Wima or Panasonic ECW Film decision

Yep prices of single even passive parts is becoming crazy... I am to give up this hobby as it becomes too expensive. I was wondering if distributors had long false delay to sold their more expensive ref... Maybe it is ruled by oligarchs or funds.
 
Same over here. Since food and energy also become more expensive by the day I also get rid of superfluous stuff (a symptom of the DIYers disease). Strange times and not exactly what I expected of the future when I was a kid.

Totally unexpected I had a nightmare-like dream a while ago. That I don't need to pursue perfection and that very good is good enough in a world of mediocre. That I need to actually use my self built stuff instead of building and improving in high pace. I woke up and since then I simply use my meanwhile modest setup. Then I thought that is maybe is the meaning of the audio stuff... to listen to it 😀 Shocking isn't it?
 
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It is necause of the age. Young people are liking to follow futile things you did not know yourselves before becoming older.
This hobby is excelent for the mind cause embrace a lot things till the simple caps. But eventually is not green, avoid you to focus on music as reproduction is an obsession and when you approach it you have lost the last octave hearing.
Luckilly enough I am a simple guy and I like to read which is not a too much expensive things when you are in a big city enough.

I am going to read again Tolstoï classic book "Special Security Operation & Peace"
 
OK but which/what caps exactly? Meanwhile those reputable distributors have become quite expensive even with standard quality parts. Ebay is the lottery game. It seems relying on fellow DIYers is a nice solution.
It is not the distributors who are getting expensive, it is the parts themselves because of the worldwide shortage. If you can get them cheaper than distribution then the chances are they are fakes.

Cheers

Ian
 
Just before the worldwide shortage the distributors already were too expensive. They just became even more expensive when the parts started to become more expensive. Please note the middle men always get the largest share. One can not get the parts cheaper compared to the large distributors as part of their game is to wipe out the smaller ones and they buy the largest quantities for lower prices. We're stuck with the middle men.
 
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Just before the worldwide shortage the distributors already were too expensive.
I disagree
They just became even more expensive when the parts started to become more expensive. Please note the middle men always get the largest share. One can not get the parts cheaper compared to the large distributors as part of their game is to wipe out the smaller ones and they buy the largest quantities for lower prices. We're stuck with the middle men.
This is true for any commodity you buy in small quantities. Nothing has changed.

Cheers

Ian
 
Almost anything that I bought at the local small distributor (the very last of the Mohicans) was cheaper than Farnell, Digikey, Mouser etc. and we had the luck we could buy there as normal customers. This was like this for at least the last 10 years hence my remark. Nice was also that one could actually see the parts that one was about to buy as is standard when one buys bread, vegetables etc. IMHO the "global" model does not work out too well for us DIYers/end users.

He also stopped recently due to the new challenges like many in the branch. Yeah nothing has changed.
 
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Almost anything that I bought at the local small distributor (the very last of the Mohicans) was cheaper than Farnell, Digikey, Mouser etc. and we had the luck we could buy there as normal customers. This was like this for at least the last 10 years hence my remark. Nice was also that one could actually see the parts that one was about to buy as is standard when one buys bread, vegetables etc. IMHO the "global" model does not work out too well for us DIYers/end users.

He also stopped recently due to the new challenges like many in the branch. Yeah nothing has changed.
Unless your local guy was buying in huge volumes direct from the manufacturer (which I very much doubt) then he would have purchased from distribution and obtained the usual quantity discounts they offer. The fact he sold small quantities at less then distributor 1-off prices is great but it is the exception not the rule and the margins would have been tiny so not really very good business sense. I guess you were just very lucky to have such a guy nearby. You could always set up yourself, buy quantities of common components and sell them below the 1-off distributor price.

Cheers

Ian
 
He said he got discounts as he delivered large quantities to the industry and let us have that benefit as he was a DIYer himself long ago. When DIYers would visit and drink a coffee and buy only a few resistors he would say that it cost him money to sell those resistors 🙂 Still smiling that is. Not all people are greedy thankfully. That many DIYers work in technical jobs and pointed their employers to buy parts at that specific local distributor (like many of us did) of course made up for the hassle of DIYers.
 
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He said he got discounts as he delivered large quantities to the industry and let us have that benefit as he was a DIYer himself long ago. When DIYers would visit and drink a coffee and buy only a few resistors he would say that it cost him money to sell those resistors 🙂 Still smiling that is. Not all people are greedy thankfully. That many DIYers work in technical jobs and pointed their employers to buy parts at that specific local distributor (like many of us did) of course made up for the hassle of DIYers.
There you go, you were lucky. Now you have to buy from distribution just like the rest of us.

Cheers

Ian
 
Late to the topic, I was able to get a Arcam delta 80, very good quality, all the film caps are Evox Rifa PFR.
Are wima film better, or just leave it like that ?

here some pictures
 

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