Best Electrolytic Caps for Non-Polarized (nonpolar/bi-polar/bipolar) Applications

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tiefbassuebertr

tiefbassuebertr

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#1
Best Electrolytic Caps for Non-Polarized (nonpolar/non-polar/bi-polar/bipolar) Applications (particularly coupling Capacitors) in Solid State Pre- and POWER-Amplifiers

In an environment for the actually use of non polar (resp. non polarized or bi-polar/bipolar) capacitors are mostly to find polarized electrolytic capacitors.
The best known examples are any signal- and NFB- pad of amplifier stages with balanced voltages from its power supply ( +/GND/- )

The main reason therefore is the too small space in most cases.

I have often read, that by use of the reverse-mode the operating voltage of each polarized electrolytic capacitor is always between 500mV and 1V (independend of the actually maximum operating voltage value, that is to read on the capacitor).
Obviously this is right, because I haven't find very often damaged capacitors at such places.

In cases, where the capacity is 5uF or below, it is possible to perform a replace by a foil version (eliminates in any cases the cracking of the potentiometer for volume control).
But what is the best solution, if there is a capacitor between 47uF and 470uF (e. g. in the NFB loop) ?

Until know I use at least 63V capacitors and introduce an additional foil cap (arround 0,47uF until 4,7uF) for operate in parallel mode (bypass).

By any few commercial products there is additional a diode (e. g. 1N4007) in use to limit the voltage in the reverse mode. But maybe there are other important steps necessary.

The main question is, which polarized electrolytic capacitor brand should I prefer for this special application ?

Thank you very much for your advices.

These topics I have found related to bipolar capacitors, unfortunately without helpful hints.

Standard electrolytic or bi-polar?
Coupling Capacitors - Bipolar or Polarised?
non-polarised electrolytics
polarized vs non polarized cap!
Bipolar electrolytics
Conflicting information on nonpolar electrolytic capacitor use
Non Polar Capacitors
Can I make a Non-Polar Electrolytic using two polar ones
non-polar/bi-polar...same?
Polar electro with bypass cap to replace nonpolar as coupling cap?
FS: Black Gate "F" and "Nonpolar" caps
nonpolar capacitors
bi polar capacitor
Can I use polarized capacitors instead of non-polarized caps?
Non polarized Caps
Polarized cap or non polarized? TSE.
 
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#8
I would just use Nichicon Muse UES series capacitors. They are without doubt the most inert sounding/behaving non-polar electrolytics available that I know of. Thats even comparing obsolete electrolytic capacitors ie. Rubycon Black Gate or Elna Cerafine.

I use them in all of my gear where a film/foil cap won't fit or would cost too much. Distortion measurements are close to a good MKP film cap for single digit voltage drop and in coupling applications between stages.
 
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#13
oncle_tom said:
Are electrolytics better for coupling in Audio?
Click to expand...
Well the hard rule is no cap > film/foil cap > electrolytic cap. Some basic info to this topic below -

Never put audio through a polarized cap that has no voltage offset on either side. It increases distortion significantly at levels greater than a few hundred mV due to the non linear behavior of the cap running at reverse voltage. The offset voltage biases the cap, keeping it from operating in the reversed voltage region.

In most circumstances, if you have to use an electrolytic cap, a non-polar/bi-polar type is always recommended at the highest voltage rating available (lower DF and distortion). The larger the cap value, the worse it behaves at higher frequencies. Bypassing (parallel connection) with a smaller film cap helps here, but it doesn't magically turn a low grade cap into a good one and the ratio of bypass cap value to electrolytic should at least 10 percent for the most balanced sounding results. Otherwise you will have a high Q peak that stands out in the treble depending on circuit impedance you are coupling to.

The use of an improper size/type bypass capacitor is a common issue with power supply HF decoulping too. It can cause HF ringing and make the circuit unstable, possibly prone to oscillation. Thats a whole different discussion, but its a very common area where people tend to screw up and end up making things worse with the best of intentions.
 
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#15
Polymer electrolyte capacitors are just a different version of an electrolytic cap and is mainly used for high ripple, high frequency, high temp filtering in power supply applications. The solid electrolyte doesn't deteriorate like the standard liquid chemical electrolyte and is therefore ideal for high temperature environments. Its not a good cap for the audio signal path because of its poor linearity and higher DF.

I've done plenty of listening tests back when polymer caps became more popular, and my conclusions were they're not good for audio coupling, but they're great for power supply filtering in limited situations. They also shouldn't be used as PS rail decoupling for op amps due to their tendency to form a HF resonant circuit with longer circuit board traces that tend to be more inductive. This is where high loss NPO ceramics are a good choice, but never use them in the audio signal path.

Also as a side note - the best audio coupling caps have non-magnetic copper leads. Avoid caps that have steel leads which are the majority of electrolytics. The nichicon Muse UES and some of their other models starting with a U have high purity copper leads. That keeps the leads non-inductive which is imoortant for audio.
 
