Gucci Capacitors for Trainwreck Clone?

[The New Steve H]

Sorry to post so much, but a lot is going on.

The buddy who wants me to build an amp for him is now leaning toward a Trainwreck Express clone, and he is thinking of starting with a Ceriatone Package 1 kit.

He has heard a lot of things about Sozo caps. Because of my technical background, and because I am aware of the horrible BS that comes from audiophiles (crystal lattices crush electrons, $10,000 cables make speakers sound better), I am highly skeptical when I hear people say that expensive components make an audible difference, but I did stick Orange Drops in my Bassman clone wherever they were practical, because electrolytics are cheap and cheesy.

Is there any point in putting Gucci caps in the new amp, or will he be paying a fortune just to feel good?

[T Wilcox]

You mean a ceriatone package 1 pre-built?

NO MORE KITS

Todd

[The New Steve H]

Is there more than one thing "Package 1" refers to? The thing I'm referring to is the one they say they're still selling. Site says you basically add tubes and transformer and put it in a cabinet.

[Firestorm]

You weren't really expecting to get a definitive answer to the "which caps?" question, were you?

Caps can make a difference, but in that circuit, I think you'll hear more of a difference with Gucci tubes than with Gucci caps. Of course, you could do both.

[T Wilcox]

Well the pack 1 used to come as a kit.
Chassis, loose parts, pots, switches, boards pre-wired or not wired at all depending on your order

Now if you order pack1 it is ordered as pack 1 assembled.
Comes with everything assembled, pots mounted, boards mounted, all wires soldered, just no tubes and no trannies. The only thing for you to do is add the trannies and solder the respective leads, add tubes and then play. Hardly a kit.

But you can order the bare bones kit. which you would have to contact Nik for pricing on. It has everthing that would come in the kit except resistors, caps and diodes. For those you would need to go through Mouser or something like that!

I have a Mouser BOM for components for an Express I am currently building. PM me with your email if interested.

Todd

[The New Steve H]

Ceriatone calls it a kit, so that's what I call it. Not what I consider a kit, since 95% of the work is done, but you can't call it an amp either.

I'll PM you about Mouser. Thanks for the help. It always takes me a day to put a parts list together.

I know people will disagree about the capacitors, but usually when you get people talking about an audio controversy, you can tell who really knows the truth and who just drinks the Kool Aid. They'll say something like, "You have to use $10,000 cables because of skin effect." And you say, "What's the minimum frequency at which skin effect becomes important?" And you never hear from them again, because they have no idea what you're talking about.

I'm going to price Sozo caps and see if the difference is enough to care about.

[dartanion]

Why are the kits still on the site if you can't order them. Nik getting lazy?

[The New Steve H]

Geez, it looks like the price difference for the entire amp is something like 20 bucks, max. Maybe 40 for the super-Gucci handmade jobs blessed by the Dalai Lama and soaked in Steve Vai's sweat. Forget I wasted everyone's time with this question.

[Phil_S]

Get the pre built without the transformers. They add a great deal of weight and increase the shipping cost from whichever Pacific rim country he's in. You are well served by saving the shipping cost and maybe buying "local" like a set of tone slut trannies or whatever you can identify.

I am doubtful that you can sub other caps in the prebuild. Try what you get and see. People (guitar amp people, not audiophool) write they like Sozo. Others in the community write that they like other stuff. After you get the prebuilt one going, if you think there's room for improvement, try swapping the caps. As you've learned, a cap discussion can quickly degenerate. Don't be discouraged by what was written here today. However, you may find you are well served by running a query on old postings, as you are likely to get all the information you are seeking that way.

I think you got sage advice here. Concentrate on finding great tubes first and that's where to put the money.

If you spend some time reading the TW section of the forum, you'll quickly realize that the Express is not difficult to copy, but is very difficult to clone. Apparently, lead dress, component location, transformers, and all sorts of other things contribute to the unique sound of this particular amp. In case your friend doesn't realize it, this is a high gain amp complete with typical high gain "issues" if they surface.

Good luck with it.

[T Wilcox]

I had the caps upgraded to Sozo for my 2550 build for $25 extra, which I believe is still Niks rate .
The sozos are supposed to be the same design as the old Mustards Marshall used. I doubt my ears would have noticed the difference between them or OD's. Like Phil said Tubes should be the first thing to upgrade, as you will notice a huge difference between good and not so good ones.

Just my 2cents

Todd

[Markusv]

I've started using Sozo's
The hand made ones

I think they sound better than the already really nice caps I always get from Just Radio's here in Toronto.

How do they sound better?
- I think I hear greater clarity ':shock:'
- I think I hear more of my guitar (transparency)
- I think I hear more warmth when I push the amp.

Maybe I just think differently and the caps are just caps
Maybe I hear what I want to hear ':?'
Maybe the caps are truly superior. The are definitely not crap.

I will have to A/B 2 identical amps and sort it out

Markus V

[diagrammatiks]

sozos aren't that expensive. if you want to use them then use them.

there are plenty of caps that you can find for around the same price and there are a lot of caps that are more expensive.