I'm sure my time is coming. I can't say I haven't blown a couple fuses by slipping with my multimeter probes. Had to learn that mini grabbers exist and are quite handy. Also have installed some transistors in the wrong orientation. But nothing has gone horribly wrong. As with anything in life, the mistakes are the best learning experiences...the memories that really stick with you.It's part of the ritual...
Sounds like sage advice to me. It also reminds me of something I have read before, that just about any modern cap is going to be better than one from the 70's. What I have been finding in the Pioneer forum is most bills of materials consist of Nichicon upw's, ukl's, and wima film caps. So that's what I've been using. I have no complaints. None of my Pioneers have sounded WORSE after a recap. I did recap a Marantz 2235b for my friend using a kit that he paid for. It consisted of Silmic 2's in every single cap location. That didn't make sense to me because of their temperature rating and the fact that they aren't low esr caps. And that was another case where my lack of knowledge showed itself. I started asking about it in the Marantz forum and ended up redoing the power supply board with completely different caps than what came in the kit. With that being said, having a stereo full of Silmic 2's didn't make me all of a sudden think this is the greatest thing I've ever heard! Granted I probably didn't get to fully break the caps in. My point is that I understand what you mean about the sound signature being in the design. Thanks for taking the time to explain a lot of this. It's all helpful to me. And hopefully it helps anyone else who stumbles across this thread at some point.I personally don't buy into the notion that one needs to use "audio grade" caps. Most modern day "general purpose" electrolytic caps actually meet, or exceed the "audio" caps of days gone by. However certain ones are indeed better in certain spots. I also personally don't care for the "sound" of the Nichicon "Fine Gold" (FG) and prefer to use Panasonic FM, and even FC line of caps. Some places the Silmic II are better to use, but can take weeks to "break-in" and smooth out. Don't just rely on any single thread of a rebuild to follow. Extrapolate from different threads of the same model and take note of people's comments. People's "preferences" and perceptions differ greatly, and ignore the "what sounds better" arguments that always seem to crop up. Heck, I've come across a few units where the factory used ALL "general purpose" caps and they sounded just dandy. Although I myself used "better" modern caps when rebuilding them. The design of the circuity is what gives the "sound signature" more than the "type" of capacitors do. But there is always room for "tweaking" and using better components here and there to "clean up" the signal path. Just remember, YOUR ears are what matters, not someone else's "opinion", including mine.
Yeah, many of those "FleaBay kits" are just preying on inexperienced DIYs by name dropping "boutique sounding" caps. But you are on the right path by researching.
Good! ThanksYeah, many of those "FleaBay kits" are just preying on inexperienced DIYs by name dropping "boutique sounding" caps. But you are on the right path by researching.