#17
Muse is not the best choice for speaker crossover. There are electrolytic capacitors for speaker crossovers available from vendors like Parts Express.

For your application you want the closest tolerance available (probably 5%), high voltage (100V min), and high current capacity. The Muse would be short lived and possibly drift a lot in your application.
 
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#20
This I seared for non polar 1000µF Black Gates substitute:

Nichicon UES
https://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdfs/e-ues.pdf
UES Bi-Polarized, For Audio Equipment
Nichicon 1000µF 25V UES1E102MHM

Distributor Inventory Search
Search Results for: UES1E102MHM*
Americas
Part # Uploaded Ctr Qty Distributor
UES1E102MHM 08/31/2020 Mouser Electronics Inc.
UES1E102MHM 08/30/2020 Digi-Key Electronics
.......
Audio Note Kaisei Electrolytic Capacitors
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/ca...te-kaisei-electrolytic-capacitor-bipolar.html
CAP-100-R-1000U-25V-NP: 1000uF 25Vdc Audio Note Kaisei NON-POLAR Electrolytic Capacitor
SKU: CAP-100-R-1000U-25V-NP (£18.40 €21.90)

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/audio-note-kaisei-electrolytic-capacitors.html
We are proud to be the first to stock the all-new Audio Note Kaisei Electrolytic capacitor range specially suited for valve power supply use.

The Audio Note™ KAISEI range has been developed over the past 4 years with the engineering team at Rubycon (of Black Gate fame). They are based on the same materials with the only difference being the paper used is not impregnated with graphite particles. Otherwise, the KAISEI capacitors use the same special electrolyte.
These Black Gate replacements are incredibly close in performance to the highly regarded WKz range. There aren't any other capacitors that come close. Audio Note's higher Level Three products, the Silver and Silver Signature models will have the KAISEI electrolytic capacitors in the power supply.

The same foil and paper and construction quality as will be found in the forthcoming Audio Note™ Black Gate replacements which should start coming through in the near future.

The Kaisei is available in the standard POLAR format whereby you have a positive and a negative terminal and they must be fitted the correct way round. Alternatively the NON-POLAR (bi-polar) offer improved sonic performance, they can be fitted either way round.
Click to expand...

.......

History:
BlackGate NX 1000 uF 25V

Black Gate TOP Page english
https://web.archive.org/web/20071009153542fw_/http://www.blackgate.jp/english.htm

Inside Black Gates - Structure
https://web.archive.org/web/20071009153559/http://www.blackgate.jp/ef2.htm

Inside Black Gates - Model inside
https://web.archive.org/web/20071009154854/http://www.blackgate.jp/ebg.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20071011030500/http://www.blackgate.jp/ezu3.htm#12

Black Gate - Features
https://web.archive.org/web/20071009154108/http://www.blackgate.jp/ebg2.htm

Table 2: Distortion Characteristics of Capacitors
Table 3: Frequency vs.Impedance and E.S.R. Characteristics（Black Gate N 100V 2200μF）
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011030307/http://www.blackgate.jp/ezu2.htm#14

AC/DC Compatible Black Gate N,NX
https://web.archive.org/web/20070824004955/http://www.blackgate.jp/ebg4.htm#5

AMP with Black Gate (PATENT PEND)
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011030409fw_/http://www.blackgate.jp/image/ic_e.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20071009153818/http://www.blackgate.jp/ebg5.htm

Essence of Black Gate
Jelmax Co.,Ltd. has developed and sells excellent electolytic capacitor called‘BlackGate’. The BlackGate was invented based on a new concept for electron transfer. The BlackGate (BG) shows an excellent characteristics, beyond the conventional comprehension, in various aspects. It has realized the‘Transcendence Electron Transfer’in electrolyte between the two electric poles.‘Transcendence Electron Transferring’transfers signal electrons in the special condition which occurs only in the BG. It enables to make unbelievable breakthroughs from the various limits of conventional type electrolytic capacitors based on‘Ion Transfer’. For example, harmonic distortion noise is reduced to 1/1000, coverage of frequency is expanded 100,000 times (10GHz range) wider and life-time of the capacitor is extended almost 10 times and more. Because of the remarkable improvements mentioned above, application area of the BG, as a super capacitor, is expanding rapidly. As outstanding improvement by BG is verified widely among the experts in the Audio Area, the BG is continuously getting well known all over the world. The sales of the BG is growing rapidly in the twenty-two advanced countries in the world. By utilizing BG technology, Jelmax has also developed non-polarized electrolytic capacitors, which have been believed to be impossible to develop. It has brought to us a possibility of a noiseless switching regulator power-unit, e.g. By just adopting the BG in an equipment, it will bring outstanding improvements in the quality of the system, for example, in reality of sound, sharpness of image/color, sensing capabilities, or precision levels. The candidate systems will be an audio-visual or image handling equipments, equipments for medical analysis, various sensors or high-level precision equipments. The BG is attracting hot interests from many companies and organizations of advanced technical areas. Please refer to http://www.BlackGate.jp
Click to expand...
 
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