sozo premiums in

[brewdude]

My question was where he was buying the STKs. I looked around at distributors and there don't seem to be any 'point and click' sites to order from. I don't want to futz with getting quotes to try them.

Hey John,

Contact Jeremy Ledford, aka lastwinj here on TAG. Together, Germ and I bought a shitload of values in large quantities, and advertised them here in the for sale section. We still have a lot left, so drop Germ a message.

Also, these caps sound great right off the bat. No need for "burn in" to sound right. They are made custom to our specs, so there is no real distributor, we're just sharing these great caps with whomever wants to use them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the pricing and values:

Go here for pics:

Code:
http://s644.photobucket.com/albums/uu170/scinnimin/STK/


pricing is as follows:

all are 600v and 5% unless otherwise noted. All are film foil polypropylene.

330pf
470pf
1000pf
2200pf
4700pf
0.01uf
0.022uf
0.033uf
0.047uf
0.082uf
0.1uf 100v

plus shipping, weights shown

5pcs each 30.75, 5oz packed, can ship first class

10pcs each 60.50, 8oz packed, can ship first class

25pcs each 148.75, 1.5lbs packed, fits in small priority flat rate box

50pcs each 292.5, 2.5lbs packed

100pcs each 575.00, 4.5lbs packed

You can contact myself or darin (dartanion) to order some. Paypal addy for these will be vbrooke1@yahoo.com

thanx guys!!! Lets get these moving.

germ

Are the STK's polyester? How do they compare to Mallory's? At ~$6.00 each, it seems they are in a similar price point to the SoZo's.

[iknowjohnny]

Are the STK's polyester? How do they compare to Mallory's? At ~$6.00 each, it seems they are in a similar price point to the SoZo's.

The sozos are $2 apiece except the large ones like .1uf. The .0047 and .022 for example were 2 bucks. Thats the standards. But at this point i feel the standards sound better than the premiums anyways. So there ya go....2 vs 6 bucks. Not real close.

[dartanion]

Read a bit closer guys.

The pricing is for 5, 10, etc. of each value. Big difference between $6/cap and $0.55!

5 pieces each of 11 values for 30 bones is cheap. These are 5%, and most measure at closer to 1%.

[overtone]

iknowjohnny – laying aside the marketing and cost discussion and to focus on your OP for a moment, I have another question for you below.

It seems to me that the experienced builders are saying that different circuits favor certain types of capacitors. Let's call that a uniform approach. Then there is a deeper level, which I think goes more to the core of what TAG is about, that being the mixing different types of capacitors in a circuit - to squeeze the most out of the lemon.

When the “6 hours” are up, is it possible for you to A-B test the Sozos, one at a time, for each location?
The question is also with regard to the OP in your previous Sozo thread and the question of locations for the most impact.

I am not sure if I should say this yet, but when I have A-B tested caps in different locations I have found the most impact to be in the early stages of the amp. That makes sense to me if I think about it. I am sure others have made more experiences than I have.

[Ian444]

The caps that are used for mains suppression filters are worth a try, just as a baseline to compare with. They are usually marked as class X1 or X2, can be polypropylene self-healing or polystyrene and cheap since millions are made.

Some caps need burn in time, some don't, but I would like to see 100hrs on any new build before considering it to be optimum. Just my experience from hifi amps.

[Travst]

I'm starting a Tweed Super and will take a look at my BOM to figure out what I need. I already have some caps, but could use them for another project. Thanks for the tip, I'm curious to try something different. I contacted Jeremy about the purchase.

[iknowjohnny]

When the “6 hours” are up, is it possible for you to A-B test the Sozos, one at a time, for each location?
The question is also with regard to the OP in your previous Sozo thread and the question of locations for the most impact.

