+/- rail electrolytic caps - need to be identical

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Disabled Account
Joined 2004
Hi guys, want to replace two Elna 5600uf caps in a 13 year old kenwood 2 channel receiver that sounds bloody amazing.........don't ask why.........it just does:angel:

My question is............do both capacitors need to be the exact brand, uf (within reason) and voltage (as per original or higher)?

The circuit has one in line bridge rectifier that is connected to the two caps which are in series creating the +and - rails.

Can different caps (brands, paralelled banks etc.) used to replace two same brand types affect the sound quality of the amp purely because they are not identical?
 
Yes, both rail caps should be the same value/ brand. Different caps have different ESR (equivalent series resistance ) , so , under load, you might hear a difference.

Different caps are more forgiving , you might even improve the sound. If you get some 6800uF @ 50/63V ones (CDE, nichicon,panasonic, etc) , you will have better bass, slightly more headroom. If you parallel 2 for each rail (2 X 3300uf) , lower esr !!

http://www.low-esr.com/LowESR_Trends_QT.pdf

PC's use paralleled caps in their super high current CPU supplies.
OS
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.