Frederik emailed me this morning with an exciting announcement of two new products that are in the works at Duelund, both involving tinned-copper, and both of which I find very exciting!
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As most of you reading my blog are aware, the Duelund DCA series of tinned-copper tone-cables with their oil-soaked & baked cotton dielectric have taken the world by storm, first because of their awesome performance, and secondly because of their incredibly modest pricing.
Rarely does one find ultra-quality, ultra-performance, and modest pricing combined in a premiere product, like you do with the Duelund DCA12GA, DCA16GA, and DCA20GA.
The new Duelund Coherent Audio DCA20GA tinned-copper tone-wire.
Just this morning I was answering Griffin's comment, saying that there was no such thing as a Duelund solid-core tinned-copper cable, but I wished there was.
In particular, I wished there was a Duelund equivalent of the vintage WE24GA headshell wires that Yazaki-san sent me to try, but which you can't buy outside of Japan. They were wonderful from a musical perspective, and I immediately fell in love with them, but they're not available! Argh!
Vintage Western Electric WE24GA for headshell leads.
Well guess what, right after I posted my reply, Frederik emailed me and told me that he now has in the works a DCA26GA solid-core tinned-copper cable with an oil-soaked & baked cotton dielectric, and it will be coming soon!
A solid-core DCA26GA tinned-copper cable could be an even better choice than the vintage WE24GA for headshell wires, because the WE24GA is kind of bulky for headshell wires, and it is a bit hard to accommodate in the space available between the cartridge and headshell connections. The DCA26GA would make for an easier fit.
You can bet you'll hear more from me about the solid-core DCA26GA as headshell wires and as tonearm wiring when it becomes available in a couple of months!
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Unfortunately, a lot of folks just can't afford the price of the lofty Duelund CAST series of hand-made capacitors.
I think Duelund makes the best capacitors in the world in their CAST product lines, but they don't come cheap.
A lot of you know how blown away I was by the prototype Duelund CAST tinned-copper paper-in-oil capacitors I tried in my vintage McIntosh MX110 tuner-preamplifier, and in the crossovers for my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers.
A pair of prototype 0.22uF Duelund CAST Sn-Cu capacitors that I've soldered into my vintage MX110Z McIntosh tuner-preamplifier.
The prototype Duelund CAST Sn-Cu capacitors humiliated every new and NOS capacitor they went up against in my tests, easily besting anything else in both sonics & musicality.
The C3 0.88uF Duelund tinned-copper capacitor bundle in my A5 breadboard crossovers.
In my opinion the Duelund CAST tinned-copper capacitors are in a league of their own, and nothing I have tried new or NOS even comes close.
The downsides of the Duelund CAST tinned-copper capacitors are their jumbo size & cost. The jumbo size makes it tricky or even impossible to place them in some circuits, and their jumbo cost makes it tricky or impossible to fit them into some budgets!
If I were going to recommend capacitors to you for a crossover or electronics project without cost & size being a consideration, the Duelund CAST tinned-copper capacitors would be where I'd suggest you start.
But now there is another potential choice that is very, very, interesting to me, because they are smaller and less expensive!
The new Duelund 0.22uF JAM tinned-copper PIO capacitor!
Frederik has been thinking about what a wonderful thing the DCA series of tinned-copper cables have turned out to be for audio enthusiasts, bringing the Duelund level of quality & performance to an affordable price level, and he decided he wanted to do the same thing for his Duelund tinned-copper capacitors.
Frederik has created a new less expensive & smaller version of the tinned-copper foil & paper-in-oil capacitor aimed at more compact spaces and budgets.
Frederik told me:
"As you know, I’ve been very interested in getting the tinned-copper foil technology used in a more cost effective approach than our full spec CAST 630v tinned-copper capacitors. So what we have done is to take a more classic approach, by creating a tinned-copper foil capacitor with an oil impregnated paper dielectric. This is placed in an oil filled metal enclosure. This takes us very close to vintage style capacitors, all the while giving us +600 volt capacity, and ensuring we can take tinned-copper foil capacitors to a much lower price point than before."
The new Duelund 0.1uF JAM tinned-copper PIO capacitor!
Woo hoo! What great news!
I can't help but wonder if the new Duelund JAM tinned-copper capacitors will be my dreamed about heir of the Bumblebee & Black Beauty for the modern age? Is the Duelund JAM my dream come true? I hope so!
Notice that it is black ... but what about the 'JAM' on the casing? Is JAM a reference to 'jamming' in the musician sense, or is it a reference to musicality generally ... just what does JAM mean?
Frederik says:
"You may know our entry level capacitor is called the Alexander, named after my first born son. As more children have come into the world since then, I decided to honor them in the name of the new capacitors. JAM is actually both a nod to the musicality made possible by this capacitor, but also refers to the first letters in our children's’ names. (J)oachim and (A)lexander, my two boys, and (M)irah, Magnus’ first born daughter."
Now that is way cool, it is a reference to musicality, and more importantly, to family! Join me in congratulating Frederik on the addition of the new 'baby' JAM to the Duelund family of capacitors!
I've already got all kinds of project ideas popping into my head for the new Duelund JAM tinned-copper capacitors!
The Duelund JAM tinned-copper capacitor is an exciting development for audio enthusiasts, music lovers, and musicians, and all I can say is, "JAM baby JAM!"
Frederik says:
"Parts ConneXion takes delivery of these next week. The pricing for the 0.1uF is $63.26 MSRP, and they're doing a 25% off intro pricing special of $47.44, with the 0.22uF at $71.50 MSRP, with 25% off special for intro pricing at $53.63."
The new Duelund 0.22uF JAM tinned-copper capacitor.
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As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
