Results
Cap Shoot-Out Final Summary:
Acceptable: Panasonic FC’s
This cap has been the standard bearer for quit some time. It is very neutral in sound and really does not do anything wrong. There are just some things that it does not do.
1. The sound field is 2D
2. The low end is rolled off in the lowest octave
3. The hi end is recessed
4. The mids and in particular vocals lack body
Who is it for: You just want to restore your Marantz to get another 20 years out of it and could care less about fancy imaging terms and vocals with body, and your speakers do not go down that far in the bass anyway. You will be very happy for a very long time with these. If this does not describe you read on.
Excellent: Nichicon KZ/FG
These caps are very neutral and very clean sounding. The frequency extremes are all there. There is just a small midrange scoop, and you may or may not be able to deal with it with the Marantz Mid control. These are like the Panasonic FC’s for someone who is looking for a little more. The vocals have nice body (can sound just a tad thin on some, but not a deal breaker.) They image well and there is sound stage width and depth. A truly lovely cap, excellent sounding. If you want the lowest risk of being unsatisfied with the caps you are installing use these. I see no possible way you would not like them. They will not do anything funny to the music and they are the least colored of the caps I tried.
Who are they for: You are restoring your Marantz and you want to do it right and you do not want any surprises with the final outcome. You have nice speakers and a decent table with cartridge, and can appreciate some subtle things in music like enjoying a nice sound stage etc.
Special Category: Elna Silmic 11:
A very special cap, it will imbue the music with that liquid smooth “tube like” sound. The soundstage width and depth are excellent; imaging is superb and rock solid. These caps just never lose control they always sound smooth and relaxed. The mids are huge sounding (in a sound space way) it makes vocals sound very seductive. You will be tapping your feet with these; they get you involved and draw you into the music. The low end moves air if your system is capable and the highs are very sweet sounding.
Who are they for: You have modern speakers that image well, and can throw out a nice soundstage. You are using high end type speaker cable and a very nice cartridge and you are looking for the lush sound of tubes out of your Marantz-these are the ticket. There are however some restrictions because they are somewhat gently colored. The upper bass and mids are a little bumped up in my opinion. If you have JBL 100’s they are also colored in this region, this may be a bit too much. As I side note I have owned the JBL 100’s and love them, this example just came to mind.
*******When I was done the Shoot-Out these were the caps that I initially put back in.
Special Category: Elna Cerafine
These are ridiculously clean and transparent sounding. They do not have the “tube sound” of the Silmics but are still smooth and sweet. They have an open window to the music from the upper mids all the way out to the high end. They do have a gentle bump in the mids that will move the vocals forward in the mix, and the high end has a gentle rise but is never shrill, just clean transparent and accurate. When I played Reference Recordings Dafos the song, “ Reunion,” there were parts that sounded so realistic I turned my head to look to each side of the room because I though this could not possibly be coming from the speakers.
Who are they for: As above you are looking for a high end type sound out of your Marantz receiver. The rest of your components are up to snuff and you can appreciate a musical revelation so to speak. You may not want to mate these to a speaker that has a hot high end, could be a little too much.
*******So these are the caps I could not get out of my head, I was willing to give up the lush sound of the Silmics for that open window that I got attached to when listening to the Cerafine’s.
Well that’s it, I did order Silmic 11’s and Cerafine’s for my phono board and will try both and report back.
I am not wanting people to go pulling caps out of their power supply board because of this thread, if you are indeed doing it and have the technical skills to do so please report back to this thread with your choice of what you used and your thoughts on the resulting sound.
Any questions just respond to the thread I was trying not to get side tracked , so did not comment much wanted to keep the thread on track.
Cheers!
Equipment Used:
B&W 685 Speakers: “The Absolute Sound Editors Choice” IMHO best speakers under a grand.
Paul Speltz Anti Cables speaker cables: ”The Absolute Sound Editors Choice” Amazing sounds like you are not using speaker cables.
Pioneer PL10 Turntable (ha ha I know) Totally reworked with sound dampening, rewired, and braced. (Sounds better then my AR)
Audio Technica 125LC: Very neutral and smooth perfect to use for this shoot-out. I had also just installed a NOS stylus.
Marantz 2220B Receiver: Totally stock with original Marantz outputs.
