Best electrolytic capacitors

[apogee lover]

How would you say compare DNM or BHC slit foil capacitors with Epcos Sikorel capacitors, which I believe are not made anymore?

Never heard Sikorel caps so couldn`t say.When you say they are not made anymore are you referring to BHC or Sikorel?
I`m not sure if BHC make the slit foils anymore but Supertech do.

 

[carlmart]

These are the Sikorel capacitors, considered one of the best capacitors for power supplies.

SIMENS EPCOS SIKOREL Cpapcitors

But AFAIK they stopped being made. The ones you still find are expensive and scarce.

I'm not sure if anyone made a reliable comparison with slit foil caps.

DNM still stocks some:

DNM-designed Capacitors

 

[savvas]

Slit Foils have very positive comments and they not expensive in comparison with the T-Nets
T-Nets have great midrange not as dynamic as Mundorfs but could be preferable depending on the taste.
Sikorels have no weaknesses unlike the other mentioned above. It's not that they are not great but it's best to fit them in the proper place while Sikorels leaves you with no complain in every instance. I have not heard any big difference with Rifa 169 but no serious A/B comparison with the later two.

 

[carlmart]

Looking for something more affordable than Sikorels, but with great quality. Screw terminated too.

Rifas are difficult to find.

Are Kemets slit-foil any good for power supplies?

The Sikorels were to be used on a Luxman 5M21 high quality amp, having screw terminal United Chemicons, which I don't think are not made anymore with the original quality.

 

[analog_sa]

Sikorels leaves you with no complain in every instance. I have not heard any big difference with Rifa 169 but no serious A/B comparison with the later two.

I find a significant difference between the two.

The problem is the PEH169 are not very consistent depending on year of manufacture or voltage. Some are much heavier and you can hear liquid sloshing around when you shake them. At least some of them sound a bit too bright for my taste.

Neither are the Sikorel consistent, the older models sound considerably different.

If you like the Mlytics chances are neither the Sikorel nor the Rifa would be very appealing.

 

[analog_sa]

Others will not like these caps at all.

Indeed. I have always been part of the "others"

 

[carlmart]

I find a significant difference between the two.

The problem is the PEH169 are not very consistent depending on year of manufacture or voltage. Some are much heavier and you can hear liquid sloshing around when you shake them. At least some of them sound a bit too bright for my taste.

Neither are the Sikorel consistent, the older models sound considerably different.

If you like the Mlytics chances are neither the Sikorel nor the Rifa would be very appealing.

Which would be the types you would recommend?

 

[454Casull]

They also, in a way, slow down the attack on the waveforms.

Do they have some hidden inductance?

 

[nfsgame]

They also, in a way, slow down the attack on the waveforms.

I've a Marantz amp from the late 90s here in my home office - it's full of them and I would never get the idea and say it sounds like slowing down the attack on the waveforms. Also nearly all amplifiers from Audionet use them on their boards. And they're some of the best and most dynamic things I've ever heart as a non-diy amplifier .

 

[keilau]

For the input signal path cap, I follow John Curl's recommendation. The a tube like sound coloration using audio purpose capacitor.
https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/129/rfs_e-606.pdf

I do not actually agree with this statement across the board. The Silmic caps present a coloration to the audio signal whether they are used as a power supply filter cap or a DC signal blocking cap. In both instances, they provide a tube like sound coloration. They also, in a way, slow down the attack on the waveforms. I stopped using the Silmics a long time ago and just recently replaced some Silmic DC signal caps with the Nichicon MUSE bipolar. The MUSE were much more transparent and uncolored.

Those who love the Silmics will love them for their sound. Others will not like these caps at all.

What is "a tube like sound coloration"? Truncated bandwidth? Reduced odd harmonic distortion? Increased even harmonic distortion? What can a passive cap do to an audio signal? We want one with acceptable non-linear distortion at reasonable price. Does the Silmic have excessive non-linear distortion? What makes it sound non-transparent?

Any link to a study on this subject will be greatly appreciated. If the MUSE bipolar is better, I want to try it too and understand how it works.

 

[keilau]

View attachment 855184 Carl Smart

You can find more detail at AliExpress, but no schematic.
MJE15032 15033 LME49710 Jung Super POWER circuit Super Linear Polishing DAC Preamplifier Voltage regulator Board finished|Amplifier| - AliExpress

Seller claims "Jung Super POWER circuit".

There are many more e-bay sellers too. For example:
Jung Super POWER circuit Super linear power supply for DAC preamplifier | eBay

 

[diyiggy]

Why just not use Panasonic FC as main PS ?


Although an Elna Tonorex coupled with 10% capacitance of FC might be great for many... I surmise.


What would be your first choice for a Sikorel swap ?

 

[sonusanti]

If this great cap is silky smooth in some but too much on others the question becomes is there such a thing as a transparently NEUTRAL capacitor neither adding nor subtracting anything from the signal? Has anyone tried Wurth? Are they "wurth" the price?

 

[fatmarley]

is there such a thing as a transparently NEUTRAL capacitor neither adding nor subtracting anything from the signal?

I've tried quite a few caps and most of the audio grade ones seem to add something unnatural to the sound. The ones the sound most neutral to my ears are the Nichicon UKW KW standard-for-audio.

 

[Erlend Sæterdal]

Wich I find booring and anemic.

 

[sonusanti]

Personally, I think the end product whether preamp or power amp should be neutral but I also strongly believe that "audiophile" preamps ought to have tone controls that can be switched out for the simple reason that we all agree room influence constitutes more than 50% of what we hear.

50% is not only significant that is HUGE so why cast away the "un-audiophile" bass, mid and trebel controls more so if these can be bypassed? Audiophiles like to talk about truth yet ignore the reality of the elephant THAT'S the room.

Time to get real.

 

[sumotan]

I once build a Tilt control like Quad works pretty good.

 

[diyiggy]

Wich I find booring and anemic.

Me too, typical Nichicon sound despite they are not leaky !

 

[TonyTecson]

Personally, I think the end product whether preamp or power amp should be neutral but I also strongly believe that "audiophile" preamps ought to have tone controls that can be switched out for the simple reason that we all agree room influence constitutes more than 50% of what we hear.

50% is not only significant that is HUGE so why cast away the "un-audiophile" bass, mid and trebel controls more so if these can be bypassed? Audiophiles like to talk about truth yet ignore the reality of the elephant THAT'S the room.

Time to get real.

i always go back to real live music as reference, how a drum roll sounds, viola bass sounds and all the others, woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments....then i compare them to what i hear i my speakers....guess what?, real life always win....

 

[tiefbassuebertr]

have a look to this website (unfortunately only in German)
Elko-Consulting
good description about a wide range of problems of caps and the reasons;
also many pics arround exploded caps

update URL's
Tickende Zeitbomben - Wie sich fruhzeitige... | Elektronik Praxis
Stromsparer. Reststromverhalten moderner Elektrolytkondensatoren - PDF Free Download
Elko-Consulting

Elko-Consulting
Elko-Consulting
Elko-Consulting
https://web.archive.org/web/20111101155329if_/http://www.elcap.de/4437/8917.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20111101155341if_/http://www.elcap.de/4437/8944.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20111101160048if_/http://elcap.de/4437/8971.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20111101160213if_/http://elcap.de/4437/8998.html

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Al-Elko-Impedanzverläufe-Elko-Polymer-Wiki-07-02-19.jpg

https://webcache.googleusercontent....385001+&cd=3&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de&client=opera

http://www.seibersdorflaboratories....sung-der-filterperformance-strom-spannung.pdf