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On 16 Oct 2003 23:09:29 GMT, (Mkuller) wrote:

(Nousaine) wrote:
Several years ago I conducted a controlled listening experiment where 8 mFd
WonderCaps were compared as input coupling capacitors (a commonly recommended
practice) to an assemblage of 3 Radio Shack ($0.99) electrolytic non-polar
capacitors to attain a capacitance value within 10% of the actual value of
the
WonderCap as measured with a capacitance meter.

No one was able to reliably identify one from the other using the headphone
jack on the direct coupled Bryston amplifier.

Indeed in the era cited for the Jung/Marsh work I obtained high quality 10
mFd
capacitors and believed they improved the sound of an amplifier when
substituted for the original electrolytics. Until that fateful day when a
friend asked to hear "that capacitor experiment again." I happily accomodated
him but was aghast to later find I had forgotten that the "wrong" capacitor
had
been re-inserted.

Yet, he reported the same improvements as before. This prompted me to repeat
this experiment with my son operating the controls and not telling me which
caps were in-circuit.

I then found that even I could not reliably tell them apart when I didn't
know
beforehand which was in-circuit.

I have no doubt you were unable to hear capacitor differences, but many high
end equipment manufacturers listen and compare the sound of the exotic
capacitors before they decide which to put in their equipment. They tell me
they hear differences and sometimes pay extra for one brand over another
because of those differences. As an audiophile, one brand of capacitor looks
the same to me as another. The sound I hear is all that matters so don't tell
me it's just marketing.

It's a combination of marketing, wishful thinking and very poor test
protocols on the part of those manufacturers, most of whom couldn't
design their way out of a paper bag..................

BTW, what measures do you take to eliminate bias in your 'reviews'?
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering