Posted on Sunday, 22nd November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

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I visited my friend’s home few days ago. We planned to tweak his #26 Pre-Amp (with Parafeed design).

His Pre-Amp was a high quality pre-amp, in terms of parts and design. As you can see below, the high voltage section has Black Gate SKZ capacitor.

He just finished tweaking the high voltage section by adding 3 huge Russian Teflon capacitors (FT-3) and got significant improvement on the sound staging. He was poisoned by the VCap Power Supply trick as I did on my pre-amp, so he tried the cheap Teflon solution first, the Russian FT-3 before going down deeper with VCap ;)

26-jensen

At first, his #26 used Jensen Capacitor Aluminum Foil. The overall sound is live, fast rhythm, and dynamic. A little bit less sexy on the vocal side for my taste and the top end detail was a little bit “flat”. Then we changed to Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube. How did it sound? Keep reading.

After changing the capacitor to the Paper Tube, we could felt the different on the vocal side. It became more sexier, too sexier for both of us, but with disappointed top end detail. Why? I rechecked again the connection. Well, I think we put the capacitor direction to the wrong way. The outer foil of the capacitor was connected to the positive side! After tracking the wiring, I switched the connection. Now the outer foil of the Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube is connected to the ground side ;)

We did some listening test again. It was a total different. The vocal was still so sexy, but the top end details came to live and also an excellent low end register.

We changed back to the original capacitor again, the Jensen Aluminium Foil. Well, we have to admit, the live ambience was better with this Aluminium capacitor, although with less detail and less sexier vocal. We think it was its natural sound of the Aluminium.

Final test, we combined the Jensen Aluminium Foil Capacitor with Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube Capacitor. This unusual combination eventually rocked! The live sensation was there, but with the sweet vocal and also maintaining the details. The bass also very depth, punch, and perfectly controlled. If you noticed on the photo, the orientation was different for both capacitor. Don’t ask me why ;)

We used Norah Jones – Come Away with Me (limited edition Clear Vinyl), track was Come Away with Me and Shoot the Moon. The source is VPI Scout with Super Platter and Van den Hul Grasshopper IV GLA cartridge and finally fed to RS241-12E1-6J5 (Duelund CAST PIO inside!) and Fostex full range speaker (with extra Super Tweeter).

This was the combination that could make us really enjoy listening the system. The Duelund made the RS241 really showed its performance (superb staging, separation, and naturality), while the both Jensen made the #26 Pre-Amp became even more sweet without losing its detail.

And now I’m thinking to get the Clear Vinyl version of that Norah Jones’ album… >.<

26-jensen-r



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Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (18)

18 Responses to “Pre-Amp #26 Parafeed – Tweaked with Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube”

  1. Erik HD Says:
    November 24th, 2009 at 14:40

    pak Jimmy,

    sudah pernah coba Audio Consulting oil cap & Leclanche oil cap?
    barangkali pernah coba, mau tanya bgmana suaranya?
    kalau bagus mau coba beli Audio Consulting (swiss made), harganya deket2 ke jensen paper tube soalnya
    thanks..



  2. Jimmy Auw Says:
    November 24th, 2009 at 21:47

    Hi,
    Belum pernah pak. Kayanya saya uda give up main yang aneh dan stick di Duelund untuk my best caps, dan Jensen Paper Tube untuk my 2nd caps.
    Caps terakhir yang saya beli rasanya Audio Note Mylar Filled-in-Oil. Start to enjoy my audio life dulu deh hehehe.
    Thanks.



  3. Anonymous Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 03:09

    kayaknya jd banyak part yang gagal jadi numpuk di gudang ya..hehe



  4. Jimmy Auw Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 23:52

    Ada saatnya break aza…



  5. karl luebke Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 21:40

    hello mr. Jimmy Auw
    I want to ask for advice.
    I want to replace the output capacitor in my dac.
    I want very transparent and natural sound.
    I read all your articles …
    I think Duelund VSF copper or copper tube Jensen
    what do you advise?
    always advise you to add a 0.47 uf capacitor teflon on last capacitor power?
    thanks and good job



  6. Jimmy Auw Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 21:53

    Hi Karl,
    Duelund CAST (not standard VSF) has more details and transparency, perhaps slightly less thick in vocal.
    Jensen Copper Tube just about the opposite.

