What bypass caps are AR using on their top
 

reference gear? I was told Vcap TUTF, but then was told they are now using the Stealthcaps. Do any of you know which ones? I know that Aesthetix is using the Vcaps on their signature version and Stealthcaps on their newest Eclipse units (or so I was told).

Just wondering. Thanks.

ARC have never used V-caps - only TRT Stealth caps and a few years ago a proprietary (suspected Teflon cap) made by a third party company for them (which had reliability issues) thus they have returned to using Stealth caps.

The Stealth cap isn't a Teflon cap but a hybrid of some sort (TRT has never said what they are made out of)

Aesthetix uses TRT Dynamicaps on their Signature series, and TRT Stealth caps on their top of the line Eclipse range.

Thanks so much for that answer. I assumed they were StealthCaps. Gold ones I guess. Not sure if they make more than one line of StealthCaps, but I'll look. Thanks so much.

Yes the Gold caps are the TRT Stealth Caps. They were only available to manufacturers until a year or so ago. Parts Connexion carries them now (https://www.partsconnexion.com/steal...apacitors.html).

You couldn't buy them before even if you wanted to. ARC have used them in their products ever since the LS26 (so over 10 years now).

Thanks triode. Great stuff and what I was looking for. I just told my manufacture'r that is what I want. He has any outlet he needs to get his components, lol. I can't micro manage that much, LOL. :)..... I'm having The Memory Player being made for me and he will use these as the bypass caps. www.thememoryplayer.net

@ctsooner. Are you going to replace your Ayre QX-5 with the memory player?

Yes. They are using a very high end DAC with special power supplies etc... I'm hoping that it will be a better DAC overall. As a server, there is nothing even remotely close in sound quality. it's THAT good. Blows the Aurender W20/N10 out of the water, plus with integrated DAC, there is no cable so no extra jitter problems. The hard drive is a non fragmented one and they can take my external music and defragment that also. That cuts jitter to negligible. No time smearing etc... check it out. www.thememoryplayer.net If Richard V's new mono's are as good as I'm told they are (from someone who's heard them), then I'll be selling teh Ayre AX5/20 also and getting those with an LS28 used or something like that.

I will be selling the QX5 though, but will miss it greatly. Folks don't realize just how great a product it is for the headphone to the control station it is and then the sound quality is sublime for an under 10k DAC and I've heard many many of them that cost much much more. Fast and musical. They know how to implement things at Ayre. That's for sure.

@ctsooner. Thank you for the info. I bet the Memory Playeris a great, but it does get pricy. Have you auditioned one in your system? Have you considered an ARC Reference 6 instead of a LS28 and stick with your QX-5 for now?

I've heard it. It's by far the best server you can get right now and he keeps upgrading to lower jitter even more. I love the QX5. The thing is that he's building a brand new DAC using what he's learned from other DAC's etc... I don't know if it will be better than the Ayre, so for now, I'm keeping the QX5. As I posted above, I won't make a change there until I know it's a better DAC, lol.

It can get pricey, but if someone has interest, they can get in touch with me as there are often ways to get them for less like anything else. Folks just need to ask, lol. :).

I was told by a few to get the LS28. What are the used price differences between the two? Shouldn't ARC be coming out with new pre's soon? Maybe if there is a new model soon, I can find a nice used 28, lol.... I think their preamps are their best products. I always love them.

I would go with the Ref 6 over the LS28. I have not compared them in my system but I would lean toward the Ref 5se over the LS28. I think the tubes in the power supply of the Ref preamps add depth and makes images sound more solid.

ARC tends to introduce a new preamp approximately every 3 to 4 years.