Never said I didnt like caps…just if i had a choice if a cap is not needed that potentially would be better, If a circuit uses caps for coupling then use a good cap with the correct voltage rating and via a good maker.
Changing stuff in a Crack, like to a boutique cap often will not have a real discernable change…if your brutally honest…but if it make you fell good thats great! Chokes, Cree diodes, etc…all dio-able but in reality the actual sonic changes are moot comapared toi moving up to a Crackatowa or mainline,
If you really like the Crack sound,the mainline will be very different sound and you may or may not like that…the Crackatowa IMO wqould be more like the original Crack…
Diy has been a major part of my audio experience…buiilt 50+ amps in my lifetime…and its fun to try stuff and its not a bad thing to try things out…,so enjoy your diy’ing,
Moving up from a sound you like just might not be what your looking for,I have built the crack and mainline and I was very much surprised,
I’ve read the same all over the place and that’s fine. I’m not looking to get rid of Crack (I absolutely LOVE this amp with my HD600). Just adding another flavor for other cans.
The Mainline is another great design…IMO it is less “euphonic” and way differnent than the Crack…its more SS like…but it can be used with high and low Z headphones.
And if u do look at the crackatowa with the stepped attenuator…its getting close to the cost of a mainline for sure…
But it will sound diffferent for sure.
If you go that route please post your experience!!!
The electrolytic and tantalum capacitors are polarized (polarity sensitive), and are always labeled as such. … Ceramic, mylar, plastic film, and air capacitors do not have polarity markings, because those types are nonpolarized (they are not polarity sensitive).
I’m upgrading caps, just to make 1000% sure the ones I bought don’t have polarity since they’re not marked so I’m pretty sure I’m good but, you know… polypropylene is a plastic film.
These are huge (60mmL x 76mmD). $68, both test as 99.5 uf. I used a pair of CSA’s in a woofer network and was happy with them. The Audyn’s above are a better value and easier to handle. I’ll give the CSA and audible advantage.
High buck has nothing to do with it. Caps in speakers are used in the crossover. The only way to remove the caps from the crossover are to use an active setup. Otherwise, no matter what you do, low frequencies will fry one or more of your drivers. You CAN run a single fullrange driver but that has certain disadvantages.
I sold audio equipment (high end) for 7 years and was involved in investing in an audio shop, plus a hobbyist for over 50 years, I’ve heard nearly a thousand speakers and owned about 30. The only speakers that went without caps (more than one driver) were very high end horns (trying to rely on nautral drop in output at frequency extremes on a very low watt class A tubes. I never owned one as I was and am primarily a panel fan. - and yes some of my big panels had no x-over, not counting external add on cone woofers.
As for the BHC, it has a number of caps. 3 are pretty important to the sound.
The 3 at power supply are important for removing the AC ripples after the rectifier. Without those, you have massive problems - it’s much bigger than “sounds noticeably better this way”. The 2 output coupling caps are the ones you literally hear - they are the last component before the headphone driver.
