Most capacitor companies use a variety of dielectrics, certainly WIMA does.
http://www.wima.com/EN/products.htm
Sprague coined the name "orange drop" in the 1930s, and then SBE, and later on CDE,
acquired it. These have long been widely used industrial parts, not an "audio" product.
http://s221.photobucket.com/user/JohnandSandy/media/Windsor/IMG_1049_zps918325f2.jpg.html
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For SMPS applications, I briefly looked at 715P/716P caps when I couldn't find anything else for high di/dt (read ripple current) ratings for a resonant half-bridge project. The coating is an epoxy dip, and comes off nicely when you apply moderate carnage with a hammer. What is revealed is a classic extended film/foil construction with leads welded to the extended end foils - old, space-hogging, but effective construction.
The apple of my eye these days are caps from Epcos that manage to pack a very useful ripple current rating in a small package size. I'd be willing to bet that cap improvements that enhance ripple current rating might also have sonic benefits.
The apple of my eye these days are caps from Epcos that manage to pack a very useful ripple current rating in a small package size. I'd be willing to bet that cap improvements that enhance ripple current rating might also have sonic benefits.
Wrenchy,
So close, but the actual issue may be that orange drops are wound but the Wima's are stacked plate capacitors. That makes a difference in vibration sensitivity. With a DC voltage across it the orange drop will see vibrations 360 x 15 degrees or so. The Wima major axis is perpendicular to the large flat side and peak sensitivity will be around 30 x 15 degrees.
In a guitar amplifier where it sits on top of the loudspeaker I would expect the orange drop to warm up the sound by augmenting the low frequencies with harmonics.
So close, but the actual issue may be that orange drops are wound but the Wima's are stacked plate capacitors. That makes a difference in vibration sensitivity. With a DC voltage across it the orange drop will see vibrations 360 x 15 degrees or so. The Wima major axis is perpendicular to the large flat side and peak sensitivity will be around 30 x 15 degrees.
In a guitar amplifier where it sits on top of the loudspeaker I would expect the orange drop to warm up the sound by augmenting the low frequencies with harmonics.
I still have some of both in stock so I hadn't priced either in a while. While there is a price difference, neither one is particularly expensive, especially if you only need a few of them.
What kind of amp (brand / model) is this? Isn't 100v awfully low for a coupling cap?? Smallest I've ever seen is 400v, but that's on a tube amp. I know zilch about SS.
Not sure which brands they carry but you can save some money on shipping by ordering from Digi-Key. They ship free if you order by mail (not online) and pay with either a personal check or money order.
I think Simon hit the nail on the head. The same can be true for the ceramic caps in the combo amps. I tried Wima and silver mica in a combo amp I built and maybe it was in my head but it didn't have the same mojo. I went back to Carbon Comp plate load resistors, orange drop caps and ceramic caps and the warmth is back. Some things for hifi aren't good in the land of guitar.
My own distortion tests showed the Muse green cans had better or equal to any of the audiophile boutique caps. I have tons of wima, sprague and others fabricated from poly, mkp and ceramics etc.
The wima is a good choice for pcb general use. I have the polyester in power supply and mkp in signal chains.
The Muse greens do equal any mkp.
Look at Walt Jung cap data.
http://www.waltjung.org/PDFs/Picking_Capacitors_1.pdf
http://www.waltjung.org/PDFs/Picking_Capacitors_2.pdf
`
The wima is a good choice for pcb general use. I have the polyester in power supply and mkp in signal chains.
The Muse greens do equal any mkp.
Look at Walt Jung cap data.
http://www.waltjung.org/PDFs/Picking_Capacitors_1.pdf
http://www.waltjung.org/PDFs/Picking_Capacitors_2.pdf
`
That's the BEST explanation of audible capacitor differences I've ever seen. I wonder if it is somehow measureable.
I just applied a bit of DC from a 9V battery via a resistor to capacitors on a shaker table made out of an old woofer.
I suspect most people imagine thy can hear a difference.
The only real proof is blind tests.
A blind test presupposes a knowledge of what we can and cannot hear. And of what can and cannot confound the test.
It's a step that removes one variable but may mask a whole bunch of other things.
Of course...a blind test eliminates the confirmation bias that is the foundation of the audiophool industry!
Those differences often disappear when the listener doesn't know what capacitors are in the circuit.
What series? All the ones I see are in rectangular plastic boxes.
http://www.wima.com/EN/WIMA_FKP_1.pdf
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It shows the çonstruction. The film is each half metalized and the insulated plate between them increases the coupling. It also shows how a metalization end is used for lead out. That is a stacked construction.
But you certainly can take one apart.
A wound capacitor is round. An obround capacitor is a round one that has been pressed flat. It has a top and bottom radius.
Now if you have any actual data to support your position please show it.
have Wima caps and catalogs spaning 35 years and have taken many apart over same time span and have never found a stacked film Wima. Have many stacked films made by Epcos both bare and encapsulated.
Just questioned the witnesses you called to help your point of view .... meaning I actually *read* them, instead of just "dropping names" in the hopes to impress "the enemy".
Just the first one doesn´t help you very much , since he states things like:
1) he describes an old experiment actually showing measurable flaws .... then he states:
Wow!!!!
2) Describes how a polyester capacitor can be modeled as a perfect main cap same value plus a couple *very* small caps (0.03% of main value) in series with very large resistors 820 kiloMegohms to 3.5 Mega Megohms 😱
How can anybody think such "deviations" can have *any* influence at Audio Frequencies is WAY beyond me.
That such infinitesimal deviations/errors can be measured in a Lab is irrelevant here, FWIW we can measure the temperature of an invisible planet orbiting around a Star more than 4 light years away ... so what?
The relevant text snippet is:
3) not surprisingly, he goes as far as stating
With such a smashing demitification, no need to go further, what for?
EDIT: on a different but related point:
Wrong definition.
A blind test "presupposes nothing".
Quite the contrary, is made "blind" precisely to avoid prejudging, it´s carried away and *results* (which come post test, not before it) confirm or deny whether some difference can reliably be heard or not.
To answer you literally: we do not know what can or cannot be heard until after test is finished.
And results can surprise or contradict the experimenter carrying it on.
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