My Capacitor comparisons: Mundorfs, VCap, Sonicap Platinum, Auricap, etc

hotroady · « **Reply #440 on:** 11 Nov 2009, 12:32 am »

things must really slow at AVA for tweedle dee and tweedle dumb to come here to trash a good work!

mgalusha · « **Reply #441 on:** 11 Nov 2009, 12:35 am »

Frank & turkey, please keep the silly remarks out of this thread. If you have something relevant to add to the discussion that is great, but your posts about "caps" are not benefiting anyone. Please see the section in this post: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=71571.msg668784#msg668784 about not poking fun and making childish remarks.

Thanks,

Mike

juanitox · « **Reply #442 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 05:22 pm »

for the specialist... i have a 22uf ceramic coupling cap to replace
in my dac. what will be the best solution for this value :

black gates Nx
mundorf supreme
auricap
something else ?

thanks

a cap newbie.

avahifi · « **Reply #443 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 09:52 pm »

I doubt if your 22 uF capacitor is a ceramic. Ceramic caps are usually widely varying tolerance parts used for power supply decoupling and such.

You can probably get more help if you provide the voltage rating of the part, and whether you can tell if it is a polarized part or not. Good quality coupling capaciators normally will be of some kind of film construction and normally will not be polarized. It is important to know the voltage rating.

Second, if the cap in question failed, and that is why it needs replacing, you should check further to make sure that some other circuit malfunction did not cause the failure. If you replace the part without resolving the issue, you will be testing flashbulbs.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

juanitox · « **Reply #444 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 06:25 am »

yes you are right, it's not a polarized cap , and the voltage rating are 10v , it is a DC blocking cap after an opam of a dac. it is a cms cap perhaps tantalum. everything works find i just try to improve the sound

avahifi · « **Reply #445 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 02:41 pm »

It is likely not a tantalum capacitor either, these are normally polarized and should not be used in a signal coupling application unless absolutely biased on so that the negative going waveform can never cause reverse voltage across the positive end.

Again, did the cap fail? How do you know that it failed? Normally a capacitor would be the last thing to actually fail in a circuit, way after active components. It might go noisy but you would need a scope to look for that. Power supply electrolytics do fail once in a long time, but that usually results in blown fuses and lots of smoke and sparks.

With more info, I will try to help you.

Where are all the wonder cap guys on this circle with real advice?

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

face · « **Reply #446 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 05:14 pm »

How much room do you have?

juanitox · « **Reply #447 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 06:09 pm »

it is not to repair something ...

i just have a dac with one output capacitor in the signal path and want to improve the stock one with the best one possible, the DC and AC voltage are really small around 10V .

i have all the room necessary to make a giga mods

face · « **Reply #448 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 07:48 pm »

What kind of sound are you looking for?

What's your budget?

juanitox · « **Reply #449 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 08:25 pm »

transparency,natural without glare or harsh highs ..
no special budget but i will not spend 1500$ for duelund capacitors

avahifi · « **Reply #450 on:** 23 Nov 2009, 09:29 pm »

OK, if all you need is a couple of 22?F/10V film capacitors, there are many choices. I am sure someone here can help you with this.

If the circuit board they are mounted on is a double sided board with plated through holes, be VERY careful removing the old capacitors as it is easy to damage the plated through holes and destroy the integrety of the board.

Frank

face · « **Reply #451 on:** 24 Nov 2009, 06:30 am »

I tried 10uf Claritycap ESA's as coupling caps in a tube pre amp and was happy with the sound. As always, YMMV.

andyr · « **Reply #452 on:** 24 Nov 2009, 09:10 am »

Quote from: juanitox on 23 Nov 2009, 06:09 pm

it is not to repair something ...

i just have a dac with one output capacitor in the signal path and want to improve the stock one with the best one possible, the DC and AC voltage are really small around 10V .

i have all the room necessary to make a giga mods

I would suggest using a pair (of inverse-connected) BG 'Ns'/'NXs' (inverse-connected means put the long lead of one cap against the short lead of the other ... this is BG's "Super-E" connection.).

Parts Connexion sells 33uF/16v 'Ns' for USD4.50 each.

Regards,

Andy

avahifi · « **Reply #453 on:** 24 Nov 2009, 01:51 pm »

Note that if you connect two capacitors in series as suggested above, the value of the capacitance will be cut in half. The combination suggested would be half of 33 uF or 16.5 uF. That might affect the bass pole of your unit.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

jrebman · « **Reply #454 on:** 24 Nov 2009, 03:45 pm »

Frank,

The Super-E connection is parallel, not series. Basically you're halving the ESR and doubling the capacitance.

juanitox · « **Reply #455 on:** 24 Nov 2009, 05:00 pm »

thanks for the black gates combo suggestion , i also have a 0.022uf FT1 for bypassing , a 22uf auricap , and Panasonic MKS to try..

bluemike · « **Reply #456 on:** 2 Dec 2009, 05:33 pm »

Anyone tried Jantzen superior z in their tube amps
or would Clarity ESA be better

I'm looking for a bit of warmth in my next cap selection but nothing to the extreme of the russian PIO
Any thoughts on the Audiocap PCU in a tube push pull amp with Solid state rectifier

nicoch46 · « **Reply #457 on:** 3 Dec 2009, 03:24 pm »

Jon L is in holidays ??

we need mylar-in-oil to test

markC · « **Reply #458 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 12:04 am »

I run Jantzen Superior Z in my tube DAC and tube pre. No desire to change. They replaced Sonicaps which replaced Auricaps which replaced stock. Sounded better each time to my ears.
They are in the coupling position.

bluemike · « **Reply #459 on:** 4 Dec 2009, 02:45 am »

Hi Mark
Long time no talk
How's things

If you're still up for it I wanted you to swap out my caps once I decide what to get