Capacitor Substitution

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orangedrop

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Joined 2010
#1
Howdy folks,
Quick question...

I have an el cheapo Chinese made "Vox" 4 watt guitar amp and am adding a Mercury Magnetics I/O trans, choke and component/circuit mod upgrade.

Thinking of upgrading the electrolytic caps, to something that might be quieter and a bit more hifi, and also dry for long term lower maint.

Any thoughts on compounds i.e., tantalum, PTFE etc?

Thank you,

John
 
#2
any good quality electrolytics from a major western manufacturer will do. audiophile grade is just plain BS go for a 105 degree C . if you feel that you must.

either way a crappy unit is still a crappy unit you can only try to make it Less crappy. the critical parts are OPT´s and circuit topology.


V4lve
 
#4
I would always go for 105 degrees C over lower ratings. The spec is not just about the working temperature - it is to do with the ability of the part to operate over time at any elevated temperature. Thus a 105 degree part running at 50 degrees will have a much longer life than a 85 degree part run at 50 degrees. Major eastern (esp. Japanese) manufacturers are also good.
 
#5
12E1 said:
I would always go for 105 degrees C over lower ratings. The spec is not just about the working temperature - it is to do with the ability of the part to operate over time at any elevated temperature. Thus a 105 degree part running at 50 degrees will have a much longer life than a 85 degree part run at 50 degrees. Major eastern (esp. Japanese) manufacturers are also good.
Click to expand...

Yep!! Nichicon makes good caps. I like their Muze KZ series for the (very few) electrolytics I use in the signal path. For lower value caps, I tend to stick with polypropylene caps.

Just buy the caps from a reputable supplier like Digikey, Newark, Farnell, etc. The eBay specials are usually not worth it.

~Tom
 
#7
Thanks folks!

Those are the brands I typically use, as well as Hitichi in the past and I like WIMA in the microphones and mic pres etc.

I will check the ratings on the parts and the brand parts as well, they are certainly cheap enough.

Digikey are my main supplier, but that's where I got into trouble in the first place...

So many kinds of nice parts, like a candy store, lol *embarrassed*

thanks again,

John
 
#8
For those that think hi end caps are BS, well...you probably have never heard a decent cap (Mundorf or Jensen) from the sounds of it.....(talking power caps here)

To the OP question, if you are referring to power caps, seeing It's a guitar amp maybe F&T is worth a look in, these are not a so called "audiophile cap" just a very good cap.

For the signal path film/foil caps where possible, again you don't need to go crazy, the older type Hovland Musicaps are nice and don't cost a fortune, and the Obligatto MPK's are very affordable and have nice dynamics.

Edit:At the end of the day you want parts with sound signatures that complement each other, just like you match source > amps and speakers for best sound, It's a similar deal with component parts, doesn't matter if they are cheap or expensive, the same matching is needed for the sound you are looking for.

Bet I get flamed by some here for the above, but that's sweet 😀
 
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#10
Yes it is, I even mentioned that in my post.

And I never recommended any so called "audiophile" caps, so I don't know what you are trying to point out?

When It's not a guitar amp I'll be mentioning names like Deulund 😀 unless they have defined a restrictive budget 😉
 
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