Cap Shoot-Out Final Summary:
Acceptable: Panasonic FC’s
This cap has been the standard bearer for quit some time. It is very neutral in sound and really does not do anything wrong. There are just some things that it does not do.
1. The sound field is 2D
2. The low end is rolled off in the lowest octave
3. The hi end is recessed
4. The mids and in particular vocals lack body
Who is it for: You just want to restore your Marantz to get another 20 years out of it and could care less about fancy imaging terms and vocals with body, and your speakers do not go down that far in the bass anyway. You will be very happy for a very long time with these. If this does not describe you read on.
Excellent: Nichicon KZ/FG
These caps are very neutral and very clean sounding. The frequency extremes are all there. There is just a small midrange scoop, and you may or may not be able to deal with it with the Marantz Mid control. These are like the Panasonic FC’s for someone who is looking for a little more. The vocals have nice body (can sound just a tad thin on some, but not a deal breaker.) They image well and there is sound stage width and depth. A truly lovely cap, excellent sounding. If you want the lowest risk of being unsatisfied with the caps you are installing use these. I see no possible way you would not like them. They will not do anything funny to the music and they are the least colored of the caps I tried.
Who are they for: You are restoring your Marantz and you want to do it right and you do not want any surprises with the final outcome. You have nice speakers and a decent table with cartridge, and can appreciate some subtle things in music like enjoying a nice sound stage etc.
Special Category: Elna Silmic 11:
A very special cap, it will imbue the music with that liquid smooth “tube like” sound. The soundstage width and depth are excellent; imaging is superb and rock solid. These caps just never lose control they always sound smooth and relaxed. The mids are huge sounding (in a sound space way) it makes vocals sound very seductive. You will be tapping your feet with these; they get you involved and draw you into the music. The low end moves air if your system is capable and the highs are very sweet sounding.
Who are they for: You have modern speakers that image well, and can throw out a nice soundstage. You are using high end type speaker cable and a very nice cartridge and you are looking for the lush sound of tubes out of your Marantz-these are the ticket. There are however some restrictions because they are somewhat gently colored. The upper bass and mids are a little bumped up in my opinion. If you have JBL 100’s they are also colored in this region, this may be a bit too much. As I side note I have owned the JBL 100’s and love them, this example just came to mind.
*******When I was done the Shoot-Out these were the caps that I initially put back in.
Special Category: Elna Cerafine
These are ridiculously clean and transparent sounding. They do not have the “tube sound” of the Silmics but are still smooth and sweet. They have an open window to the music from the upper mids all the way out to the high end. They do have a gentle bump in the mids that will move the vocals forward in the mix, and the high end has a gentle rise but is never shrill, just clean transparent and accurate. When I played Reference Recordings Dafos the song, “ Reunion,” there were parts that sounded so realistic I turned my head to look to each side of the room because I though this could not possibly be coming from the speakers.
Who are they for: As above you are looking for a high end type sound out of your Marantz receiver. The rest of your components are up to snuff and you can appreciate a musical revelation so to speak. You may not want to mate these to a speaker that has a hot high end, could be a little too much.
*******So these are the caps I could not get out of my head, I was willing to give up the lush sound of the Silmics for that open window that I got attached to when listening to the Cerafine’s.
Well that’s it, I did order Silmic 11’s and Cerafine’s for my phono board and will try both and report back.
I am not wanting people to go pulling caps out of their power supply board because of this thread, if you are indeed doing it and have the technical skills to do so please report back to this thread with your choice of what you used and your thoughts on the resulting sound.
Any questions just respond to the thread I was trying not to get side tracked , so did not comment much wanted to keep the thread on track.
Cheers!
Equipment Used:
B&W 685 Speakers: “The Absolute Sound Editors Choice” IMHO best speakers under a grand.
Paul Speltz Anti Cables speaker cables: ”The Absolute Sound Editors Choice” Amazing sounds like you are not using speaker cables.
Pioneer PL10 Turntable (ha ha I know) Totally reworked with sound dampening, rewired, and braced. (Sounds better then my AR)
Audio Technica 125LC: Very neutral and smooth perfect to use for this shoot-out. I had also just installed a NOS stylus.
Marantz 2220B Receiver: Totally stock with original Marantz outputs.