To be honest, no. I really don't want to go thru that. As much as all my posting may seem like i am fanatical about experimenting on this thing, i'm really not THAT concerned. I mean, the sozo standards sound great. The premiums are close so i'm just going to leave them in and the most i will consider doing is removing them after a time and quickly tacking the standards back in to get a final A/B at which point i think i will be able to hear it much better. Besides, trying to hear ONE cap's difference would be tedious at best. It would be a long tedious process if i'm lucky, and the results would be questionable. I have no doubt it's the cumulative effect i hear with the sozos.

i will say this. I left out the .1uf's at the PI and NFB because i never got those when i got the standards. I DID get them when i got the premiums, bit i left them out when i installed the premiums because i wanted to hear the difference w/o wondering if it was those added 2 caps that made the difference. So after having played the premiums a while i then put those 2 .1uf's in last nite. Man, the amp sounded like crap ! I'm not sure what did it, bit i also reversed the PI side which is from the tone stack because a emial from the sozo owner suggested the opposite orientation than what i'd been told at forums previously. So in total i added the .1uf PI and NFB caps and reversed the PI .0047 after the master. I got that really nasty fizzy high end like you'd get if you plug your guitar into a mixer and jacked the level up till it distorts. I changed back one at a time and i *think* it was the .1uf on the PI that caused it, but not sure since i changed them back much later on last nite and had to play very low at which point the fizz was much harder to hear. (late, people upstairs)

[overtone]

...i then put those 2 .1uf's in last nite. Man, the amp sounded like crap !...

LOL. Been there too.
In the end you can only squeeze so much juice out.
Any "improvements" turn out as above or are so minimal that it is really time to call it a day and just play.
In the end, attitude is what really matters.

[iknowjohnny]

In the end, attitude is what really matters.

well yes, and the fact is that while some here probably think i'm agonizing over this, truth is it's like being a multimillionaire with a perfect wife and health who can't figure out which Lamborghini he wants most. In other words, sozos have already made me extremely happy with this amp's tone like nothing else has so far. But being the tinkerer i am, and face it, everyone here is or they wouldn't be here, i just had to try the premium ones after such delight in the regular sozos. And yes, possibly bummed i forked out $50 unnecessarily, but still freakin' happy with the tone i'm getting unlike i ever have been before with any amp ever.

[iknowjohnny]

Ok, to those who've tried both like Jana and several others that mentioned they have, answer me this.....i used the standards somewhere around 6 hours. Maybe even less. Is it possible that could have broken them in to the point they would sound better? I'm really confused because i know i have ears and i know whats generally great tone and other tend to like what i do. But i just put the standards back in after feeling more and more like the vintages just don't sound as good, and the tone i first loved is back. I'm confused because i've heard and read this now from quite a few people, not just here. Even the bogner guys told me they use the vintage because they tried the regulars and found the vintages a good bi better. But my experience is telling me the standard sozos sound considerably better. The high end is near perfection while the highs on the vintage are a bit harsh and not much different than the mallories as far as i can tell. Amp sounds amazing again as it did when i first put the standards in. Could this be the few hours i put on the standards? I can't imagine it would be because i remember that tone when i first installed them. They were killin' right from the start unlike the vintage. Weird.

[mcrracer]

Food for thought. (no pun intended) If you are baking a cake and the instructions say ...add the dry ingredients to the bowl, mix well, then add the wet ingredients, mix well, put into a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours. You decide to take the cake out after 15 minutes and try to eat it. Then you are both surprised and pissed because the cake isn't light and fluffy so you blame the person who wrote the recipe. So you call them up and bitch at them saying..."why didn't my cake look like the one on the box? I baked it for 15 minutes!" Hmmmmmmm

[iknowjohnny]

You know, after your last insulting PM i stopped replying because i realized it's YOU, not me who is letting whats being said go in one ear and out the other. I figured by not replying you'd get the hint, but apparently that too is over your head. Let me explain this one more time, and after this i'm DONE with you.

