keithe@tekgvs.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson) (08/12/87)
In a couple of earlier articles some other folks write: >>Really want to make it sound MUCH better? Pull all the electrolytics out of >>the preamp and power amp and put in 2 uF mylars or polyprops if you can >>find them. > >Bullsh*t. Most of the capacitors in the preamp and power amp are on >the order of 50 to 100 uF; the smallest are 4.7uF. Replacing them with >2uF polypropylene caps is going to change the sound, that's sure >enough. Folks - this is just a microcasm of what we see on the net, and in audio-hype publications _ALL_THE_STEENKENG_TIME_!!! There is always the feeling that "if it worked here, in this circuit, for me, in my application, it must be a GOOD_THING and YOU should do it, to." To borrow the response above, "Bullsh*t." There is a reason for umpteen different kinds of capacitors, scads of different phono cartridges, and "billyuns and billyuns" of every other kind of parts and pieces: some perform better IN THEIR PARTICULAR AREA OF SPECIALIZATION than do others. Generalizations are, in general, not worth a hoot (except for this one, of course :-) ). If things in life were that easy we wouldn't need engineers (or doctors, or... or...) because we could all just "look it up in the book" and solve our problems. It just ain't that simple!!! And you can't MAKE it that simple. Just remember the old trick in taking multiple-choice/true-false tests: any statement that contains "always" or "never" is most likely false. Apply that credo to life and you'll filter out a lot of worthless crap. And perhaps prevent yourself from disseminating a lot of worthless crap. Thanks for listening (?). keith
bblue@crash.CTS.COM (Bill Blue) (08/14/87)
In article <2551@tekgvs.TEK.COM> keithe@tekgvs.UUCP (Keith Ericson) writes: >In a couple of earlier articles some other folks write: > >>>Really want to make it sound MUCH better? Pull all the electrolytics out of >>>the preamp and power amp and put in 2 uF mylars or polyprops if you can >>>find them. >> >>Bullsh*t. Most of the capacitors in the preamp and power amp are on >>the order of 50 to 100 uF; the smallest are 4.7uF. Replacing them with >>2uF polypropylene caps is going to change the sound, that's sure >>enough. > >Folks - this is just a microcasm of what we see on the net, and in >audio-hype publications _ALL_THE_STEENKENG_TIME_!!! There is always >the feeling that "if it worked here, in this circuit, for me, in my >application, it must be a GOOD_THING and YOU should do it, to." To >borrow the response above, "Bullsh*t." > >There is a reason for umpteen different kinds of capacitors, scads >of different phono cartridges, and "billyuns and billyuns" of every >other kind of parts and pieces: some perform better IN THEIR >PARTICULAR AREA OF SPECIALIZATION than do others. Sorry Keith, but you can't just generalize this away by observing (and reacting to) the fact that various components sound differently in audio circuits. And it has nothing at all with which one was recommended. It has been widely known and accepted for *years* that, specifically, mylar and polypropylene capacitors are outstanding performers in an audio path. It doesn't matter which audio path, or anything else. It is an absolute. It's as absolute as the knowledge that metal film resistors a) also sound better than carbon comps, and b) are lower noise. The biggest problem with using those types of capacitors is that they are large for a given capacity. You could, for example, find a 4700mf electrolytic that is quite smaller than a 5mf polypropylene. That, and their expense (and to a lesser degree ignorance of some designers) are the major factors in why we don't see them in anything but the higher quality audiophile equipment. > >Generalizations are, in general, not worth a hoot (except for this >one, of course :-) ). If things in life were that easy we wouldn't >need engineers (or doctors, or... or...) because we could all just >"look it up in the book" and solve our problems. It just ain't that >simple!!! And you can't MAKE it that simple. Yes, there can be a lot of generalizations... a) cars designed for use with unleaded gas should be fed unleaded gas, b) A component that is designed for use with AC Current cannot be fed DC current and be expected to still work, and c) polypropylene caps will sound better than electrolytics in *any* audio path, given an appropriate value selection. Part of the problem here (and possibly with other absolute statements) is with people's reaction to the word 'better'. To avoid this confusion and put things in perspective, I will clarify my original statement: Polypropylene and mylar capacitors will introduce less signal distortion into the audio path than will electrolytics. How this is perceived (i.e. is it better or not) will depend largely on what you want to (or expect to) hear. --Bill