Back to virtus, caps?

[beaubrummels]

Whys that?

I did exactly that same ToneFiend experiment. I measured all the caps to ensure they were < 5% tolerance (mine were actually within 2.7% of tolerance).

Before I even started, however I noticed the value of the cheap ceramics were not stable - they kept going up and down, the value was a moving target. When I played through them, sure enough all caps of the same value sounded the same, except the cheap ceramic which was muddy and indistinct - detail got lost, notes in chords weren't clear, and the output was slightly lower - the volume dropped when I switched that one in.

I did this experiment with both 250k pot and .047uF caps and a 500k pot and .022uf caps (including two different versions of Vitamin Q, PIO, Black Bees, Orange Drops, Mylar roll, etc.)

So what I learned is throw cheap ceramic discs away. They are defective: they leak signal and do not consistently discharge, which makes the value inconsistent in real time, which will audibly affect the sound.

Any other cap of the same value regardless of manufacturer or construction type, as long as the value is within tolerance, will darken the tone as expected and consistently. The only consideration with different types is life span. Paper In Oil will dry up over time, changing it's value, which will change the corner frequency that the tone control works on.