Reviews
Coupling
Capacitors Marathon
Clive Meakins checks out some options for pole
position in the coupling capacitor stakes
(Excerpt from capacitor reveiw)
Jupiter
Aluminum
foil, silver leadouts with beeswax dielectric!
The Jupiters have lots of air, are detailed,
clean and fast. Bass performance was immediately
impressive, it goes deep and is tight.
The
character of my system changed significantly
between different recordings, suggesting the
capacitor is very transparent. This capacitor
is about neutrality, clarity and detail with
no added or subtracted warmth. Modern chart
recordings are accurately reproduced, so some
can be sharp in the mid-range.
Watch
the soldering iron, don’t melt the wax
by brushing the iron against the capacitor,
in fact keep well away from the body and don’t
apply too much heat!
These
are vintage looking capacitors with a modern
sound, even if they may look as though they’ll
sound over-lush.
Upside:
resolution, speed, consistent through the frequency
range, neutral, environmentally friendly, solid
bass
Downside:
ever so slightly unforgiving of poorly recorded
vocals, require a little extra care when soldering
Jupiter "Audio path coupler"
From:
http://www.dhtrob.com
Some
time ago Hans Kortenbach sent me an e-mail with
including an attachment about the use of beeswax
in audio related components. An interesting
note as beeswax seems to have way of preserving
things, due to some specific substances, as
only beeswax can do...
Also a sort of enquete was held among older
radio repairman about "the best encountered
capacitor". Almost all of these men answered:
"Waxed capacitors". These capacitors
were the most reliable ones throughout the years...
Interesting stuff to read about!
And what a surprise it was when I "surfed"
the Internet and encountered the Jupiter beeswax
capacitor! These are really beautiful made capacitors!
You can feel the wax, as they are not built
in plastic or metal! They are also pretty heavy,
most of the times a good sign. I'm using Jensen
copperfoils (no plastic, C37 treated) at the
moment, also having some Ultra tones, Icars
and VitaminQ's as reference. All have 0.22mF,
so there should be no difference..
Cees Piet was with me at the time, and I quickly
replaced the Jupiters for the Jensens after
listening for quite a time (for reference).
Immediately after swapping the party began!
This was not a minor difference! All of the
sudden the music seems to "pour" out
of this "path coupler".... Everything
in the music seemed to be unleashed.. Fantastic!
What a good capacitor this is!. Also compared
to the other references this rather big difference
was obvious, no shit!
If
you're into buying your coupling capacitor,
you should give these caps a try! You won't
be disappointed, I can assure you! The only
disappointment in using these, is when you already
have bought some (expensive) Audio Notes or
exclusive Teflon-caps, and realize you don't
need them anymore....
After a few weeks of listening, I'm still as
enthusiastic about these caps as in the beginning!
They have really gotten better, although the
improvement gained in the beginning when swapping
these, is not as big as then! Again a big hurray
for "natural materials"?.
ps. These caps have been listened to as coupling
device on my preamp; a choke loaded Standard
4019A.
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