changing the value of capacitor

[msm677]

is it ok to change the capacitor of my jvc amplifier from 35v 1000uf to 35 3300uf? whats the effect?

[DavidWardlaw]

unless it's a variable capacitor, I don't think you can change the capacitance...the effect WOULD be a better bass response in your speakers (in most cases)

[Arx]

Originally posted by msm677
is it ok to change the capacitor of my jvc amplifier from 35v 1000uf to 35 3300uf? whats the effect?

Depends where it is. Assuming it's the one at the output of the power supply section it probably wouldn't hurt anything to replace it with a bigger cap. The effect will be reduced power supply ripple. It depends on the amplifier design, but you probably won't hear any difference.

If you're thinking of replacing it with a different one because the current one is bad, and the 3300 is what you've got on hand, I'd probably go for it.

If you're looking for a tweak to improve your sound, I'd probably look elsewhere.

-Nick

[msm677]

Originally posted by Arx



Depends where it is. Assuming it's the one at the output of the power supply section it probably wouldn't hurt anything to replace it with a bigger cap. The effect will be reduced power supply ripple. It depends on the amplifier design, but you probably won't hear any difference.

If you're thinking of replacing it with a different one because the current one is bad, and the 3300 is what you've got on hand, I'd probably go for it.

If you're looking for a tweak to improve your sound, I'd probably look elsewhere.

-Nick

I think its the power supply cause they're the biggest capacitor in my amp.

if i'm going to improve the the sound, where will I look and what will I change? the capacitor for the transistors?, transistors?, resistors?, please help me.

[BlueWizard]

Increasing the size of the Power Supply caps might help increase transient response. When the amp has a huge power demand placed on it, sometimes the power supply can't keep up and the available voltage drops. With bigger Caps, for very short term power demands, this might help keep the voltage up longer.

Unless the Amp is somehow broken, I can't think of anything the average user can do to to the internal components to improve it.

Steve/BlueWizard

[msm677]

Originally posted by BlueWizard
Increasing the size of the Power Supply caps might help increase transient response. When the amp has a huge power demand placed on it, sometimes the power supply can't keep up and the available voltage drops. With bigger Caps, for very short term power demands, this might help keep the voltage up longer.

Unless the Amp is somehow broken, I can't think of anything the average user can do to to the internal components to improve it.

Steve/BlueWizard

the amp is good, I just want to know if I can improve the sound or increase its wattage (if possible)

[Arx]

Originally posted by msm677



the amp is good, I just want to know if I can improve the sound or increase its wattage (if possible)

Nope...

Bigger caps may give you slightly less output ripple under maximum load.

I don't think anyone would really hear a difference.

It won't increase the wattage, and any improvement in the sound will probably be insignificant.

To increase the wattage, you probably need to modify the power supply for a higher voltage, which would likely require changing many other parts. It may be cheaper to buy a bigger amp.

-Nick

[Sonusthree]

Hi,

You may well hear slightly tighter bass and find that the amp will handle very slightly higher levels before showing compression, (especially with bass heavy music).
Your speakers may give out before you have a chance to find this out.

These kind of mods can, in some cases, have a negative effect on the upper frequencies. The difference between 1000uF and 3300uF in this situation is not massive so, as mentioned before, you may not actually notice the difference.

Regards,
Martin.

[Arx]

Originally posted by Sonusthree
Hi,

You may well hear slightly tighter bass and find that the amp will handle very slightly higher levels before showing compression, (especially with bass heavy music).

Your speakers may give out before you have a chance to find this out.

These kind of mods can, in some cases, have a negative effect on the upper frequencies. The difference between 1000uF and 3300uF in this situation is not massive so, as mentioned before, you may not actually notice the difference.

Regards,
Martin.

The cap is just there to keep the power steady between pulses from the power supply.
Assuming the amplifier a reasonable PSRR you shouldn't really hear any difference, as long as the capacitor's voltage stays above what the amplifier needs to produce the instantaneous voltage it's trying to. If the capacitor isn't big enough, its voltage may be drained by the amplifier enough that it will not be able to produce that voltage, until the next current pulse from the supply recharges it. What you'll end up with is a form of clipping which tracks the power supply ripple. Assuming the cap is even vaguely reasonable, the only difference a bigger one will make is letting your clipping track a slightly less jaggy sawtooth.

As far as the effect on upper frequencies goes, I've never had anyone demonstrate any difference, or even give me a sound theory how it could be different.

The only reason I could think of is that the current pulses from the supply will become shorter in duration and higher in magnitude. Maybe the higher frequencies on this could leak into the amp? Any thoughts?

But regardless. I wouldn't waste my time without at least measuring the supply ripple to see if it's even significant under heavy load.

-Nick

[msm677]

Originally posted by Arx


The cap is just there to keep the power steady between pulses from the power supply.
Assuming the amplifier a reasonable PSRR you shouldn't really hear any difference, as long as the capacitor's voltage stays above what the amplifier needs to produce the instantaneous voltage it's trying to. If the capacitor isn't big enough, its voltage may be drained by the amplifier enough that it will not be able to produce that voltage, until the next current pulse from the supply recharges it. What you'll end up with is a form of clipping which tracks the power supply ripple. Assuming the cap is even vaguely reasonable, the only difference a bigger one will make is letting your clipping track a slightly less jaggy sawtooth.

As far as the effect on upper frequencies goes, I've never had anyone demonstrate any difference, or even give me a sound theory how it could be different.

The only reason I could think of is that the current pulses from the supply will become shorter in duration and higher in magnitude. Maybe the higher frequencies on this could leak into the amp? Any thoughts?

But regardless. I wouldn't waste my time without at least measuring the supply ripple to see if it's even significant under heavy load.

-Nick

how do i measure the supply ripple?