Re-capping with Nichicon Muse caps?

EWizard

Super Member
I just noticed that Mouser has audio grade capacitors, a ala Nichicon Muse.
Are these worth using, and would you replace all your caps with these or just the non power supply ones?
 
Nichicon Muse are BiPolar caps, most caps are Polar, they have a negative stripe down one side, you can't interchange the two.

They are good as coupling caps etc.

My favorite Polarized caps are Panasonic FC's, Elna Silmic II are well regarded as well, but they are bigger and more expensive.
 
Nichicon Muse are BiPolar caps, most caps are Polar, they have a negative stripe down one side, you can't interchange the two.

They are good as coupling caps etc.

My favorite Polarized caps are Panasonic FC's, Elna Silmic II are well regarded as well, but they are bigger and more expensive.

I think that depends on what type of Nichicon Muse cap it is. There are polarized Muse capacitors as well as non-polarized.

I've got some Nichicon Fine Gold (type FG) capacitors that are polarized. I think the color of the Muse cap represents it's type...I'm not certain however.
I have green Nichicon Muse capacitors as well.
 
I've been mostly buying Nichicons from Mouser when I've needed electrolytic caps lately. They made a ton of grades. The top conventional ones for audio are (in order) the KZ (Muse - these are black with gold printing), FG (Fine Gold), KW and FW grades. For bipolars, they have ES (the green Muse ones). Nichicon doesn't make every type in every value, and I don't think Mouser carries all the ones they do, so I just try to pick the best one they have in the value I need.

I'll use these in both audio and power supply circuits.
 

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I've been mostly buying Nichicons from Mouser when I've needed electrolytic caps lately. They made a ton of grades. The top conventional ones for audio are (in order) the KZ (Muse - these are black with gold printing), FG (Fine Gold), KW and FW grades. For bipolars, they have ES (the green Muse ones). Nichicon doesn't make every type in every value, and I don't think Mouser carries all the ones they do, so I just try to pick the best one they have in the value I need.

I'll use these in both audio and power supply circuits.

Handmade for Elna's and Nichicons
http://www.hndme.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=73
Digikey for Some Elna's like Silmic II,Tonerex,Cerafine
Mouser for some Nichicons KS,KG,KZ,KW,KT,FG,FW,ES
Percy for Blackgates and Nichicons

Nichicon KZ(polar) and ES (N.P.) actually have the MUSE label
 
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So, sound-wise are Elna's any better than KZ Muse Nichicons?
I see that Elna adds to their descriptions tonal balance, etc.

Just curious, since you guys know your stuff.:yes:
 
Elna silmic II are quite big, as mentioned before. Take measurements before change for that.
 
I think the problem with the high end Nichicons is that they don't go high voltage, or at least didn't at release. There were no 450V to use in Tube power supplies. I was sent a link and printed out some paper, called Nichicon USA and they knew nothing about them and would only consider selling in extremly large lots because they really hadn't gone into production yet. I might have caused some waves. This was a few years back, no Muse, no Green, all electrolytic and with pos and neg.

Thatch
 
I think the ES sound great as speaker crossover capacitors. For Solid State work I like Elna Silmic and Panasonic FM, then FC. The FM series are very low ESR. The Silmics have low ESR, and they will take you some length in taming a harsh sounding circuit.

Generally I will stick with the Panasonic caps for power supply, and try to fit in as many Silmacs as possible into the signal path. I also recommend Panasonic stacked films for values between 0.1 and 1uf.
 
I replaced my Nichicon Green MUSE Caps with Nichicon FG and KZ Caps in my Audio Amp. They are NOT GREEN.

The amp sounds more smoother since replacing the caps - which was 2 years ago. This change was heard immediately. The amp - nearing 30 years old.

Now I come across this article with someone mentioning that the Nichicon MUSE Caps are non-polarized. I am now wondering if I did something wrong. Should my amp have blown up by now if I replaced non-polarized with polarized caps? I dug out the caps that were replaced, and I do see that there is a negative stripe on the Green MUSE Caps.

I should also mention, I replaced the other non-muse electrolytic caps with Nichicon FG and KZ caps in the signal path at the same time when I replaced the MUSE Caps, which helps explain the smoothness I am hearing.

Can someone here clarify if what I did was incorrect. From my knowledge - prior to coming across this article, everything I did was correct.
 
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdfs/e-es.pdf

According to the specs, Muse are non polarized.

Generally speaking you can't replace a non polarized cap with a polarized one. But you can do it the other way, replace a polarized one with a non polarized cap.

So, I'd check the application of those bi-polar caps, to see if a polarized one is OK in that place.

http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdfs/e-kz.pdf

According to the specs, Muse are polarized.

So Nichicon makes the Muse cap both ways.
 
So, we need to look at the series name, not the "muse acoustic series" generic name.

KZ are polarized, ES are non polarized...
 
The Muse series FG, KZ and ES(BP) all have copper leads.

There is another high temp cap that is supposed to be a little better than the KT. This chart should have a KT ---> KA link in it.

I would also think the chart should go FW --> KW --> FG --> KZ ...Maybe they did that so they could cram more products in their data sheets? :scratch2:

Nichicon_chart.gif
 
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I've been happy with the Nichicon audio caps and the Elna Silmic II also. If I were to go out on a limb I'd say that the Nichicons are a tad brighter than the Silmics (to my ear) but that is just a generalization based upon my perceptions in my system using my ears, so hopefully nobody get's their panties in a wad over it.
 
I've been happy with the Nichicon audio caps and the Elna Silmic II also. If I were to go out on a limb I'd say that the Nichicons are a tad brighter than the Silmics (to my ear) but that is just a generalization based upon my perceptions in my system using my ears, so hopefully nobody get's their panties in a wad over it.

crying-baby.jpg
 
The best sounding coupling caps for me are the Nichicon Bipolar Muze which I recently put in my CD player, replacing the Elna Silimics I had put in earlier.

I have the Muze Bipolars paralleled with Epcos metallized polypros that add crispness and detail to the midrange and higher.
 
Comes down to the ears.. I love a good 'hi-hat', cymbals and want to hear a snare, too. I wonder if some of these caps have been pre burned in. i.e. the elna's require some break in but other cap mfr users say they hear a distinct improvement over what they had assuming they owned it for a long time.
 
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