. These are also sometimes seen mounted in this 'after-thought' fashion on non-modified OEM boards where there is no mounting hole for the component. For an excellent write-up on this idea, see the 'sidebar box' entitled "Tuning" typically used audio circuits with quality capacitors on page 3 of the following:
Picking Capacitors - Part II
Here is the link to Part I:
Picking Capacitors - Part I
These articles were taken from Audio magazine, Feb. and Mar. 1980, so the info is a little dated, but mostly still pertinent. Part 1 is 8 pages, and Part 2 is 9 pages. Both are very highly informative, and an excellent read, having been well-written by Walter G. Jung and Richard Marsh. I also love the photo of the snob-o-phile's red-tuxedoed butler serving up the caps on a sliver platter!
I have confirmed that adding bypass films (0.33 uF) across the two large (now 15K uF) PS caps of my Don Imlay modified (Thanks Don!), Phase Linear 400 (Series 1, Gen.1). Doing so did in fact reduce measured A/C Ripple Current from (c.) 800mVAC (RMS) to < 20mVAC (RMS). This would seem to be very significant, a 40x reduction. Ask me if this was audible...
BTW - How did I choose 0.33uF for a value? I cheated! Bob Carver's 3rd and final version of the PCB (PL14B) for the Series 1 PL-400 added these bypass caps. I used vintage Mullard 'tropical fish' caps for this purpose, but just for looks!
Although I think I prefer the minimalist parts count of his Gen. 1 board (I can almost fully understand the schematic! - with the exception of his soon-to-be-de-facto, and oft-maligned protection circuit), I thought that adding two caps across the PS caps couldn't hurt anytning, and I wanted to test this idea out for myself! You know, somewhere it couldn't possibly do any harm and was easily reversible.
More recently (but still slightly dated) is the 48-page manifesto entitled Capacitor Sound?, which appeared as a 6-part series in Electronics World from July 2002 -Jan. 2003, written by Cyril Bateman...
A cleaned-up version (rather than a hard-to-read scan) of these articles is linked on the page below, as well as three follow-up articles, which I have not yet read...
http://linearaudio.nl/cyril-batemans-capacitor-sound-articles
I don't recall if I got anything out of reading these articles, other than a big headache. I did, however, enjoy marveling at the wealth of test-data provided. These articles have been linked to and discussed on numerous other forums (and probably here on AK as well) in the past. It just seemed to me that there should be some reference to then here in this thread.
Again, I do, however, highly recommend reading the Jung & Marsh articles from Audio, linked above.
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Hedley Lamarr: My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Taggart: God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.
I have the Muze Bipolars paralleled with Epcos metallized polypros that add crispness and detail to the midrange and higher.
Bypassing (shunting) 'lytics with small value polyprop's (or other films) is highly recommended for use in sensitive circuits (think input stages, phono preamp circuits, etc., for example), and will also help lower AC ripple currents in power supply filter caps. To do so, just add a small value cap in parallel to the larger 'lytic, by simply soldering them directly to the 'lytics leads. These are also sometimes seen mounted in this 'after-thought' fashion on non-modified OEM boards where there is no mounting hole for the component. For an excellent write-up on this idea, see the 'sidebar box' entitled "Tuning" typically used audio circuits with quality capacitors on page 3 of the following:
Picking Capacitors - Part II
Here is the link to Part I:
Picking Capacitors - Part I
These articles were taken from Audio magazine, Feb. and Mar. 1980, so the info is a little dated, but mostly still pertinent. Part 1 is 8 pages, and Part 2 is 9 pages. Both are very highly informative, and an excellent read, having been well-written by Walter G. Jung and Richard Marsh. I also love the photo of the snob-o-phile's red-tuxedoed butler serving up the caps on a sliver platter!
I have confirmed that adding bypass films (0.33 uF) across the two large (now 15K uF) PS caps of my Don Imlay modified (Thanks Don!), Phase Linear 400 (Series 1, Gen.1). Doing so did in fact reduce measured A/C Ripple Current from (c.) 800mVAC (RMS) to < 20mVAC (RMS). This would seem to be very significant, a 40x reduction. Ask me if this was audible...
BTW - How did I choose 0.33uF for a value? I cheated! Bob Carver's 3rd and final version of the PCB (PL14B) for the Series 1 PL-400 added these bypass caps. I used vintage Mullard 'tropical fish' caps for this purpose, but just for looks!
^ +1 what he said! Too bad I only get to see mine when I go inside (again). It's also a real shame that Elna doesn't pick up on this audiophilla nervosa preference - those dung-colored Simlic II's are only pretty to those that know...I like the ones with great looking covers. The metallic red cerafines, the green Muse, the gold Nichicon audio caps...I want eye candy when the unit is off. Best way to select a cap.
Although I think I prefer the minimalist parts count of his Gen. 1 board (I can almost fully understand the schematic! - with the exception of his soon-to-be-de-facto, and oft-maligned protection circuit), I thought that adding two caps across the PS caps couldn't hurt anytning, and I wanted to test this idea out for myself! You know, somewhere it couldn't possibly do any harm and was easily reversible.
More recently (but still slightly dated) is the 48-page manifesto entitled Capacitor Sound?, which appeared as a 6-part series in Electronics World from July 2002 -Jan. 2003, written by Cyril Bateman...
A cleaned-up version (rather than a hard-to-read scan) of these articles is linked on the page below, as well as three follow-up articles, which I have not yet read...
http://linearaudio.nl/cyril-batemans-capacitor-sound-articles
I don't recall if I got anything out of reading these articles, other than a big headache. I did, however, enjoy marveling at the wealth of test-data provided. These articles have been linked to and discussed on numerous other forums (and probably here on AK as well) in the past. It just seemed to me that there should be some reference to then here in this thread.
Again, I do, however, highly recommend reading the Jung & Marsh articles from Audio, linked above.
------------------
Hedley Lamarr: My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Taggart: God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.
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