eedork
Super Member
Hey Scott,
As a general rule of thumb, you can always sub a non-polarized cap (Nichicon ES) for a polarized one (Elna Silmic), but not the other way around. And when in doubt, replace like for like. If you are pulling polarized caps out of the amp and it was working, you can use polarized caps as replacements.
I went with Nichicon ES for C717/718 on the recommendation of Terry DeWick. I believe there is a post somewhere here on AK where he indicated that ES sound great and that he uses them for most signal path caps less than 10uF, even though they are non-polarized and don't necessarily need to be. Terry is a McIntosh legend, so if it is good enough for him it is good enough for me.
I hope that clarifies things! You will be fine using a Nichicon ES OR Elna Silmic for C717/718.
-Matt
As a general rule of thumb, you can always sub a non-polarized cap (Nichicon ES) for a polarized one (Elna Silmic), but not the other way around. And when in doubt, replace like for like. If you are pulling polarized caps out of the amp and it was working, you can use polarized caps as replacements.
I went with Nichicon ES for C717/718 on the recommendation of Terry DeWick. I believe there is a post somewhere here on AK where he indicated that ES sound great and that he uses them for most signal path caps less than 10uF, even though they are non-polarized and don't necessarily need to be. Terry is a McIntosh legend, so if it is good enough for him it is good enough for me.
I hope that clarifies things! You will be fine using a Nichicon ES OR Elna Silmic for C717/718.
-Matt