Audio capacitors and resistors

[Khron]

The two youtube links in my reply #10 deal with EXACTLY that (among many other things )

 

[Bowie]

I, for one, hate spending money for no good reason

For example, if we're talking making / modding mics - if i can get 90% of a "vintage" mic, for (less than) 10% of the price, why the hell not? Yes, i'd rather use good (industrial) quality japanese radial electrolytics rather than hard-to-find, relatively expensive and doubtful longevity axial ones. Yes, i'd rather use "jellybean" resistors than some military-grade ones. Yes, i'd rather use some reasonably-sized "plastic" caps (rather than oversized & overpriced "audio" caps) or paper-in-oil caps as old as my dad. That's partially why i've amassed the collection of plastic caps i've "harvested" from various boards i've laid my hands on, along the years Aaaaand i'm a bit skeptical about the whole turret-vs-PCB debate. Yes, we want the high-impedance nodes as nicely isolate as we can, but everything else is utterly irrelevant, isn't it?

And i'll admit, i'm not all that manic about "historical accuracy". Hell, a whole lot of those revered vintage mics don't even sound alike, even though they're the same models (due to different aging and whatnot), so who can really say how a "real" one sounds like, anyway? And at the end of the day, isn't it (even) more important how it sounds on a particular source?

Oh, and i can't help but facepalm when i hear how highly-revered "hand-wired" guitar amps are. I mean, seriously???...

  I completely respect your opinion and if your mic gives you 90% of the satisfaction of the vintage version, then it only makes sense for you to go with that.  I really encourage that.  But, I think it would be good to respect other's opinions without reverting to "facepalm".  I generally disagree with the audiophile types but I know a lot of high-level engineers with great ears who hear significant differences in things that many skeptics overlook. 

  Regarding hand-wired, I agree with you to an extent but there's more to it.  Vox's hand-wired AC15 is indeed nicer than their PCB version (for more reasons than just being P2P) and a lot of guitarists prefer that amp.  What's wrong with that?
I do both but generally prefer P-2-P in signal portions when it's feasible because it makes mods and testing far easier for me (and no worries of damaged traces, etc).  It also gives me more control over grounds and other things that can sometimes be less than ideal in PCBs, depending how it was designed.  So, for me is's not really about "tone", but if someone prefers it for tone, I'm not going to let it bother me or laugh at them.

  Same with parts.  If I perform a blind A/B and find that a botique cap made a big difference over a Panasonic, and that difference is enough to warrant the upgrade in that piece of gear, why shouldn't I go for it?  And, why should someone who isn't even willing to do the comparison in the first place feel the need to condescend?
  I would say the same to the audiophile guys who say something like Solen is garbage (something I've seen said, even on this forum).  If I find that I like the $5 Solen  better than the $40 Mundorf (which I did in a recent LA-2A test), then I'm not going to feel any shame for using the "lesser" quality part in that circuit.  I feel proud that I took the time to find out which was better for me.

  Not trying to pick a fight with you or anything.  But, as someone who feels like he's in-between two opposing camps (much as I do politically) I frequently feel the need to help both sides understand each other a little better.  It's something I wish I didn't do so often (especially in politics!).  :-\

 

[Khron]

"Nicer" is a bit vague And you'd really have to wonder (or check) if they used the exact same component values and everything...

I did NOT mean to be condescending, though - my apologies in case i've come across that way :/