Capacitor upgrade for prima Luna dialogue premium HP

It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve sonically.  The Vcap Cutf capacitors are very resolving with great air and micro details. However, if you want a capacitor that gives you darn near as much detail, but with more richness and body, then I would suggest the Jupiter copper foils and wax 600 V. The 600 V version takes heat much better. You must first determine if you have the space for either one of these capacitors which are quite large.  Both these capacitors give you more realism, but they do it with a slightly different tonality.

The Vcap Odams are smaller in size and sound absolutely fantastic. They offer a great combination of resolution, realism and richness.  I would strongly consider these as an option.    

I will add one final thought. I don’t like the idea of bypassing capacitors in electronics outside of the power supply.   Bypass capacitors work wonderfully in power supplies and in speaker crossovers. However, in coupling and output positions I find the sound can get rather nervous and “off” The only exception I have found is in the output position in one dac  I modified for folks.  

I used V-Cap ODAM in a Cayin Jazz 80 (same manufacturer) and they made a significant improvement in both bass and high end as well as overall clarity.

The Cayin amps actually sound better than Primaluna as the later has too much negative feedback in the circuit - gives it that punchy bass at the cost of clarity and treble.

For coupling caps I like the Jupiter Copper Foil Wax; these are readily available.  They are quite small; I have them in both of my Elekits and like the organic sound.  Jantzen Silver foil are very transparent but not quite as natural sounding IMHO.

If you are looking for bypass caps Kemet and Nichicon are excellent.

If you can do it, replace the electrolytic power supply capacitors with polyproline for better ESR, more margin for higher voltage rating, and because electrolytic capacitors have a limited shelf life, polypropylene do not have to be replaced every few years. 

Hi Richard,

I recently upgrading some of the caps in my Prima Luna Dialogue 4 amp. If you're interested, you can find the thread here.

I upgraded the capacitors on the input stage with Dueland CAST-PIO Hybrid copper/silver foil caps. I also upgraded the capacitors on the autobias board with V-CAP ODAM caps (see attached pic).

While I was at it, I changed some of the tubes to NOS. For the 12AX7s, I added NOS Amperex with green labels made for Hammond Organ, purchased from Brent Jesse. For the 12AU7s, I added NOS Brimar from Upscale Audio.

I added some tweaks too: Herbie's HAL-O III tube dampers, Isoacoustics OREA isolators, a Synergistic Research Blue Quantum fuse on the autobias board, an Isoclean Hifi gold fuse for the main fuse, and a DH Labs Power Plus power cord.

Altogether, it breathed new life into a 12-year-old amp.

Since you were asking about caps specifically, after my cap upgrade I noticed improvements that included slightly better resolution, somewhat better tonality, and overall a more organic and relaxed presentation.

Bryon