Who make the best 10,000uf capacitors

You havent specified what voltage.
Use more smaller ones. cheaper and better if laid out correctly. Do the sums and you'll see what I mean.

And that much capacitance is completely ridiculous for anything capable of being plugged into a normal outlet.

I suggest you do some more research on power supply theory.

Edit: typos.
 
h_a said:
It's not unusual to see 60000uF per channel in ClassA amps

If you have noticed my Avatar picture.
These caps are from a Mark Levinson power supply.
Where John Curl have been designer of amplifiers.
A close up of this power supply ( See Attachment ) shows they are PHILIPS electrolyts.
Now there are other making very good electrolyts.

http://corporate.evoxrifa.com/
May I suggest a visit to RIFA website. Evox RIFA capacitors.
They have very high class big capacitors.
They are often WHITE.
Here is their
Electroytic Capacitors Application Guide in PDF
http://www.evoxrifa.com/electrolytic_cat/electrolytic_appguide.pdf
Here is another interesting paper:
HIGH VOLTAGE ALUMINUM ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS:
WHERE IS THE LIMIT?
http://www.evoxrifa.com/technote_pdf/lytic_voltage_limit.pdf


Lineup
 

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h_a said:
Which are 'best' - what does that mean anyway? - I don't know, but Panasonic TS-HA I consider a good bang for the buck.

Would second that on the Panasonics. Not only are they relatively cheap, but in general they will sound the same in 20 years. The idea of using more, smaller, caps is also worthwhile. While the extra capacitance might possibly be useful once or twice in the lifetime of the amplifier (some sort of amazing transient requirement), the extra smoothing from having (say) 12x4,700uF caps per side vs. 6x10,000uF caps in your unregulated supply is probably worth looking at.
 
Possible quality criteria and options

Assuming it's for the power supply of a class A amplifier, perhaps the following factors should be kept in mind:
- a "decent" brand (Epcos, Evox-Rifa, Mallory, Krummer, Arcotronics etc.),
- a recent date of manufacturing (the month/year are mentioned on the can by "decent" manufacturers); avoid "new old stock" and the like for electrolitycs as these tend to dry out, especially under bad storage conditions (negative temps, humidity, excessive heat or dryness etc.)
- a reasonable voltage margin of safety (say 63V for a 40V power supply rail, 80V for 60 V rails etc); it is often recommended to not exagerate the safety margin though, since unlike film capacitors, high voltage electrolytics do not work faster, they just dry out faster if the extra voltage margin is not used...
- for a class A amplifier which produces masses of heat, capacitors rated at up to 105°C service temp are probably a better option than the standard 80-85°C in order to preserve the capacitors' service life,
- talking about service life, some of the "decent" manufacturers produce special series rated at 100 000+ hours of service
- a low ESR (equivalent serial resistance); should be available from the product datasheet
- my tip: try a power supply decoupling film capacitor (MKP or KP), connected as closely as possible to the circuit to be fed by the power supply; usually, 0,1uF is recommended, but give a try to a 50 or 100uF type of a much higher voltage (630V and up) - this will help ensure a good power supply "speed" (clean trebbles etc.).
I hope this helps.
 
With Epcos Sikorel you'll get what you pay. Its a high grade industrial component, no voodoo.
Of course, every well known brand makes good cap's too.
But in the beginning the question clearly was "...makes the best..." There are pricey and excellent caps from almost every known company.
Personaly I'm pleased with all caps from Chemicon, Rubycon, Panasonic, Epcos, Rifa, Elna and Sanyo. Wouldn't use others.
 
All of my power amplifiers have 60,000uF per channel and share the same circuit.

The first amplifier used the high spec, low ESR, long life, computer grade and very expensive BC Components. You can find them in the previous Farnell Catelogue and they are some of the most expensive ones (around $90 each for 10,000uF?). Although I did not buy them from Farnell. I later bought another 12 from a wholesaler and they still cost me around $50 each.

The second amplifier used the Nippon Chemicon available from www.ledeaudio.com 3 years ago. Dave at Darwin runs the business. The capacitors did not even have a specification. Dave is a very nice guy and he told me the caps should be good. Based on that I bought them from him at the fraction of the cost comparing to the BC Components.

Interestingly, the BC Components and the Nippon Chemicon do not sound any different.

I compared my amplifier to a $10,000 commercial power amplifier in a $50,000 system 2 months ago and the sound quality was at the same level.

Regards,
Bill