    You can try to add Teflon on your PSU to, and hear the result.
    Thanks.



  7. karl luebke Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 22:02

    I have dac a very transparent and detailed sound .. but too “white” with a few colors in timbre ..
    I hear a lot of vocal jazz and a few tools, I find a more beautiful sound in the voices and stringed instruments ..
    what do you advise?
    Cast the Duelund, may be too expensive for me
    the Jensen, be superior to Duelund vsf?
    thanks for your wonderful work of audio evidence.
    Regards Karl



  8. Jimmy Auw Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 22:05

    Hi,
    For your needs, I would suggest you to try Jensen first.
    Thanks.



  9. Dan Haines Says:
    December 17th, 2009 at 13:09

    Hi Jimmy,
    Which output capacitor type do you think would be more effective to reduce digital harshness in poorly mastered CD’s, the Mundorf Supreme Silver oil, 4.7uF, or Jensen copper foil paper tube 1.0uF(about the same price)? My passion is female vocals.

    Thanks,
    Dan



  10. Jimmy Auw Says:
    December 17th, 2009 at 21:39

    I think Jensen should be OK for your purpose, since it sounds like a vintage, but with additional detail.
    Thanks.



  11. Dan Haines Says:
    February 5th, 2010 at 14:14

    Hi Jimmy,
    I got a chance to compare 2.2uF Mundorf Supreme Silver oil with 2x 1.0uF Jensen Paper tube caps in the output position in my de Havilland Ultraverve preamp. You called it right, the Jensen’s were a clear winner, quieter background, more separation between instruments. Thank you for bringing the Jensen Paper tubes to our attention!
    Dan



  12. Dan Lo-I Says:
    February 6th, 2010 at 06:25

    Pak… itu underbone-nya serem bener..hahahaha..
    Ada Bambu Cokelat.. Ada Silver FT… halaah….
    Manthep gak pak??? Mestinya ya iya laah…
    Hehehe.. bawa ke Padepokan ntar??



  13. Jimmy Auw Says:
    February 6th, 2010 at 15:24

    For sure, Mundorf Silver-Oil will not match against Jensen Paper Tube. Different class. Try Silver/Gold/Oil one.
    Thanks.



  14. Jimmy Auw Says:
    February 6th, 2010 at 15:26

    Pak Sutrisno confirm bawa CDP Cayin “mod-nya”. Di dalamnya cukup extreme koq isinya.
    Pre #26-nya rasanya ga dibawa sih.
    Thanks.



  15. fauzi Says:
    March 26th, 2010 at 07:51

    Pak Jimmy saya punya preamp tabung 12au7 saat ini caps outputnya pake 0,22uF PIO Audionote. Saya ingin ganti capsnya, saran Pak Jimmy pake caps jensen apa mundorf atau caps yang lainnya, karena saya ingin suara yang detail dan transparan. Apa perlu nilainya dinaikkan jadi 0,47uF atau lebih tinggi lagi. Thanks atas sarannya



  16. Jimmy Auw Says:
    March 26th, 2010 at 09:50

    Halo Pak,
    Setiap caps ada karakter suaranya masing-masing. Susah juga kalo saya tidak tahu karakter yang ada sekarang (tidak dengar langsung). Kalo sudah suka ama AudioNote, bisa coba varian barunya yang Mylar-In-Oil. Karakternya lebih open juga. Jensen or Mundorf juga bagus, tapi sekali lagi kembali ke selera masing-masing. Nilai 0.22 sudah cukup, mau ke 0.47 juga boleh. Suara pasti berubah, mungkin akan lebih tebal jika dinaikan value-nya.
    Thanks.



  17. William Chong Says:
    June 3rd, 2010 at 18:09

    Hi Jimmy, will it do any harm to the caps as this unusual combination ? two caps at opposite direction?
    Kindly advise. Thanks.



  18. Jimmy Auw Says:
    June 4th, 2010 at 21:24

    Definitely not…



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