What's the capacitor uF thing ???

JasonL · « **on:** 31 Jan 2005, 09:13 pm »

Hi,

My friend is thinking about getting a Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme
and was listening to mine over the weekend and we were comparing
it with his amp.

Both amps are on par with each other, except for the uF thing,
and have a little different sonic signatures. His amp has 8 huge
capacitors the size of a pop can for each, where the Odyssey has
12 capacitors that are much smaller, but his amp has 88,000uF per
channel and the Odyssey has 180,000uF per channel. He asked me
what does this mean, and what will he gain with 92,000uF more per
channel? I don't know so I said I would ask here to try and
answer that. We tried to hear what difference it might make between
the two but we don't hear any, they both are pretty much on par
with each other only that the Odyssey sounds a tad bit more focused in
than his.

Can any one help me answer that question for him? Thanks, Jason.

ctviggen · « **Reply #1 on:** 31 Jan 2005, 09:31 pm »

A capacitor stores voltage, so more capacitance equals (in theory, anyway) faster response to quick transients in the signal.

BradJudy · « **Reply #2 on:** 31 Jan 2005, 10:21 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen

A capacitor stores voltage, so more capacitance equals (in theory, anyway) faster response to quick transients in the signal.

Technically a capacitor stores charge, not voltage.

Carlman · « **Reply #3 on:** 31 Jan 2005, 10:36 pm »

It's what a designer calculated to work well as part of a design. It's not a 'more is better' situation; because it should be a 'the right amount per the design is better' situation.

I'm pretty sure a higher quantity of smaller caps will be able to charge/discharge faster than single larger capacitors.

There's a lot more to the story than just how many microfarads... this would be a good lab question.

-C

corwin99 · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Jan 2005, 10:53 pm »

Yes.. generally speaking, the smaller the cap, the faster the cap. This may explain the trend towards several smaller capacitors rather than fewer large ones.

markC · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Feb 2005, 02:58 am »

Also a designer considers the va of the tranformer(s) being used in conjunction with the total storage capacitace. Some try low va tranny/high storage; others will go big time va/not so much storage. Of course this is a simplified explaination.

KarlDL · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Feb 2005, 03:52 am »

The energy stored in a capacitor is a function of the capacitance and voltage, the energy measure being Joules. Generally speaking, more Joules, more reserve, better sound on the toughest complex signals.

But that is not all; oh, no, that is not all (apologies to Dr. Seuss). There are nuances in not only the design of the power supply but also the actual wiring connections that will impact aural results. What looks like an apples vs. apples on paper may be apples vs. pineapples in hookup.

And the nature of the amplifier circuit and its operational setup strongly influences power supply relevance. A Class AB amplifier (Stratos and many others) lives or dies by the "stiffness" of its power supply, among other considerations. A true Class A amplifier, with less variation of power consumption with signal level, may not be so dependent upon the quality of its power supply.

The bottom line is that ya gotta go first by your ears and use the technology for subsequent insight/explanation, not initial evaluation.

JasonL · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Feb 2005, 06:10 pm »

Thanks every one for all the help explaining this to me!!
I really appreciate all the time taken to explain this!

Thanks, Jason