What makes Nichicon "muse"/"for audio" caps different ?

[percy]

As you all know Nichicon has a few series of caps under the "muse" name and some categorized as "for audio equipment".
So how exactly are these capacitors different (if they are) from popular choices around here like Panasonic FC/FM and Oscon and polypropylene caps ? Low esr, low inductance ? what exactly is going on in there ?

[fixxxxxer]

I know that the "for audio" or "muse" series are both "audio grade" and specially developed for audio. However i don't know if there are differences between them. On the other hand, pana fm/fc series are low esr, durable to higher temp. levels, long life and hi ripple capable, so many people use them in audio applications, but they never mentioned as "audio grade" like a muse or elna silmic. And many of audio grade caps that i have in hand are definitely not "low-esr" and most of them have a max temp. of 85 degrees like ordinary caps, what makes them different is the compounds used special for audio applications. Many people use both low-esr and audio grade caps in audio applications, including me. For myself, i couldn't recognize an audible difference between them, but both of them is obviously different and better than general purpose capacitors.

Here are some examples of audio grade and low esr caps i have on hand, left side is audio grade section and right side is long life and low esr:

[img=http://img228.imagevenue.com/loc511/th_36169_DSC00035_122_511lo.JPG]

[Eric Juaneda]

Hi percy

Originally Posted by percy

...[capacitors] categorized as "for audio equipment". So how exactly are these capacitors different...

The difference between standard capacitors and audio grade is not in the technical characteristics (ESR...) They are made with different internal material. For example ELNA Silmic II are made with silk fiber. It damp internal vibrations. With high end material there is important difference in audio rendering between standard capacitors and audio grade capacitors.
I wrote some lines about it :Comparing electrolytic capacitors

Eric