Post by Bigman80 on Jun 11, 2020 19:56:14 GMT
I was very happy when i dug out the Vishay MKP 1839 HQ Series from the depths of RS online and tried them out. For £3 (ex Vat) they are a gem! I have installed them into every Bigbottle Phonostage i have built since finding them.
Happily ignorant of the existence of Clarity Caps new range of caps, the CSA and the CMR had escaped my curiosity. However, this was about to change.
Upon receipt of an order for a new Bigbottle Phono, i was tasked with offering an opinion on the merits of good caps. I insisted that the ones i provide with the board were as good as anything i had heard, and they were. However, the customer is always right, and his insistence was for a bit of bling.
We first investigated Miflex PIO caps, but they were so massive that they wouldn't have fitted in the case we had originally designated for the build. We settled upon the CMR’s for the build and at £80 a pair, I considered Karl to be bonkers.
In the meantime, a pair of CSA had come into my possession for very little money. At around £7 each they were not expensive in the slightest.
I plumbed them in and put the Phonostage on to warm up. The caps were used when i got them and had seen enough hours to be run in, so evaluation could be swiftly implemented.
I sat back and listened carefully. Unfortunately I knew there and then that the CSA were better than the Vishay. It wasn’t a night and day difference but there was an obvious increase in detail and the soundstage felt a little more organised. It sounded clearer and cleaner.
As it happened i had Karls Phonostage section built and ready to go with the CMR caps in. I thought i'd give them a bit of a run in and see how the CMR sounded. Afterall, the two builds are 100% identical, except for the Caps.
The resistors, caps and diodes are all out of the same delivery I received a few weeks back to build my PCB, so it was the perfect opportunity.
I plugged Karls Bigbottle in and sat back to listen to the same tracks. All from Muddy Waters - Folk Singer.
The CMR sounded massive…..really massive in comparison to the CSA. Now, i know those in the know will say that there is no mechanical way a capacitor can increase the soundstage but i am adamant that they have, The CSA caps are 2,2uf 250v, the CMR are 2,2uf 400v. SO make of that what you will.
I swapped back to my Phonostage and noticed that now the CSA also sounded a little edgy, a little unnatural. Almost emphasising the leading edge. Swapping back to the CMR removed that unnaturalness and replaced it with a lucidity and flow. They don’t suffer the smoothing effect i have experienced with Mundorfs and Kaisei. In fact, they remain super detailed and clean but without any grain or edge.
I ordered some for my phonostage as soon as I could.
They arrived a few days back so i but them on a DC power supply and stuffed 150v through them for 50 hours. Thats about what they will see in the BB3.
I fitted them today and prayed that they had the same effect in my phonostage as they have in Karl’s. They did.
The soundstage is bigger, more spacious and clean as a whistle. There is unrivalled naturalness. I haven’t heard a cap sound so transparent.
I realise that in some circuits capacitor changes dont appear to have such profound effects, but in the BB3 it seems to be quite responsive to changes.
I can’t recommend the Clarity Cap CMR highly enough. Yeah they aint cheap but they are the best output cap I have ever heard. Clean, balanced and superbly natural.
