“Lens Kondensator” LK-12-B-60V capsule

[Nen'O]

I just noticed this one. Is its new C12 capsule on the market ?
Anyone got hands on one?
What’s it about?
Thanks

 

[SubSpec]

That's 3U's capsule used in the Warm WA-14. Not a true chambered brass CK12 I think, but I'm far from an expert. I do have one sitting in a drawer though.

 

[Nen'O]

Any good ?
Someone is selling it ? What is street price for it ?

 

[SubSpec]

I don't think they're offered for sale directly (though an email to 3U will probably confirm) so no street price per se.

It's certainly a decent edge terminated capsule and should compare favorably with other such close but not quite CK12 capsules out there. I only did minimal testing before swapping mine as I bought the WA-14 with the sole intent of putting a CT12 in it, but I wouldn't have hesitated to use it in the same places I'm using it with the CT12 based on that limited experience.

 

[RuudNL]

Any good ?
Someone is selling it ? What is street price for it ?

https://reverb.com/item/14819602-3u-audio-ck12-inspired-lens-kondensator-lk-12-b-60v-capsule

 

[Nen'O]

https://reverb.com/item/14819602-3u-audio-ck12-inspired-lens-kondensator-lk-12-b-60v-capsule

Thanks Rude, that’s where I spotted it at first .

 

[RuudNL]

Thanks Rude, that’s where I spotted it at first .

I am not Rude (as far as I am aware), my name is Ruud. That's short for Rudolph in Dutch...

 

[Nen'O]

I am not Rude (as far as I am aware), my name is Ruud. That's short for Rudolph in Dutch...

Hahahah spellcheck set me up … sorry Ruud. Cool name by the way

 

[evil grill]

I don't think they're offered for sale directly (though an email to 3U will probably confirm) so no street price per se.

It's certainly a decent edge terminated capsule and should compare favorably with other such close but not quite CK12 capsules out there. I only did minimal testing before swapping mine as I bought the WA-14 with the sole intent of putting a CT12 in it, but I wouldn't have hesitated to use it in the same places I'm using it with the CT12 based on that limited experience.

Is the wa-14 with the c12 meeting your expectations? Any other things done apart from capsule swap?

 

[SubSpec]

Is the wa-14 with the c12 meeting your expectations? Any other things done apart from capsule swap?

Yes, it's giving me the sonic capture I had hoped it would. The polar response is quite special and picks up a really pleasant room tone when driving the preamp pretty hard. It almost sounds like a really gentle and lush reverb, great for acoustic.

The noise floor is high but I think that is largely to be expected. I've cleaned the high impedance area to death and moved the capsule connections to floating PTP instead of on PCB but no real change in noise. Other than that I haven't made any other changes to the circuit. I've debated getting Moby's Ü35, which might give better noise performance at a headroom cost but have yet to pull the trigger.