The metal within the circuit board that connects the internal routing can separate or break away from the board leaving no connection. This happened to me at the output of C8 to the tube socket, so I just ran the wire directly to C8, otherwise I had no sound. It took me changing caps in the same spot a few times for this to happen, so it might not happen if you make fewer changes in the same spot.

The Ansar capacitors are pretty much a euro brand of metalized polypropylene capacitor, actually double metalized, but I'm not sure that makes a huge difference as single metalized. I haven't found any place in the US that sells them and the Canadian site that did no longer stocks them.

Personally, I tried a metalized polypropylene 2.2uf/250 cap in C8 and didn't like it in either of my mikes, too bright and sterile for me. I preferred a metalized polyester caps. They sounded warmer to me, but it really depends on what you want. I have the CEK-12 and Cinemag 2480 in there without the cathode follower. Tried it with and without the Black Gate in C6. I like it with C6 personally.

I tried a bunch of different caps for C8 in my 1050 and settled on a Black Gate 3.3uf/250 for C8 (it's the lowest value available from Black Gate. I might try it in my 460 just to see). It had the warmest sound for what I'm looking for, but I still have the stock capsule in there right now and have only changed the tube to a 12AT7, which sounds excellent. I will be using the CEK-367 eventually.

For anyone who hasn't done these mods yet and is wondering how each mod changes the sound, here are my observations in simple terms, starting with a stock 460, in the order of my mods. Some are different than what I've read in different threads;

-Replaced the 12AX7 with a 12AY7. Drops the level of the mic and cleans up the sound alot.

-Disconnected C9 and C10. Also added Cinemag 2480 (because I removed the wires to C9 and C10 which detaches the tranny from the 7 pin connector and, trust me, you want to disassemble the tranny screws as few times as possible 'cus the tiny phillip's heads strip easily. Probably should've just removed the caps for the first test). This opened up the mic and added a fullness and dimension that is amazing. I'd say that the Cinemag made a very big difference, even with the stock capsule, which sounded pretty good at this point.

-Removed C6. This dropped the level again, but it seemed to thin it out a bit. It removed some of the dimension I talked about.

-Removed C7. Not much difference. Maybe a bit clearer and thinner as described above. Very slight. Not worth removing IMHO.

-Replace C8 with metalized polyester 1uf/250v. Cleaner in that it removed the texture that the electrolytic has.

-Removed cathode follower. This opened the sound up and made things clearer. Not as much bottom fullness.

-Replaced stock capsule with Peluso CEK-12. This scared me at first. The level dropped yet again and it didn't sound a whole lot different at first.... but then I realized that the mic sounded the same at 3" as it did from 10"!!!! Then I brought the level up on the mixer and could hear how smooth this capsule sounds. Really nice!!!

-Replaced C8 with the same type 1.5uf/250v cap. This brought back some bottom that I was missing from earlier mods.

-Added Black Gate 100uf/50v (25v not available) at C6 and put C7 back in (necessary for C6). This gave me back some level (which is why it's there) and the dimension that I heard when I first put the Cinemag in returned. It also filled out the overall sound, made it a bit thicker. This would obviously be a matter of taste. Do what you like best. I prefer C6 and C7 in there because you'll really need to crank the preamp to get the level up otherwise.

-Replaced C8 with a metalized polypropylene 2.2uf/250v. The larger value did thicken the bottom, made it a bit muffled, but I didn't like the ultra clear, brighter, more sterile sound of the higher range. Kinda brought back the high mid boost of the stock capsule only more intense. Some may like this, I didn't. Plus the cap barely fit in there. It really had to be forced. Wasn't worth it for me.

- Final mod, replaced C8 with sub-miniature metalized polyester 1.5uf/400v. This gave me the best balance of clarity, fullness and warmth, which is what "I" wanted from this mic.

These are preliminary results and I'm looking forward to more "field" testing, if you know what I mean.

TechSpec in pdf

Apex 460 Mods in pdf

Audio wav

Apex.zip