There is nothing wrong with using mica caps.
Small value silver mica caps are excellent compensation caps to control high frequency roll off or to provide high frequency boost in most any applications. I use silver micas for such use in all of my designs in which I can keep the capacitor valued below roughly 220pf. In applications where higher capacitance values are required and extremely good characteristics into the upper VHF frequency range is not required then I prefer to use polystyrene types.
Don’t use ceramic types under and circumstances in the signal paths since they can produce strong harmonics when AC currents are flowing through then.
John Fassotte
Alaskan Audio
Small value silver mica caps are excellent compensation caps to control high frequency roll off or to provide high frequency boost in most any applications. I use silver micas for such use in all of my designs in which I can keep the capacitor valued below roughly 220pf. In applications where higher capacitance values are required and extremely good characteristics into the upper VHF frequency range is not required then I prefer to use polystyrene types.
Don’t use ceramic types under and circumstances in the signal paths since they can produce strong harmonics when AC currents are flowing through then.
John Fassotte
Alaskan Audio
McGowen and silver micas
Paul McGowen was a fan of silver micas. I guess Mr. Pass's knowledge off his contemparies feedback preferences may not extend to capacitors. To be fair, capacitor preference is a rapidly moving target in audio. Jocko hates them because the tempco goes all over the place and he is an old ham radio guy that built circuits that can't drift with temperature for radio applications. They do have low ESR and series inductance but have lousy D.A. perfomance and temperature stability. I like polystyrenes sound better and my local surplus store has a great stash of small P.S.(and silver mica) caps.
H.H.
Paul McGowen was a fan of silver micas. I guess Mr. Pass's knowledge off his contemparies feedback preferences may not extend to capacitors. To be fair, capacitor preference is a rapidly moving target in audio. Jocko hates them because the tempco goes all over the place and he is an old ham radio guy that built circuits that can't drift with temperature for radio applications. They do have low ESR and series inductance but have lousy D.A. perfomance and temperature stability. I like polystyrenes sound better and my local surplus store has a great stash of small P.S.(and silver mica) caps.
H.H.
Soshin Silver Mica Caps
Hi Fmak,
You do have experience with the Soshin Silver mica's ? I was considering these for the KWAK-CLOCK.
Recently I acquired a Escort ELC-131 capacitance and inductance meter that can measure the Q and dissipation factor of a cap. I had laying around some Soshins salvaged from old equipment and they measured better; higher Q, lower D, than other silvermica's.
I know THL in Taiwan carries them at <B>VERY</B> steep prices.
Do you have a better source?
Hi Fmak,
You do have experience with the Soshin Silver mica's ? I was considering these for the KWAK-CLOCK.
Recently I acquired a Escort ELC-131 capacitance and inductance meter that can measure the Q and dissipation factor of a cap. I had laying around some Soshins salvaged from old equipment and they measured better; higher Q, lower D, than other silvermica's.
I know THL in Taiwan carries them at <B>VERY</B> steep prices.
Do you have a better source?
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