As usual, Doug....you nailed it

Brain, I thought you asked a bonafide good question. Yes, I can hear the sound difference!!!

I checked with my dog, and she agreed!

Been listening to records and some great FM for hours...really burning this thing in. Not a problem!!!!

So, Larry, have you ordered a Tice Clock yet?

I've never heard of that, so thought I'd do some research.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl ... 1035572781

Larry,

Don't let them raz you! If the sound improved a lot, then the yellow caps were bogus. I have been wary of Chinese electrolytics for a long time. They stole the electrolyte formula from a Japanese company but the recipe was incomplete reducing MTBF from 50000 hours to 2000. I have a bunch of the yellow polyester jobbers and will leak test them before I install - with 700V of course.

The yellow ETR caps were definitely bad. I don't know about the .047s, but I do know that both of the yellow .1s were bad.

This whole thing reminds me of an automotive problem I experienced in the early 90s. I had bought a creme puff 1979 Mercury Cougar, solid white two door hardtop with a red vinyl roof and red interior. That car was simply gorgeous!!!! Anyway, the alternator went out on it and I went to AutoZone and got the cheapest alternator they had, and as I remember it only cost about $39 or so. I had my buddy mechanic install it for me and guess what, exactly one month later, the battery on the car was run down. My mechanic would drop by the house and jump it for me and he'd check it on his test equipment and found nothing. The battery continued to run down exactly a month later for several months. Finally, my mechanic said he believed I had a bad alternator. We removed it, and he and I took it to AutoZone and they tested it, and sure enough, it was bad. I traded it for a lifetime warranty alternator, paid the difference, and never had another starting problem with that car.

So, sometimes going cheap isn't the best way to go. I wish now I had never installed 25 cent yellow caps anywhere in this set, in the amp or the tuner either. I am seriously considering ordering white Mallorys and changing out all the yellow caps I have in the tuner.

Do it. If it saves you yanking a tuner or amp chassis out even once it was worth it. This is your pride and joy. Maybe John has a cap tester that can apply high voltage. Weed out the yellow menace.

You have me thinking now i used some in my 6V6 receiver maybe i should pull them.

HAHA! It's certainly been as yellow menace allright.

But.....

What about all those other devices you repaired for, ahem......... customers?
And those poor people that bought sale items?
OH MY!........ ticking TIME BOMBZ!

You just can't help yourself sometimes, can you? Got to slip that knife in. I am sure that plenty of professional techs use those caps. Doug used them. Dell used them. I, not a professional or even a talented amateur used them. One thing I learned is you can't even nick them for 1/10th of a second with a soldering iron, but otherwise they have been ok. He got a bad batch and Larry has not cost you any customers, so why don't you play nice for a while.

Where is the smiley for jerk?

Just stating possible issues down the road, neali.
It's not a matter of being nice or or being a jerk or anything, it's simply bringing to light the fact that chinese products are prone to failure because their quality standards are crap.

Just today I worked on a Magnavox 42" flatscreen, dead after 5 years, and OF COURSE had several of those blasted CapXon capacitors popped in it.
Hey, it keeps my shop in business of course...

i

Just stating possible issues down the road, neali.
It's not a matter of being nice or or being a jerk or anything, it's simply bringing to light the fact that chinese products are prone to failure because their quality standards are crap.

Just today I worked on a Magnavox 42" flatscreen, dead after 5 years, and OF COURSE had several of those blasted CapXon capacitors popped in it.
Hey, it keeps my shop in business of course... [/quote]

Then it's a good thing! I give you credit for not having a thin skin.

I've about seen it all..... done it all, heard it all.
Except skydiving - mama didn't raise no fool.
I'm set in my ways for the most part, stubborn, and tend to air on the side of caution about things.
I'm picky, detail-oriented without being obsessed.
I'm also strict with others at times, and refuse to budge when I know better.
Some like me, others don't.
But at 59, I ain't-a gonna change anytime soon.

I have never had a restoration customer indicate they had an amp problem later on. If any of them do, they are more than welcome to return the amp to me and I'll fix it at no charge. Nobody can forget my website name, and the email addy is right there on the first page.

I think I just got a bad batch of .1 caps. It is rare to use one of that value in a smaller record player amp.

I know this whole ordeal is going to make me skiddish about ordering any more yellow caps in the future. The only other options that I know of are the orange drops, or the Mallorys at AES, and both of these caps are rather expensive. I may decide to convert everything over to white Mallorys and deposit all my remaining yellow caps in the trash can. If I do, I'll have to charge another $10 or so per amp to cover the increased cost of better caps.

I have distortion at mid and higher volume levels now in the Magnecord reel to reel. I'm going to hook up my Akai reel to reel to the Mark I tomorrow and see how it sounds. If the sound is good and clean, then the problem is in the old Magnecord. I just realized tonight that I installed three .1 ETR yellow caps in that Magnecord. Gotta get them out of there. I'd bet money that those caps are its distortion problem too!

I just hooked up the Akai reel to reel to the Mark I RCA, and the sound is crystal clear, great fidelity with NO distortion. So, my problem is in the Magnecord itself. Well, the old Magnecord is going back to the bench later today!!!

Problem is, I'm out of white Mallory .1 caps. Got to place another caps order.

I have the stereo Akai reel to reel strapped with a Y-adapter for mono and have been listening to reel to reel tapes on the RCA Victor Mark I for several hours this morning. Played a terrific rock reel to reel tape that VM guy sent me, also two reel to reel tapes that I recorded from CDs, The Best of Robert Palmer, and Supernatural, by Santana.

I WANT YOU GUYS TO KNOW THE SOUND IS SENSATIONAL!!! Phenomenal!! Holy Smokes!! I never knew this system could sound THIS GOOD. And, Doug VanCleave, I'm not jumping to any premature conclusions this time... I'm dead serious!!!!

The bad .1 yellow caps I originally installed in the power amp was robbing it of its power, and I figure it was only operating on 2 instead of 4 output tubes. Doug said it was either pushing, or pulling, but not in full push-pull mode. I want to tell you...this thing is dynamite powerful... and with reel to reel tapes, played on a professional tape deck like this Akai, it's the best system you could ever hear.

I think I'm going to leave the Akai right where it's sitting... right next to my Mark I big console unit.

Hyperbole, thy name is Larry