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Can't choose which big filter cap. Does it matter?

Sergimm

Sergimm

Active Member
Hi,

I'm trying to decide which capacitor to use to replace the big filter caps in a Luxman L-3. The original ones are two 6800uF 50V Rubycon caps. After much reading, I've decided I'll replace them with 10000uF 63V capacitors, and from the available at Digikey I've narrowed down to two: a Nichicon KG and a Vishay BC.

I'm a bit torn because the KG seems to be a favourite in this forum, and one of the official go-to caps, but on paper the Vishay seems to be better on all specs (also more expensive). Am I missing something? Does it matter which one among these two I end up buying?
 
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It does not matter much between those I think, but myself I always feel more satisfied afterwards if I put in the ones I thought best for the job, instead of "forum consensus" or "a little cheaper".

I do not know if this answer helps.....
 
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I prefer to keep Japanese parts in Japanese amps, pretty much like I don't put Japanese parts on my German car.
Of course, nobody will see what's inside, but somebody might appreciate it in the future.

The KG series are real audio caps with much thicker rubber inserts, and the coiled film inserted with a soft glue so that the coil doesn't resonate freely inside the aluminum can.
Furthermore as low as possible ESL (inductive component) due to how they created the internal connection from foil to legs.
We read many times that any cap is a cap.....well there is much more to it, and all hidden out of sight.

Having said all that, the KG caps tend to be little beefy in the lows (to me), and depending of the amp's remaining design, this might not always work out for the best.
I recently tried and tested the Nichicon KS series (product code LKS); a series derived from the KG cap (type I in fact).
The KS series sounds less dark than the KG series, equally spatial, still strong and stiff bass control (again to me, somebody else may have a different opinion)
And conveniently available in many more voltage ratings, with a few voltages only seen in (vintage) audio amps : 42V, 56V, 71V
 
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