Russian K40Y-9 PIO vs K42Y-2 Caps, any difference?

buickguy62

Active Member
Hi,
I'm recapping a Harman Kardon A500 amp and wonder if there is any difference between Russian PIO's K40Y-9 and K42Y-2 caps. I can get the '42's (.22uf, 500V), haven't located the 40's in that value--so is there any difference between the '42's and the 40's?
Thanks in advance,
Tom
 
2Y's just kidding. i have heard some people say yes and some say no but i cant say. i just used the K40Y-9's

Don
 
I use the green ones a lot and love them. I've never had a piece of leftover military stuff from Russia that I could find any fault with. They made good shit, not as good as ours, but damn good.
 
Yep those Russian 6V6 equivalents are cheap and sound very nice on my Maggie. I got some K40Y .068uf coupling caps in that too...I guess one would call them rose copper (or gold?) colored ...I do not know what color they are lol....look cool
 
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Used the green 0.22u in several amps. They sound better than they look....
 

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K42s are smaller and sometimes that matters. If I were doing it I'd mix the caps up and not use only one type thru the whole amp. Sonically, I like both but they are different. The k40s are neutral & slightly sweet. The k42s throw a great soundstage
 
I've had excellent results with the K42s. I haven't used the K40s much, but have a set for my Scott LK-150 and will report back after I've had a chance to listen.
 
I've used both and have been happy with the results. To these old, abused ears, they both sound nice.
 
The smaller green K42s are metallized and that isn't a bad thing.

Hi,
I'm recapping a Harman Kardon A500 amp and wonder if there is any difference between Russian PIO's K40Y-9 and K42Y-2 caps. I can get the '42's (.22uf, 500V), haven't located the 40's in that value--so is there any difference between the '42's and the 40's?
Thanks in advance,
Tom

They are good but I like the k40s better...Just be sure to mix caps..paper in oil caps work superbly on the output and innerstages where you have B+ present on them..On the preamp output you can nichicon Qz or any decent film and foil or the Green k42s.
 
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Some other forums are sending people here for information. For the time watchers, yup, old thread. Doesn't matter for the folks looking for information, and stumble upon this. I dig up old threads all the time, when I am researching.
Russian PIO caps K42Y-2

500V 0,1uf 10% tol.

10 pcs

K42Y-2 - capacitors have a unique perky disposition among the paper series of russian caps.

Different from the famous K40Y-9 series is metallized dielectric, but this does not mean that sound are worse.

They sound a bit different. Soft tactful bass, sweet treble, cheeky mid emphasized dirty.
Recommended applications - shading frequency amplifier tembroblok sound in the style of old school. _____________________________ This is one of the Russian sellers from eBay trying to describe the cap, taken word for word. Here is another, from a seller in the USA.

Russian military K42Y-2 .047uf 250V capacitor. K42's are metalized paper in oil, glass sealed in a metal body.


These make great tone capacitors for guitars. The metalized paper gives it a brighter less unadulterated sound making it an interesting choice for strats, teles, p-basses.

Compact dimensions make these are easy to install even in tight cavities.

These caps are not unlike a new speaker and will sound there best after being broken in for several hours. From Bob Latino......

What Corndog has written here is exactly what I have noticed with the K40-Y and the K42-Y caps. There is very little (if any) difference between these two capacitors at least if used as main coupling capacitors in a tube amp. Both are slightly on the warm side and both give a very wide and deep "3D type" soundstage. If you buy them on Ebay, K40 caps tend to be a little more expensive than the K42's but that does not mean that they are "better". K42 caps also tend to be somewhat smaller in size than their K40 counterparts with the capacitance and voltage ratings being the same. This makes a K42 easier to fit into some situations that have limited space.

Bob

 
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I think I got the purtiest K40's ... <G>

pio-caps.jpg


Biggest problem is making sure the metal cases don't short to ground. Common to heatshrink the leads, but I did the same with the cases as well, using the stuff that's used for underground connections. Here's a link to the stencil I made ... those are printed on Avery label stock.

http://www.brainfartz.com/images/Stereo Stuff/VTA ST-120/PIO cap stencil.bmp
 
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Edited my prior after you posted.

PS - not to forget - the PIO's take a LONG time to break in properly. I've heard upwards of 600 hours.
 
PS - not to forget - the PIO's take a LONG time to break in properly. I've heard upwards of 600 hours.

I can attest to the long break in period. Minimum of 100 hours and they seem to settle in and open up around 300hrs or so.
 
Thats good to know about the long break in period. I just ordered some from Russia, will take a month to get here.
 
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