Just upgraded PS caps on LM1875 gainclone

[Igla]

Hi !
I have just upgraded power supply caps on my LM1875 chip amp with Panasonic FC. They are not burned in but I can say this is an improvement from the standard caps. The mids and hights are softer and more laid back without a loss of details. Bass is deeper and the soundstage is much better.
I have got them from an ebay seller from China (8 pieces 1000uF/50V for 10$). I wonder if they are real. They doesn't look to me as fakes. On the first photo are the caps I had before.
Let me put it this way; if they are fake they are doing a good job.
I hope someone can comment if they are true Panasonic FC.
Regards,

[GloBug]

Here are some real Panasonic FC 1000uf/50v.

They look a little taller and slimmer then yours, also they do not have the red writing. Yours does have a similar vent crease on the top though.

I am not saying yours are fake, but these are real.

It really is a shame to have to doubt purchases from China like that, it hurts their country as a whole.

I try to get stuff from North American suppliers when I can, although you do spend more I would rather support the people with the "real" product.

[GoranB]

Originally Posted by Igla

Hi !
I have just upgraded power supply caps on my LM1875 chip amp with Panasonic FC. They are not burned in but I can say this is an improvement from the standard caps. The mids and hights are softer and more laid back without a loss of details. Bass is deeper and the soundstage is much better.
I have got them from an ebay seller from China (8 pieces 1000uF/50V for 10$). I wonder if they are real. They doesn't look to me as fakes. On the first photo are the caps I had before.
Let me put it this way; if they are fake they are doing a good job.
I hope someone can comment if they are true Panasonic FC.
Regards,

Not real, but if You are satisfied, thats good.
I know You will look for real ones now

[Igla]

They look practicaly the same as those ones from Digi-Key:
CAP TANTALUM 10UF 6, CAP TANTALUM 10UF 20V 10% SMD - TAJB106K020R, 1
I was also reading this forum and the guy says, that his Panasonic caps also have red time stamp:
Very ugly capacitors... or fake? (Panasonic FR) - Badcaps Forums
My caps are somehow darker color then new FC caps. I have read somewhere on the net that older series of FC caps looked like that. Now I'm not so sure. I hope that's the case so I will just leave them play for a while.
Well, they perform better then the caps I had before in my amp and they were cheaper then gerenic caps you can find around here.
Thank you guys for the reply. I still hope someone will reply that they are just older version.

[johnr66]

Those look real or are good fakes. I gave up on ebay as I've bought a lot of parts that were fakes. There was a hilarious, but kind of sad picture someone posted of a large filter capacitor that he opened up and inside was a much smaller cap!

[jb74]

These are from Mouser in the USA - purchased December 2011

jb74

[discrete]

I vote fake.

The red text on the real ones are etched/burned/stamped, not just painted.
I have more FM series than FC series caps, but my FCs do not have a '+' in front of the 105C.
Some (older) FMs do though.

These are about $1.60 in small quantities at Digikey.

[Igla]

Well, I am confused. It's possible they are discontinued (older) version of FC series. For sure the one I have perform far better then you would expect from chinese copy. They sound as described on this forum - a little laid back sound (all details are still there), good bass and good soundstage. If they are fake it would be fun to compare them with real ones. Any ideas where I can get the real ones without paying a fortune for a shipment?

[!]

They may be functionally identical enough that you would not hear a difference with real Panasonic FCs ("IF" they are fake) but the bigger problem with fakes is they don't have good lifespan in their intended use of filtering switching power supplies... but at only a doubled mains AC frequency of 100 to 120Hz as amp PS filters, the larger concern is whether the electrolyte is stable or will start producing gas in a few years and vent. Some generic caps will do that just sitting unused on a shelf.

[Igla]

I have found a store in Berlin selling Panasonics FC caps:
Panasonic FC :: Panasonic :: Electrolytics :: Capacitors :: Passive Components :: Electronic Parts :: Banzai Music
They have 1000uF/50V caps and the dimensions are the same as the caps I have:diameter 16mm ; lenght 25mm
If they are not fake then the only logical explanation would be, they are from different series (probably older version) of FC caps.
Regards;