You keep telling me i'm not letting them break in. My point is this...what the he|| does it matter if i am comparing the standards and premiums NEITHER OF WHICH IS BROKEN IN ?!!! So basically you are telling me i'm not listening to anyone telling me they sound better once broken in. SO DO THE STANDARDS !!!! Why do they sound better to me...they aren't broken in either? GET IT?

That said, there is only one, count em, ONE possibility that remains that would make your point valid......that the premiums improve a lot more than the standards when broken in. But i ASKED you that in a PM and you didn't answer ! I swear, why people like you cannot either LISTEN well enough to know what you are replying to or at least take a hint before they push it too far is beyond me !!!

Now, leave me alone....if you don't like my posts, if i irritate you, don't read my posts ! Thats been said a trillion times since the interest began but still people like you just can't help be be what you are. Cahnge the freakin' channel !

To anyone thinking i'm being harsh, the guy kept PM'ing me in a mean spirited fashion telling me im not hearing what he's saying, when in fact it's the other way around. Sorry, i just don't do cr@p like this to others so when they do it to me i don't take it.

[brewdude]

Read a bit closer guys.

The pricing is for 5, 10, etc. of each value. Big difference between $6/cap and $0.55!

5 pieces each of 11 values for 30 bones is cheap. These are 5%, and most measure at closer to 1%.

duhhh, oops
Sorry.

[dartanion]

For the price Sozo gets for their caps, they should sound fucking awesome upon installation. I used both and I don't see what all the hubbub is about. They are decent, but not hugely better than caps that are much more reasonably priced. They are also a pain to deal with on a wholesale level, so where's the incentive? If you like the regular Sozos, use em.

This is all very similar to MM transformers. They make nice stuff that sounds good, but their pricing is way too high, even at wholesale. Check out how much they charge for their TW set! $275 for the OT and $290 or $310 for the PT! Are they gold plated or what? $600 for one set!! YIKES!!! I have talked to Patrick from MM many times. Nice guy with premium priced products. I just don't understand why they charge that much.

[mcrracer]

You know, after your last insulting PM i stopped replying because i realized it's YOU, not me who is letting whats being said go in one ear and out the other. I figured by not replying you'd get the hint, but apparently that too is over your head. Let me explain this one more time, and after this i'm DONE with you.

You keep telling me i'm not letting them break in. My point is this...what the he|| does it matter if i am comparing the standards and premiums NEITHER OF WHICH IS BROKEN IN ?!!! So basically you are telling me i'm not listening to anyone telling me they sound better once broken in. SO DO THE STANDARDS !!!! Why do they sound better to me...they aren't broken in either? GET IT?

That said, there is only one, count em, ONE possibility that remains that would make your point valid......that the premiums improve a lot more than the standards when broken in. But i ASKED you that in a PM and you didn't answer ! I swear, why people like you cannot either LISTEN well enough to know what you are replying to or at least take a hint before they push it too far is beyond me !!!

Now, leave me alone....if you don't like my posts, if i irritate you, don't read my posts ! Thats been said a trillion times since the interest began but still people like you just can't help be be what you are. Cahnge the freakin' channel !

To anyone thinking i'm being harsh, the guy kept PM'ing me in a mean spirited fashion telling me im not hearing what he's saying, when in fact it's the other way around. Sorry, i just don't do cr@p like this to others so when they do it to me i don't take it.

Johnny say what you will, think what you will just don't lie on me! I said nothing mean spirited to you. I PMd you so as to avoid embarrassing you sort of like you are doing to yourself here. All I told you was to follow the directions which was also the point of my little story. But you still don't get it. Last thought for you and I will stop reading your posts...Try calling or email Sozo and let them tell you directly. Or maybe you wont believe them either. You know nothing about "people like me" You just have not advanced that far yet. I made no personal attacks against you. ( But boy did you open the door). You come to these public forums looking for help and when someone more experienced than you suggests you try following the directions for a product before passing judgment (what a novel concept!) you take it as an attack against you! I'm done with you. I really do hope you get to where you want to go. Have a wonderful day!