Deleeh
Headphoneus Supremus
You are right that the Vcaps are expensive,Matt just told me the price for the Duelund and Vcap caps. I always thought that Dueland would be more expensive but it seems Vcap is the real money burner.
Duelund CAST Cu-Ag Hybrid 0.47 uf 630VDC pair - US$280
Vcap Cutf - nearly US$600
Duelund and Vcap are featured in this review.
https://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
Russian FT3 - US$38.50
Review found here - https://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/0708/capacitor3.htm
I realised that I will not have 200 hours on the Duelund and Vcap but probably 100 hours by the time I do the comparison. Under the circumstances, that will have to do.
I will disregard those reviews and form my own opinion after my evaluation in Super Ultimates.
the price hurts for a few.
However, once you have heard them after more than 400 hours of burn-in, you forget the price relatively quickly.
That was the case with the Ultimate, as well as the Euforia, where I installed the TFTF and then had the Odam's installed in the output stage.
It made both amplifiers better and made me forget the price.
In fact, I just enjoy it now without looking back.
The reviews are helpful however many caps have been listened to in speaker crossover.
This again makes a difference whether the cap is in the speaker or in the amplifier.
Also because the current voltages are different in the input.
The other thing is the amplifier topology which also has an influence apart from Otl, Tc and solid state, the results differ noticeably.
That's why I would take these ratings with a grain of salt.
Ultimate beats the Euforia even with the Mundorf caps although my Euforia has the Vcap caps.
If I use EL34/KT88 with 6v6 in the Euforia, it looks different.
If I switch on the vcap cutf in the Ultimate and go into the boat with good tubes, things get tighter.
In fact, the topology of the amplifier is what you hear most.
The rest is more subtle things, more definition here and there, more bass there, the other amplifier is clearer in the vocals etc..