Those "for audio" capacitors are a bunch of marketing crap.
As for shopping, stick to reputable distributors like Mouser, MCM, PX, Jameco, Vetco, etc, and forget that ebay shyster stuff.
I've had to satisfy my paying customers for decades and I don't take chances with their equipment - or my reputation as a professional servicer.
I've been playing with caps for a long time, re Silmic ll, what you guys are buying frm Digikey etc are made in Elna's Thailand factory. At my end I can find some that's made in Japan. What's the difference you say, well physical size are different for the same values, sound wise Japanese smoother sounding. That being said it's not really my cup of tea especially the highs, artificial sounding, try listening to crash of cymbals or high hat of drum play, you'll understand. For those looking to get a little tubey sound this might be the cap for you. In anycase
everyone has a different taste.
Cheers
Just the using term "audio grade" is annoying, and means nothing to me.
Attaching such terms to things by manufacturers is a way of catering to a specific market.
I don't fall for such hype, know what a damn capacitor is supposed to do in a circuit, and it certainly doesn't need a fancy name - electrical ions don't care about, why should people?
These ELNA 15000/63 were received by a relative last week from Audiophonics.
ELNA High Quality Electrolytic Capacitor 63V 15000mF - Audiophonics
Intrigued by the comments here the top black plastic cover was removed and it looks like this. Clearly not the "sword" mark.
All other parts sold there look genuine but this seems to be fishy? Any other experiences?
ELNA High Quality Electrolytic Capacitor 63V 15000mF - Audiophonics
Intrigued by the comments here the top black plastic cover was removed and it looks like this. Clearly not the "sword" mark.
All other parts sold there look genuine but this seems to be fishy? Any other experiences?
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Most every large capacity snap in name brand capacitor for sale on Ali, Ebay, random internet sites, etc is NOT genuine. These 15000uf/63v are available with wrapper of choice: JCCON, ELNA for Audio, Yamaha, Kenwood, Marantz, Rubycon MXR, USR take your pick. That price is exhorbitant for a fake capacitor, here you can get same for $3.16:
Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com
But it might actually meet specs and perform its job adequately. It might. Given the price paid, you should have gotten a real ELNA and I would demand reimbursement.
Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com
But it might actually meet specs and perform its job adequately. It might. Given the price paid, you should have gotten a real ELNA and I would demand reimbursement.
Elna's factory markings is a straight line with a curve line cutting across.
The + markings on your cap for genuine caps belongs to Nichicon
Same vendor has ELNA for Audio with proper top, but that is still no guarantee of genuine.
ELNA High Quality Electrolytic Capacitor 63V 10000mF - Audiophonics
ELNA High Quality Electrolytic Capacitor 63V 10000mF - Audiophonics
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I have a number of different known genuine ELNA caps obtained from Digikey. All exhibit a straight line from end to end and a shorter curved portion that is offset from center. So, several things wrong with photo being posted. Line is not end to end, the curve is not offset from center, and the curved portion is too long, should be about a third of the diameter of the cap. That cap is not genuine ELNA.
I bought some Elna caps from aliexpress thinking at this price, its worth a crack. Anyway, the capacitors I think are genuine Elna, with 20% below capacitance. Their construction is too good and like the originals. The shape of the vent, the rubber markings at the base and general quality are good. My guess is that caps that don't meet the specs are sold on seconds market and we end up with them on ebay or aliexpress. Does anyone think this is possible, or are they all fakes?
This "audiophonics" joint's been in business for only 15 years....
And conveniently detached from human contact, only correspondence is though the 'net.
Quote from site: "Customer relations and after-sales service are exclusively managed by e-mail.
As Audiophonics' staff cannot provide quality customer service by telephone, we prefer to concentrate our customer relationship on one channel: e-mail."
How shallow......
To me, that's NOT a nice way to run a business
It's devoid of "personable" and natural human inter-action.
Hints at shady operations.
Much like the internet and cellphone is today - you can text your azz off and make "distant friends" all day long, but it's not a natural way that humans did it since the beginning of time.
If you run a business and insist that having to speak to another human on the telephone is not good, I feel sorry for you, you won't get my business.
All my distributors have phone numbers, and nice helpful humans at the other end.
It’s been established that most of the larger capacity snap-ins for power supply filtering are not genuinely branded. It is difficult to even find them for sale, but I attach a photo of what has a high probability of being a genuine ELNA, though you may not get what is in the picture when your order arrives. In addition to the previously mentioned features of the top, note how the indentation is thin and very clean. The fakes are crudely stamped, being wider, deeper, and bulging. The larger capacity ELNAs are always made in Thailand, though it may not state that on the cap.
Miniature capacitors are a different story. There are a good number of genuine product for sale on the marketplaces, but they may be old stock, rejects, or be otherwise not first quality. One thing that is common is to get a few bad ones in an otherwise good batch. The good thing is that most of us have the ability to measure some of the key parameters to weed out the bad. I have had good luck with the few purchases I have made. One batch of Nichicons all tested perfectly against a known good one, but the casing was very scratched up, I’m speculating it was rejected for cosmetic reasons. Always a certain amount of risk not purchasing from known distributors. Just need to be aware of it and make up ones own mind as to whether it is worth it.
Miniature capacitors are a different story. There are a good number of genuine product for sale on the marketplaces, but they may be old stock, rejects, or be otherwise not first quality. One thing that is common is to get a few bad ones in an otherwise good batch. The good thing is that most of us have the ability to measure some of the key parameters to weed out the bad. I have had good luck with the few purchases I have made. One batch of Nichicons all tested perfectly against a known good one, but the casing was very scratched up, I’m speculating it was rejected for cosmetic reasons. Always a certain amount of risk not purchasing from known distributors. Just need to be aware of it and make up ones own mind as to whether it is worth it.
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