Chinese foil caps?

[aarsoe]

With all the new hifi gear comming out of china, I am amased that I havent heard about any chinese manufactors of good foil capacitors. Surely they must exist, and at prices well below what is charged for known names.

So does anyone have information on any such manufactors - and maybe experiences they are willing to share?

PS. Same thing goes for Russian manufactors..

[jacco vermeulen]

There already have been Russian capacitors sold with a different label on it, same as with the tubes.

[Stocker]

Note: people don't go to China for high-end manufacturing, but for low-end (frequently SLAVE) labor rates. Just because a lot of stuff comes from there, doesn't mean that the components have to. Sometimes it works out cheaper to use existing component suppliers and some $1/day worker over there to assemble them instead of some union $34/hr worker in USA or whatever.

[Bas Horneman]

Brian Cherry made contact with one of the largest cap makers in Asia...

The Obligato's are the result.

http://www.diyhifisupply.com/diyhs_ob_caps.htm

I am not sure that this manufacturer is Chinese, but my guestimate is that they are a Chinese company. If not....well then... Brian Cherry operates out of Hong Kong...so you can qualify them as Chinese anyway I suppose.

Caveat emptor : I am a distributor for DiyHiFiSupply products in the Netherlands. ;-)

Regards,
Bas

[SY]

To expand on Stocker's point, Chinese manufacture is worthwhile for labor-intensive items. With caps, which are made in a pretty automated manner, the cost driver is materials (Teflon is expensive stuff!). So one might do a bit better from China, but not necessarily and certainly not in a big way.

[Charles Hansen]

We've already seen these things. Look in the pictures of the Chinese tube amp that Kevin Deal of Upscale Audio is selling. Inside are caps that look to be Rel-Caps at first glance, but a closer look shows that they are actually "Real-Caps".

As a DIY person, saving a few dollars (literally) for cheap caps is false economy compared to the dozens (or hundreds) of hours spent on a project. As a manufacturer I would not buy these for two reasons:

1) We've evaluated nearly every cap out there and found that the Rel-Caps are the best for our equipment. This is compared to many other high-tech manufacturers that have been making audio-grade caps for decades. I seriously doubt that a Chinese company that is new to the audio business could make something that is truly world class. Maybe after five or ten years of trying they could, but that brings me to point #2:

2) I have not toured Chinese capacitor companies, but I have toured Chinese loudspeaker companies. I would not support that business model, as the low prices for the finished goods rests solely upon two shoulders:

a) Exploitation of workers -- I'm talking about 12 hour shifts in spray booths with no respirator or ventilation. I'm talking about brain damage, liver damage, and kidney damage. I'm talking about severe health problems down the road for $0.70 a day now.

b) Irresponsible waste disposal -- The industrial solvents are either dumped in the drain or in the back lot. This is a tragedy waiting to happen. It will take a few years before the ground water is irreversibly contaminated, and a few years more before we see epidemics of juvenile leukemia and birth defects.

That's what Chinese manufacturing is all about. And for what? So some "high end" manufacturer can make a few extra dollars of profit while deceiving the customer? Just say "no" to greed.

[Stocker]

Just say No to Made In China, if possible, says I.

It could be argued that the people who allow the system
And the people who run the system
Are all asking for what they are getting in the future

Sowing to the wind, so to speak.

Note: This is a general principle applicable also to us Ugly Americans; our systems are "better" for the environment and the individual, but there are still some Very Bad Things in store for us...

I just realized that this thread is drifting off topic a lot.

Time to go to Texas or Everything else?

...maybe to China?

[aarsoe]

Stocker & the rest

Dont think this is the right place for political viewpoints. I asked a question and if you dont have anything of value to add, then please dont.

PS: and please remember to trow away all your stuff from Nike, Taralabs, Intel, Dell, Ralf Lauren, Monster, IBM, Ford, GM, Motorola and about a gazillion other companies from the US that have their products produced in China..

[johnf]

The Chinese capacitor makers massed a fair number of booths at the electro 2004 exhibition in Munich last November, filled with very eager people almost falling over themselves to sell you things. I soon discovered a sure-fire way to win some peace and quiet so that I could look at their wares: ask if they made film capacitors.

That quieted all but one vendor. I was able to finish off that exceptional holdout with an equally quick follow up: Any polypropelene units?

I really enjoy trade shows.

I think the Chinese manufacturers are doing such a booming trade in ceramic and electrolytic parts, they neither need to make higher-quality capacitors nor have they accumulated the experience. I am sure that will change.

[johnf]

Originally posted by Stocker
Note: This is a general principle applicable also to us Ugly Americans; our systems are "better" for the environment and the individual, but there are still some Very Bad Things in store for us...

Actually, the Ugly American is one of the heroes of that book. He does good by working with the locals to introduce and adapt technology in ways they can use to improve their lives. It is still a good book almost 50 years after it was written.