• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Capacitor sourcing driving me crazy

xoaphexox

xoaphexox

Supernatural Anesthetist
Gentlemen,

I am having an impossible time finding a 3.3uf bipolar electrolytic capacitor for audio, such as Nichicon Muse ES, Black Gate, etc...

Preferably radial but since I cant find any at all I would probably settle for axial.

Film caps would be good but they are too big for this application.

I tried mouser, digikey, handmade electronics, Michael Percy audio, mcm, allied, etc... and countless google searches.

Hopefully one of you know a source. It's a common value I am surprised its so hard!

FWIW, They are going in the signal path which is why I don't want to settle for generic.

Thank you!
 
Register to hide this ad
I'd go with avionic's advice but just to clarify, you can put 2 caps in parallel to achieve a desired value.
 
They are 50V on the schematic. The caps are for the Sansui AU-11000a filter accessory circuit board, level volume circuit board, midrange tone control circuit board, bass & treble tone control circuit board, and the Sansui AU-7700 tone control boards.

Space is at a premium there.

Avionic: You think a 4.7 Muse ES cap would work fine in place of the 3.3? I do not understand circuit design or electron theory enough yet to understand what the ramifications of increasing from 3.3uf to 4.7uf would do to the unit.

Thanks for all your prompt responses!
 
Chazb11 said:
I'd go with avionic's advice but just to clarify, you can put 2 caps in parallel to achieve a desired value.
Click to expand...

When putting two polarized caps in parallel to do this, I assume you put one in opposite of the other, but do you keep the values the same or do you have to change them?
 
I assume you put one in opposite of the other
Click to expand...
Non-polar/Bi-polar caps are (non-polar). Nichicon has Muse(ES)caps in 1µf and 2.2µf --1 + 2.2 = 3.2
 
Avionic: You think a 4.7 Muse ES cap would work fine in place of the 3.3? I do not understand circuit design or electron theory enough yet to understand what the ramifications of increasing from 3.3uf to 4.7uf would do to the unit.
Click to expand...
I doubt very much if you would hear any difference if you used a 2.2 or a 4.7...2.2 is closer to the 3.3. Increasing capacitance will lower the coupling freq.response and vice-versa but this will only be a couple hertz.
 
avionic said:
I doubt very much if you would hear any difference if you used a 2.2 or a 4.7...2.2 is closer to the 3.3. Increasing capacitance will lower the coupling freq.response and vice-versa but this will only be a couple hertz.
Click to expand...

Good info! So if this was your amp would you create a 3.2uf by soldering one lead of a 1uf to a 2.2uf and then putting them in the board (I assume thus doubling the ESR), or would you use a 4.7?
 
Finished the project this morning, used 4.7uf Nichion Muse bipolars in place of the Panasonic generic 3.3uf's I had in there.

I replaced all the caps in the signal path of this AU-11000a with either Nichicon Muse ES, Vishay metalized polyester film, or Elna Silmic II caps.

It worked great and to my ears there was an improvement.

Thanks for everyone's help!
 
I use them for general use, and they work fine. The price is good, too. I recently recapped an Onkyo M-5140 with mostly Xicons. The only problem is I can't buy the large filter caps needed for most amps from Parts Express. I ordered those from

capacitorking2003@yahoo.com
JEA Capacitors
Glen Cove, NY
1-800-645-2666
www.jecapacitors.com
 
For future reference you can make a non polar with two electrolytics by connecting them in series. Put plus to plus. The capacitance is cut in half. the voltage rating of the caps should be equal to the original caps voltage.
 
d3imlay said:
For future reference you can make a non polar with two electrolytics by connecting them in series. Put plus to plus. The capacitance is cut in half. the voltage rating of the caps should be equal to the original caps voltage.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info, I didn't realize doing this would halve the capacitance though.

In the AU-11000a tone control board there is not room to employ this method. The midrange board is sandwiched on top of the treble/bass board so closely that you have to check to make sure no components from one board are touching the other. Tricky stuff!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom