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Electrolytic Capacitor Shoot-Out

mshari said:
In the signal path
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PS also. I used to do a 80/20 combo in Marantz Player power supplies and Polymer caps in digital section, like Oscons, with Silmic in the output.

Note that Silmics have up to 100hr break-in (settling).
All in my opinion.
 
In a signal path, if the voltage is low—less than 5 volts or down to zero millivolts—bipolar components are the best choice; the "Audio Note" and "Nichicon ES" series are excellent options.
 
mshari said:
In a signal path, if the voltage is low—less than 5 volts or down to zero millivolts—bipolar components are the best choice; the "Audio Note" and "Nichicon ES" series are excellent options.
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I'll take your word for it, not sure if I have been in that situation, i mainly modded Players and Valve amps.

SS amp i now have I approached it in a matter of fact way, it already had Mundorf PS caps and I just populated the amp boards with Pana FC and Antrams AMCG in the protection circuits, and as bypass for the power supply caps.

Harder to get some caps these days largely with some of my favorites being disconinued, and being where I am shipping for very small quantities is just not budget friendly.
 

​

hifi collectiv They have limited stock; their shipping rates are good, but delivery is slow.
Digi-Key also has stock, but the shipping costs are high.
 
GlasgowGrip said:
In general, modern aluminum electrolytics are physically smaller than similarly rated caps from decades ago. Finding a cap with the same can diameter will usually require increasing ratings, whether it's working voltage, capacitance, operating temperature range, lifespan, or all of the above. Since the big power supply filter caps are often mounted using clamps, this can be challenging to find something that physically isn't too small.

First: It is always safe to increase the working voltage rating on power supply filter caps. In your case (originally 50V working voltage) you should not hesitate to go up to 63V, 80V or even 100V if it helps you find a cap with the correct diameter to fit the original clamps without modifications.

Second: Increasing the capacitance of power supply filter caps by 25% to 50% is a no-brainer. And you can safely increase by even more, but you are chasing diminishing returns. Increasing the capacitance will improve the smoothing of the unregulated DC voltage (decreases the ripple voltage), and will also help you with finding a cap with the correct diameter to fit the original clamps. Yes, do note that there is an increase in the inrush current at power up, but this will not overtax the rectifiers or the power transformer since it is only a transient event. If you want to read more about this, refer to the estimable Rod Elliot (I have no affiliation). He has an excellent "no-BS" article on his website regarding power supply design and addresses the myths around increasing power supply filter capacitance. If you are interested, look at section 5.3 here: Linear Power Supply Design - 5.3 Major Myth Regarding Capacitance

Good luck. Cheers! -Steve
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Another possible reason for going for modest capacitance increase in value for filter caps is that most of the new filter caps seem to be sold with capacitance well below rated value today, often rated as 15 or 20% below rated value considered being acceptable by manufacturer. I am working on a Luxman L-10 and contemplating increasing the two filter capsper channel from 6800/50v to 8200 63v. Even then, caps will be smaller than the old 6800/50v and require some sort of adapter. But I haven't checked their capacitance or ESR yet, so maybe I will just leave them alone.
 
There is no issue with increasing the voltage rating of a capacitor—whether in power lines or large filtering circuits—by 10%.

If the voltage present in the Signal path—as well as the actual operating voltage—is, for example, 5 volts, while the capacitor is rated for 50 volts, it becomes difficult for the insulating layer to form.
 
Elna Cerafine Capacitors 2026: Audio Grade Performance

Oh yes this site is a B2B site of Alibaba :biggrin:

Still, having some red color bipolar cerafines of 100uF 16V I wonder if I should keep them as gems and donate them to an audiophiles museum one day.

Anyway, this business site calls them Audiophile / "Fever" Audio Capacitors so compare that to what your marketing guy tells you.
:naughty:

BTW nothing wrong with using cerafines.
 
KeithTr said:
I am working on a Luxman L-10 and contemplating increasing the two filter capsper channel from 6800/50v to 8200 63v. Even then, caps will be smaller than the old 6800/50v and require some sort of adapter.
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@KeithTr, I also have a L10 and have been looking for a replacement filter cap. Have you pulled the 6800uF caps to see if they are screw or solder terminals? I can find United Chemicon caps with the correct dimensions but with screw terminals and stud mount, not clamp or none.

1792253137600.png
 
dankik said:
@KeithTr, I also have a L10 and have been looking for a replacement filter cap. Have you pulled the 6800uF caps to see if they are screw or solder terminals? I can find United Chemicon caps with the correct dimensions but with screw terminals and stud mount, not clamp or none.

View attachment 3858320
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There is an interesting caution at the Hans Hilberink site for this L10, it seems the big caps will not discharge at power off, so before poking around in the amp be sure to discharge them properly otherwise one could accidentally cause damage.
 
dankik said:
@KeithTr, I also have a L10 and have been looking for a replacement filter cap. Have you pulled the 6800uF caps to see if they are screw or solder terminals? I can find United Chemicon caps with the correct dimensions but with screw terminals and stud mount, not clamp or none.

View attachment 3858320
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I haven't pulled them yet as I'm trying to troubleshoot what appears to be an oscillation (perhaps caused by new DMLs) but I do want to measure them. My unit is pretty clean and shows no signs of heat damage. But you have to be careful about the height. There is one model thats 8200uf at 63v that is snap in and 35mm across and 35mm high that should work well, and which should not be too tough an adaptation - there is a L-10 restoration thread here that shows how the author added wires and ring terminals to the snap ins. You have more choices I think with 6800 caps and there are 50 volts as well, but that doesn't seem like much headroom for an amp that has rails around 43 volts or a bit more. If anyone has strong opinions about upping the capacitance from 6800 to 8200 nominal and about going from 50v to 63v, I'd love to hear opinions.
 
gslikker said:
There is an interesting caution at the Hans Hilberink site for this L10, it seems the big caps will not discharge at power off, so before poking around in the amp be sure to discharge them properly otherwise one could accidentally cause damage.
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Yes, I made that mistake once with a Hitachi amp that had no bleeder resistors.:(

I made one of the capacitor discharge devices shown in a Novalux Stereophonic video with a cheap dedicated multi-meter and it works really well - discharge is quick, you can see the voltage as it drops, and you can customize it for the type of clips or probes that are easiest to use. I try to get in the habit of discharging after every test and definitely before I stop for the day so I don't forget the next morning, afternoon, or week. Especially since the output transistors are very hard to find.
 
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