Jupiter capacitors

[Cjl77]

I'm not trying to start a capacitor debate but I had something interesting happen today.
I had a fella that brought me a 5f10 Harvard Friday. It is somewhat of a mutt of original and non original parts. I have worked on it before and it's a killer sounding amp. He had ordered some Jupiter (red astron) coupling caps and wanted them installed. That said, I generally don't drink the kool-aid or buy into hype. Not saying they don't have a great product but I have a good selection of caps I like and tons of nos stuff as well. I had never seen a Jupiter cap before. If I use a good cap I really don't hear a big difference in brand. Only values. I find it easy for my mind to play tricks on me if I worry about that kind of stuff. So I don't.
I made a point to play the amp before I installed them just to have a before and after reference.
After installation I pluged in and was extremely surprised to find that the amp seemed to be noticeably warmer and had a depth to it I don't think it had before.
I was wandering if anyone else has used these caps before and could you tell a difference or was I just in a good mood today. I did look them up online to find that they are $11 bucks a piece.
Not sayin I'm sold but not sure what to think.

 

[Glen Smith]

Were the original caps still within specs?

 

[Cjl77]

The original caps have all been changed before me. Everything else is all original except the cab. It was built by a guy here in town. When hurricane Rita hit it flooded this guys studio. The amp was sitting on a small stool. A foot of water filled the room. You can see on the bottom of the speaker where the water stopped. Didnt hurt the cone but got the bottom of the cab. I think he still has original cab.

 

[telex76]

I don't know how they sound. I've thought about spending the extra (and it is a good bit extra) money on them just because they look so cool. But once you take some pics to share on this board nobody will ever see them again.

I'm one who does think there is a difference to caps. I like Mallory's and don't like Orange Drops at all.

 

[muchxs]

I'm not trying to start a capacitor debate but I had something interesting happen today.
I had a fella that brought me a 5f10 Harvard Friday. It is somewhat of a mutt of original and non original parts. I have worked on it before and it's a killer sounding amp. He had ordered some Jupiter (red astron) coupling caps and wanted them installed. That said, I generally don't drink the kool-aid or buy into hype. Not saying they don't have a great product but I have a good selection of caps I like and tons of nos stuff as well. I had never seen a Jupiter cap before. If I use a good cap I really don't hear a big difference in brand. Only values. I find it easy for my mind to play tricks on me if I worry about that kind of stuff. So I don't.
I made a point to play the amp before I installed them just to have a before and after reference.
After installation I pluged in and was extremely surprised to find that the amp seemed to be noticeably warmer and had a depth to it I don't think it had before.
I was wandering if anyone else has used these caps before and could you tell a difference or was I just in a good mood today. I did look them up online to find that they are $11 bucks a piece.
Not sayin I'm sold but not sure what to think.

Don't know about that but I'll let you in on a little "secret"...

There's a "tweed Harvard" hidden inside every AA1164 Princeton Reverb, even the ones with "dog turd" style caps. Come to think of it many of those "iconic" BF Princeton Reverbs have a whole buncha cheapo ceramic caps right in the signal path.

I'm one who does think there is a difference to caps. I like Mallory's and don't like Orange Drops at all.

Tell that to the guys who sell 715P "tone caps" for seven bucks each on eBay.

 

[Johnny Cache]

When hurricane Rita hit it flooded this guys studio. The amp was sitting on a small stool. A foot of water filled the room. You can see on the bottom of the speaker where the water stopped. Didnt hurt the cone but got the bottom of the cab. I think he still has original cab.

Makes me wonder how many amps and guitars were vintage by Ketrina.

 

[Cjl77]

I have some friends in New Orleans that lost as much stuff during Katrina as folks in Nashville during that flood. I am on the south west side of la where Rita hit a couple months after Katrina. I rode out Rita you could not get back in town once you left for days. If people could have it might have saved some stuff. I was fortunate. The corner roof of my studio/workshop had a tree fall on it. Rained all nite on a early 50's werlitzer juke box and and vintage 2" tape machine and some old power amps. Luckily was able to salvage. But yeah I have seen some damage to old guitars and amps that was a shame. Bad thing to is lot of people got screwd by insurance company's could not afford to fix things. I have done lots of "charity" repairs and paid out of my pocket to save vintage pieces on stuff I don't do like cabs for people who were worried about a roof on there house rather than an amp. Through good deeds was given or bought cheep gear I could have never obtained. People can say what they want about the "music" community but a lot of good people from Houston to New Orleans pulled together for the cause of salvaging pieces of history and of course helping thy neighbor by any means as well

 

[Henry Mars]

There are differences in caps ... that have to do with construction materials more than who brands them. The differences can be easily observed by simulating the load on a coupling cap and connecting a RC circuit on a bread board. What you do is is inject a square wave into the circuit and observe the effect across the load with an o.scope. Do this with 4 or 5 frequencies across the audio spectrum ... swap a few different cap types of the same value and tolerance in and out of the circuit for each. Watch how the wave shape changes for each type of cap. You will get the idea as you observe the waveform across the cap. At audio frequencies you will find that that the type of cap has more to contribute to the sound than who makes it. Various capacitor types exhibit more or less leakage and inductance which are secondary effects but can effect the "sound" due to different impedance especially at the frequencies that are taken as harmonic content in audio ckts. so yea there are audible differences but I really don't think that these differences are too great across brands as they are across types.