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burning in capacitors for phono stages

I'm in the process of auditioning various capacitors within my phono preamp. It seems burn in is a 'real' issue with caps. In exploring various means to burn in these caps I found the KAB PreconLP, this device converts line level signals to phono level signals. This allows one to use a cd player and burn in disc to burn in phono stages.

I only need substitute various caps in circuit I want to audition. This seems like a huge advantage over any other cap burn in method I've encountered. You are getting the actual signal your cap will see playing lps. Other burn in methods I've seen may or may not have sufficient voltage and/or combo of AC and DC.
sns

Showing 6 responses by sns

sns OP
3,003 posts
 
Bob, I would think it would take longer to burn in the cap with that scheme. Wouldn't the cd player be sending out a lower level signal than the preamp?
sns OP
3,003 posts
 
I know break in of caps is a contentious issue. I only know that many hear changes as capacitors age. The upcoming cap rolling will tell the tale for me.

Thanks, I do understand about caps holding charges, and do discharge them prior to working on equipment.
sns OP
3,003 posts
 
Thanks Johnss, I will try that break in procedure for my speaker crossover caps.

As for the cost of boutique caps, I find it rather inexpensive for amount of change I hear. I consider cabling a high cost item for relatively little change. Besides, it is fun listening to all the different caps, and they can always be resold or auditioned in other equipment.

I've thought about changing out resistors, the problem is they are often buried under tons of parts.

Anyway, one thing at a time, its cap auditioning time right now.
sns OP
3,003 posts
 
Thanks for the info Rodman. I'm using the burn in scheme suggested by Johnss. We'll see how that works.
sns OP
3,003 posts
 
Rodman, I'm burning them in for aprox. 150 hours. I've heard in speaker crossovers the V Caps can take 400 or more hours to fully burn in. Eventually, I will get around to building the burn in scheme you suggested. Thanks again.
sns OP
3,003 posts
 
I have the preamp volume turned up full.

I like the idea of being able to hear the caps as they burn in using the cd player, think I'll give it a try.
Thanks, Scott
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