Finished another Edana

Scott_F

Scott_F

Flushologist
Staff member
Finished Stratman's Edana, 007. I used Sozo caps in it this time at Larry's request instead of the Mallory 150's I've been using. The bestpart of these Sozo's is that they are +/- 5% tolerance, whereas the most other caps are +/- 20%. that in itself is a great improvement.

I'll have to play it more to see if I can find differences enough over the 150's.
 
Re: Finished another Edana

Yes, Please let us know if you hear a difference? I've got my amp open on the bench now. Everyone has been raving about the Sozo's. I was thinking about swapping the 150's out for Sozo's, But the 150's are brand new. I'm not sure I wanna pull all the caps I just put in unless there is a MAJOR ! tone difference.:13:
 
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Re: Finished another Edana

Are the sozo caps carbon comp? What's the price difference between the Sozo's and Mallory 150's?
 
Re: Finished another Edana

Scott_F said:
Finished Stratman's Edana, 007. I used Sozo caps in it this time at Larry's request instead of the Mallory 150's I've been using. The bestpart of these Sozo's is that they are +/- 5% tolerance, whereas the most other caps are +/- 20%. that in itself is a great improvement.

I'll have to play it more to see if I can find differences enough over the 150's.
Click to expand...

Scott....Do let us know about these caps and if they make the amp sound better? I've not used these but I Love the Mallory 150s myself...
 
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Re: Finished another Edana

The only true way to know would be to have two of the same amps with both caps in there. Sonically, the amp sounds the same as Alex's and Terry's to me.

but, if the Sozo's have a 5% tolerance to them (and I have no way of measuring that and that bothers me), then they are a better bet than the M150's that are supposed to have a 20% tolerance. Just from a QC aspect, I can feel better about what I'm doing. I already measure all my resistors and any that are not within a percent or two, don't go in. My carbon comp resistors are rated at 5% plus or minus, but I'm pickier than that. I want ever edana that comes off the line to sound the same... great.

Oh yeah, the sozo's come in two flavors. The normal made in US production version and the hand built ones that cost 8 bucks a pop. Needless to say, I'm not using the 8 bucks a pop ones. :) That's ridiculous.
 
Re: Finished another Edana

Care to educate the electronically ignorant?......5% vs 20% tolerance................what does that mean?????????
 
Re: Finished another Edana

PUCKBOY99 said:
Care to educate the electronically ignorant?......5% vs 20% tolerance................what does that mean?????????
Click to expand...

i think it means the tolerance of how much it can sway from the actual value the component should be. So, if an amp uses caps with 20% tolerance, then that can influence what it sounds like if the caps are not exactly what values they are supposed to be. so, if you use caps with 5% tolerance, there is less chance of the values being substantially off, and more consistency in tone. and i assume that alot of amps use and have used caps with high tolerances, so that could partially be why you may have experienced amps of the same make and model sounding different from eachother, because the values may not be the same because of the high chance that the values could be swayed from what they should be

and i guess that amp designs sound the most premium when the values are exactly as they should be. if the tolerance is high in the components, then the amp may not sound how it was supposed to, and this could account for some of the "duds" in the amp world that you have played. again, i doubt it accounts for everything, but its part of it
 
Re: Finished another Edana

It means that a cap rated at say .02 mfd could have a 20% tolerance...so it could actually measure anywhere from .018 to .022. I doubt anyone could hear that diff.

As for the Mallory 150's Scott's been using, I use them anytime I'm tweaking an amp that sounds a little to bright or a little brittle to me.

I put them in the tone stack of one of my blackface Deluxe Reverbs and the Mallory 150's eliminated the slightly brittle or shrill quality of that particular amp.

Conversely, if I'm trying to add articualtion and definition to an amp, then I try Sprague Orange Drop caps.

Never tried the Sozo's...
 
Re: Finished another Edana

Lewguitar said:
It means that a cap rated at say .02 mfd could have a 20% tolerance...so it could actually measure anywhere from .018 to .022. I doubt anyone could hear that diff.
Click to expand...

yea, i know what the tolerance means, but i've never had any experience with it in the real world. so with your experience, you would say that the tolerance doesnt really mean much of anything in most cases?
 
Re: Finished another Edana

flank said:
yea, i know what the tolerance means, but i've never had any experience with it in the real world. so with your experience, you would say that the tolerance doesnt really mean much of anything in most cases?
Click to expand...

Using parts with tighter tolerences would make for a much more predictable sound. Most of us have heard subtle differances between differant examples of the same amp. My two 5E3 tweed Fender Deluxes sound slightly differant from each other...as do my two blackface Deluxe Reverbs. That differance in tone is probably due to the sum of the parts and the inherant diff in tone due to the tolerances of all of the parts: caps, resistors, transformers, pots, tubes and speakers. Lew
 
Re: Finished another Edana

PUCKBOY99 said:
Care to educate the electronically ignorant?......5% vs 20% tolerance................what does that mean?????????
Click to expand...


15%, silly!


yeesh:smack:





:D
 
Re: Finished another Edana

checking resistors with an ohm-meter is easy and I check every one that goes into a build. if anyone knows an easy way to check capacitors like that, let me know. I'd say the sozo sound as good as the M150s, so if I can get a more predictable tolerance, then Imight need to go in that route. price is about the same as the mallory's. tonewise, i can't really hear a significant improvement or loss of one or the other.
 
Re: Finished another Edana

I really dig the SoZos. Have them in a couple amps, replacing the Orange Drops, which I still like. Scott, they need some hrs of play, they will become more articulate and have better clarity with some time on them. I ain't useing the spendy ones either.... I would rather dig up some NOS mustards.

I was in Savage audio a couple months back and they told me they switched to the Sozos in their line. They really like the difference .
 
Re: Finished another Edana

I have a multitester that checks capacitance. You can buy it at Radioshack. It's the most pricey one that they stock. It's made by one of the good companies and rebranded as radioshack.
 
Re: Finished another Edana

Hmm.. I have a pretty nice one that I bought from RS. It has that yellow rubber exterior removable grip stuff on it. I guess I should read the manual! :)
 
Re: Finished another Edana

I've got some coming in next week for Evan Skopp's amp. I was going to use Orange drops, but I figured I'd give these a shot first. Evan glossed the amp, the EvanRude. That's funny stuff. But, it's going to be a ultra clean blackface beast on one channel. (NOS 7581 tubes) On the "normal" channel, I'm putting in a 5E3 single tone knob. Give him a tweed tone that he can distort easily at Condo levels. Run verb and trem to both channels. Using a big AB763 super-reverb-type chassis.

Evan has JEff Swanson making the mother of all bandmaster reverb sized head enclosures in Hardwood Cherry. Jeff makes such great stuff. This is going to be pricey, but Jeff probably hand rubs about a dozen or more coats of lacquer on the final product. He is the wood master.
 
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