"Audio grade" electros ?

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on the question of are they low esr, I just did a test and they appear to be.

tested

1. Nichicon FG 10uF 50 V 1.2 Ohms
2. generic 10uF 50V 1.4 ohms
3. rubycon ZA 10uF 50V .7 Ohms

note I did this test once before but had a panasonic FC instead of the Nichicon. it was 10uF 50V and measured about 3 Ohms.

so I'd say since panasonic FC's are low esr and rubycon ZA's are ultra low impedance, the FG (muse) is not to shabby in that respect....

from the datasheets the FG and ZA have the same leakage, and the ZA has the edge in DF, but the FG's come in higher voltage versions than the ZA, and their DF gets better as the voltage exceeds the highest rated ZA.

whether or not this means anything :spin:

I used speaker workshop to measure.... the FG was 9.9uF the ZA 9.3 and the generic 8.6..... but on a sample of one all this could be complete BS ;)

ok to add a little more credibility I tested the other two nichicon FG's I had, both 9.9uF both 1.1 Ohms, so one thing that seems to be the case from my small sample is that the tolerance is really tight. I only have one rubycon ZA......

Tony.
 
Just another Moderator
Joined 2003
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true but some have more info than others. The nichicon FG series for example has no info on ESR, no graphs, just basic info, like ripple current capability, DF, and reliabiliy data. I thought it was a bit light on :)

It can be pretty hard (if not impossible) to find datasheets for a lot of asian capacitors, which are what are generally available here in Aus from the mainstream electronics shops.

Tony.
 
phillips is excellent

panasonic is good too

'audio' grade , good quality caps can b said audio.caps differ in const. method,quality of material,filling,sealing etc etc.so better r these parmeters,better they will b close to ideal.

so a v.good cap(low leakage,temp. tollerant,little deviation from stated value,constant parameters even after prolonged use) can be called an 'audio' cap.
 
phillips is excellent

panasonic is good too

'audio' grade , good quality caps can b said audio.caps differ in const. method,quality of material,filling,sealing etc etc.so better r these parmeters,better they will b close to ideal.

so a v.good cap(low leakage,temp. tollerant,little deviation from stated value,constant parameters even after prolonged use) can be called an 'audio' cap.

During the 70's and 80's the buzz word was computer grade electrolytic capacitors from big name manufacturers.
 
on the question of are they low esr, I just did a test and they appear to be.

tested

1. Nichicon FG 10uF 50 V 1.2 Ohms
2. generic 10uF 50V 1.4 ohms
3. rubycon ZA 10uF 50V .7 Ohms

note I did this test once before but had a panasonic FC instead of the Nichicon. it was 10uF 50V and measured about 3 Ohms.

so I'd say since panasonic FC's are low esr and rubycon ZA's are ultra low impedance, the FG (muse) is not to shabby in that respect....

from the datasheets the FG and ZA have the same leakage, and the ZA has the edge in DF, but the FG's come in higher voltage versions than the ZA, and their DF gets better as the voltage exceeds the highest rated ZA.

whether or not this means anything :spin:

I used speaker workshop to measure.... the FG was 9.9uF the ZA 9.3 and the generic 8.6..... but on a sample of one all this could be complete BS ;)

ok to add a little more credibility I tested the other two nichicon FG's I had, both 9.9uF both 1.1 Ohms, so one thing that seems to be the case from my small sample is that the tolerance is really tight. I only have one rubycon ZA......

Tony.
A quick question. Why did you only try one frequency?

jn
 
Doesn't Speaker Workshop use an MLS stimulus to measure impedance?
Couldn't tell ya. I saw the single datapoint for resistance and capacitance, and assumed that meant one frequency.

If I were worried about how "audio grade" a capacitor was, I'd want the date for capacitance and resistance across the entire audio spectrum. I've seen lots of lytic datasheets which show capacitance taking a dive with frequency.

jn

ps..been kinda tired of late...started last Saturday...mebbe I caught sumptin... how bout you?
 
I've noticed that various audio grade electrolytics have some damping material in them (silk, hemp, etc). Perhaps the intention is to lower microphonic effects, either from external sources or internal resonance.

Most probably, particularly for loudspeaker crossover networks, where current input is much higher, the caps could actually "sing" or mechanically vibrate.
 
Just another Moderator
Joined 2003
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A quick question. Why did you only try one frequency?

jn

Because I didn't really know what I was doing?? ;) It was 8 years ago, it would be interesting to compare the same caps with my BlueESR meter, I'd forgotten that SW actually gave the esr, so would be interesting to compare results (the blueESR does only use a single frequency from memory).

and yes SY SW does use a MLS to do the measurement.

Tony.
 
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