The most common concern with caps, and particularly high value, high voltage is Being able to track down their provenance.
Fakes are moderately common, and when bought from "auction sites" becomes more so.
If you are tempted, buy a sample and test it, then strip it down and take a good look inside.
The most prevalent issues are:
Relabelling devices to higher voltage / cap
Sticking low voltage units in large cans.
If you buy from larger companies/ sellers with a solid business then you are pretty safe.
Fakes are moderately common, and when bought from "auction sites" becomes more so.
If you are tempted, buy a sample and test it, then strip it down and take a good look inside.
The most prevalent issues are:
Relabelling devices to higher voltage / cap
Sticking low voltage units in large cans.
If you buy from larger companies/ sellers with a solid business then you are pretty safe.
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You get what you pay for but don't get ripped off!
I purchased a batch of 100 X 10,000uF 100V 105deg caps from a Chinese company through ebay. Not expensive and made by Rubycon, a trusted manufacturer with traceability.
They sent me one as a free sample and after stripping it down, I found a good solid capacitor with large gauge connections internally. Bear in mine the energy stored when charged, lesser connections will blow open circuit!
Buy with care and ask for a sample if quantity purchasing.
I purchased a batch of 100 X 10,000uF 100V 105deg caps from a Chinese company through ebay. Not expensive and made by Rubycon, a trusted manufacturer with traceability.
They sent me one as a free sample and after stripping it down, I found a good solid capacitor with large gauge connections internally. Bear in mine the energy stored when charged, lesser connections will blow open circuit!
Buy with care and ask for a sample if quantity purchasing.
The big "AUDIO" on the cap makes me a bit suspicious. Yes, some reputable brands earn a bit more on the same caps by putting fancy sleeves on them and call them "for audio" (Elna) or something like "super through" (Nichicon), and have their marketing departments use a lot of superlatives, but I thought Panasonic wasn't into that...
Edit: ah, no, Panasonic is also into audiofoolery (from 6:02)...
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Just the fact that there's no brand name makes me suspicious. The fact that the biggest word on the label is AUDIO, as if it were the brand name, makes me triply (trebly? terribly?) suspicious.
A power google (because I DL'ed the the file many years ago and know what keywords to search on) gives this link:
http://industrial.panasonic.com/lecs/www-data/pdf/ABA0000/ABA0000TE7.pdf
but the site says "Sorry, in maintenance now."
I tried to attach my copy, but it's just a wee bit too big:
I just uploaded it elsewhere, the link below should work. The first two pages on power supplies make perfect sense, but don't let that lull you - what our hero Dave Jones was reading starts is section 7.2, the third page of the pdf, labeled page -31-. Be sure to check out the graphs on the next page, as well.
http://musicalgearbox.com/Panasonic_major_apps_ABA0000TE7.pdf
I do have to wonder if (and hope that) it was inspired by older datasheets such as the Signetics WOM. And I just looked, National Semiconductor released data on a similar product with the un-PC and cringeworthy name of "Polish Operational Amplifier."
Oh, but the brand name (rather, a logo) is on the cap. Panasonic caps can be identified by this logo:
Thanks, I agree, that indeed reads like it's meant to be a joke...
But over here, Elna does a similar thing.
The logo is a throwback to when Panasonic still used Matsushita in some of their company names.
As for audio marketing, it's just something that is so common that 'it has to be done' to sell. Otherwise you will forever have audiophiles going 'oh but this component doesn't have audio features!', even if you have the same product. Plus you get to mark up the product by having a word on it.
As for audio marketing, it's just something that is so common that 'it has to be done' to sell. Otherwise you will forever have audiophiles going 'oh but this component doesn't have audio features!', even if you have the same product. Plus you get to mark up the product by having a word on it.
I agree that marketing and advertising have to be done to make your products known to the customers, but alot of the things said and written are just plain fantasy. But the power of suggestion is very strong, and exploited to the max by some manufacturers. On the other hand, there are also some manufacturers that use a more down to earth approach which is, IMHO, more credible.
I have chosen all of my high end equipment by ear, and without much foreknowledge of the internals. Relevant to this thread: most of them use electrolytics that audiofools would from upon because they are standard caps, and not "audio grade". E.g. Philips (now BC/Vishay) and Samwah. The only device that uses "audio grade" caps is my Japanese built Marantz amp, but my Chinese built Marantz universal player has D&M (= Denon & Marantz) sleeved 'lytics which are probably just cheap Chinese caps with a fancy looking custom (mostly) silver sleeve.
And you know what? It's fine with me...
I have chosen all of my high end equipment by ear, and without much foreknowledge of the internals. Relevant to this thread: most of them use electrolytics that audiofools would from upon because they are standard caps, and not "audio grade". E.g. Philips (now BC/Vishay) and Samwah. The only device that uses "audio grade" caps is my Japanese built Marantz amp, but my Chinese built Marantz universal player has D&M (= Denon & Marantz) sleeved 'lytics which are probably just cheap Chinese caps with a fancy looking custom (mostly) silver sleeve.
And you know what? It's fine with me...
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I know this is an old post, but i can't seem to find the panasonic document anywhere, your link is also down and the pdf avalaible on scribd terminates on page 30. Every availaible link is down. Can you post a new one you're the only hope. archive it on archive.org this should stay alive!!
Okay, I don't have hosting there anymore and likewise can't find the file anywhere online, so you talked me into it. I once again tried it as an attachment on diyaudio, it's about 10 percent larger than the site will take.
I hope this file finds you in good resonance.
ABA 0000 TE 7 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
That particular part number or series can go obsolete - doesn’t mean capacitors in general will. You just can’t buy that particular one. Not really a big deal for any of us, but in an ISO-compliant company where SAP #’s are treated like God “equivalent” parts can’t be easily substituted... it can be a real pain in the *** that makes busy work for people changing alll the stupid documents. (End rant).
I guess any company including Panasonic can get on the bandwagon of having “audio grade” caps they can charge more for. And then if it doesn’t meet sales goals they nix it. I’ve found that caps intended for power filtering in SMPS duty tend to be “best” for audio. It has to be good to be able to cram high current thru it at 20 kHz without overheating.
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