Sozo Standard VS Sozo Vintage line ( Snake Oil ???)

[DaveWell]

Is someone has reference on Sozo Standard line and Sozo Vintage line ?
Is there a real difference or is just a snake oil marketing thing ???

[Colossal]

Email John Gaynor at Sozo for the details, he'll be happy to answer your questions. There's no snake oil at work here. From my own XP, I can tell you that the Sozo Standard yellow line are machine wound and have a slightly brighter/tighter tone. The Sozo Vintage yellow have a slighty darker tone and are supposed to be "hand wound". There has been some debate over what that means. Both caps have a lot of clarity, are very smooth with a nice smear in the midrange and a shimmering top end. Whether or not the caps meet your definitions of quality, value, and tone requirements vs. cost is solely up to individual interpretation. I find the Sozo Vintage in Marshall builds to closely approximate the Mullard Mustards. I've used them in Vox builds as well.

To (loosely) paraphrase a story I heard either here or somewhere on the internet...

"A fellow walks into a music store and asks to play a Fender Custom Shop strat and compares this to a Squier. Referring to the much more costly custom shop strat, he says to the owner "why does this one cost more when it sounds the same as the Squier?" The owner replies, "well if you can't hear a difference, then they must be the same."

[DaveWell]

Thank's Colossal !

I haven't fond the information if the Vintage line have a 1% tolerance compare to the Standard 5% ?

[xtian]

And this is why I have avoided learning about many-years-old, single malt spirits.

[Colossal]

Thank's Colossal !

I haven't fond the information if the Vintage line have a 1% tolerance compare to the Standard 5% ?

Sure man, it's not much. I really don't know the part precision; that'd be good to ask John as well (and please report when you get an answer!). I think I recall 5% but I honestly can't recall hearing if that was for the standard of both series.

Xtian, I hear you on that. I've had $11-29 bottles of wine blow away $50-100 wines. I tend to stay away from anything much harder except for the on-rare-ocassion martini. My neighbors and I periodically enjoy sharing various wines around the chimenea until the wee hours.

When it comes to capacitors and resistors and even wire choices, I think it just takes some time to try different things in a test circuit and see what does it for you. There is no wrong answer in tone, only what makes you go "whoa, that sounds great". I definitely make a point of supporting US made and US boutique products because I can (generally) be assured of better quality control and that is very important to me. But I use good old 716P capacitors too and they are not expensive. Just depends on what the build calls for.

[overtone]

Single malt cask stored next to the sea for 12 to 16 years,
preferably from one of the Isles.
You can forget the rest.

I really appreciate the long, strong leads on the Sozos and that there are small outfits catering for our needs.
Best, tony

[DaveWell]

Yep, that's true that cheap wine can blow away expensive one...
So, if Standard Sozo and Vintage serie caps are made with same material,
to me, they supposed to sound the same, the only way they can be different is in their precision.... I knew that Ken Fisher une sprague 716p caps insted of SoZo, Ken have a lot of knowledge for parts, so, Is Sozo have compagnie have been found after december 2006 ? Is Mojo VitaminT ou Jensen caps can be better than Sozo ou Sprague orange 716P ( P is for Polypropylene ?)

Seem's to me that Oil and copper foil is good mix , whatever cap brand...

I want to try Mojo VitaminT in My KornersTone Amp...

[overtone]

Dave, I don't find it to be snake oil, but you have to make your own mind up. The differences to me are subtle, but I did detect them between the standard and vinatge when testing them as below on a Rocket build. In the end I chose a different type altogether because of what i was aiming for. All sounded fine. Depends on your aim and need.

With a capacitor substitution box you can try out different caps quickly. Basically it is just a bank of caps that you can switch in and out with a make before brake rotary switch.
The first coupling cap is the only one I "audition" like this these days.

Hope this helps a bit,
t

[Reeltarded]

I bought a pile. I like the standards better than the vintage. I have them mixed in with the original caps on vintage Marshalls with other tweaks and mods. I run lots of gain, lots and lots.

[thejaf]

Mmmm...Talisker. Sorry, that's all I can contribute to this thread.

[jestaudio]

Mmmm...Talisker. Sorry, that's all I can contribute to this thread.

Bushmills blackbush 18year single malt, irish whiskey at its best

[Colossal]

Thanks for the tips on the single malts fellas!

Colossal Martini
5 parts Bombay Sapphire or Hendrick's Gin
1 part Vermouth of choice
One Sozo capacitor

Cheers!

[Reeltarded]

Gin is evil. I like un-martinis with vawdka. I think they call them a manhattan, and that isn't cool enough to order,so I call them vodka martinis.

I love this argument where it first took place. Epic.

[NickC]

Thanks for the tips on the single malts fellas!

Colossal Martini
5 parts Bombay Sapphire or Hendrick's Gin
1 part Vermouth of choice
One Sozo capacitor

Cheers!

I don't drink .... anymore.

My Former Dry Vodka Martini Recipe
(1) Place Stolichnaya in freezer overnight
(2) Fill Martini glass with Stolichnaya
(3) Wave bottle of Vermouth over the glass (make sure cap is securely fastened)

Voila'! Enjoy.


Re: Sozo caps

I've only have experience with the yellow ones, used in a JTM45 build. I have been pleased with the tone of the amp.

[teemuk]

As far as I rememeber, the sozo caps were just generic caps made in bulk by some large manufacturer packaged to a custom wrapping. So.... seems like the sozo people figured out that another custom wrapping type, including a "sexy" catchword, might sell their products even better.

The hype alone isn't worth the extra $$$ for me. Solid evidence of something else but hype and "mojo" justifying the use of sozo caps in favour of just about any other brand hasn't yet appeared.