Fans gossip: top audio HIFI electrolytic capacitor

In the posts I saw and reported by the fans, more than 80% of the fans have no corresponding knowledge and experience in choosing electrolytic capacitors . If you buy any varieties, you will change them. match.

Moreover, some listeners don't pay much attention to the filter capacitors. For example, some of the Taiwanese friends I have seen report that the filter capacitors use very common industrial-grade capacitors, and then spend a lot of money on the terminal block. It is also known as "good steel used in the blade."

Of course, everyone can't grasp the capacitance, which is related to the actual situation in China. In our current article on the filter capacitors, most of the recommended capacitors are Japanese, such as elna, ruby, nichicon, and of course Japanese chemical, because we touch these capacitors as soon as we enter the tunnel. Therefore, we are preconceived that these capacitors are the best capacitors.

Friends who play the amp, the eyes are more open, they never use these Japanese goods easily, but try to find European and American goods. According to my practice in the past few years, in the above Japanese goods, in addition to the very few varieties of ENLA and the European and American varieties and can have a fight, the other varieties are not opponents of European and American goods.

According to the data, the best filter capacitor is the famous SPRAGUE capacitor, which is what we call Sibi. It is said that in the famous factory machines such as Krell, Mark Levinson and Cello, the power supply filter must be settled by it. In addition, there are countless countless audio manufacturers that also use SPRAGUE capacitors.

SPRAGUE capacitors are made of high-grade electrolytic capacitors made in the USA. They are packaged in blue rubber with excellent quality, stable performance and long life. So that now the amps enthusiasts dig into the old capacitors of this variety. It is said that the performance of these old capacitors is still exceptionally good, but from my personal application, Sibi's oil-immersed capacitors make it a very good variety.

I bought four oil-immersed 0.1u vq as a coupling capacitor and replaced the WIMA capacitor on my own amplifier. The effect is very satisfactory. It is necessary to know that the four capacitors look old. But I used Sibi's electrolytic capacitors as filter capacitors, and the effect is not very good. Why are we not able to buy such a good thing now? The reason is simple. In the mid-1980s, it was already owned by Nippon Chemi Con of Japan. Although Sibi was acquired by American Chemical, the products of the two factories can still be separated.

The color of the outer packaging of capacitors produced by American Chemicals is still the same as the original SPRAGUE capacitors. It is blue, but it has now become the brown of Japan Chemical. On the outer packaging of Japanese chemical industry, there is a flat shield pattern with Nippon Chemi Con, Nippon on it, Chemi Con on the bottom, but American Chemical is the only shield pattern produced by Sibi Factory.

After being accepted by Japan, Sibi quickly produced according to the standards of Japanese chemical industry, resulting in significantly lower quality than the Sibi era. First, the volume of the same type of capacitor was significantly reduced, and several parameters such as ESR and Irac were also discounted. A lot.

In the early 1990s, I began to have an interest in audio. I remember that the chemical products on the mail order board were often visible. At that time, its popularity could be maintained, but now it can’t be maintained. Now in the product. It is rare to see American chemical products.

At present, there are many Japanese chemical and American chemical products, and there are many used capacitors in the world. However, the lifespan of Japanese chemical and American chemical capacitors is generally not long, and the upper limit of the operating temperature is generally around 85. When you buy these products, must be careful. I saw some black-hearted merchants on some second-hand websites, but sold a pair of ordinary Japanese chemical products 400v 400u used electrolytic capacitors to 30 yuan, and actually listened to friends to buy, I think this capacitor is not Will exceed 2 yuan!

It is said that the authentic Spiral Capacitor SPRAGUE sounds steady and tough, and compared with other brands of the same capacity, SPRAGUE's voice will be more generous and gentle, while not losing masculine, popularly speaking, it is soft and soft. Very good dynamic performance is also a feature of SPRAGUE, but in the process of my own use, I found that the feelings of my own experiments and the information recorded in the data are still somewhat different. The out-of-print 36Dx type is better in DIY enthusiasts. The Japanese chemical product lxz series is better.

In the electrolytic capacitor for filtering, there is not much to be able to compete with SPRAGUE, but there is a variety that dares to scream with Sibi, that is, the RIFA we said below.

Among the electrolytic capacitors I have used, I personally think that RIFA is "the best in the world"! Why do you say that? RIFA is a Swedish factory with more than 60 years of history. The hollow or bold uppercase letter "RIFA" is a trademark feature. Interestingly, except for a few of the best equipment, you can see the RIFA's milky white appearance (such as Gryphon's DM-100 and flagship amplifiers such as REF-1; Mark Leivenson and Cello are rarely used). Other brands are really Rarely seen. There is no reason for it, the price of RIFA is too expensive.

As a DIY enthusiast, you can spend a lot of money for the hum, and as a manufacturer you have to consider the cost factor. RIFA capacitors have the best indicators, the longest service life and the most expensive price. Other capacitors have been used for 7 or 8 years, but RIFA capacitors are still new like 7 or 8 years! In Taiwan’s listening friend’s article, “When people are in good middle-aged economic conditions, they are finally willing to buy a few RIFA capacitors, and then use them to die. These capacitors are still good.”

RIFA's chopping current Irac, equivalent series resistance ESR equivalent inductance and other indicators have reached the highest level of all current capacitors. The equivalent inductance and equivalent resistance inside the RIFA capacitor are very low. It provides a very large current and extremely fast charge and discharge, so it can cope with powerful dynamics and high currents required for low frequencies. It is self-evident relative to the performance of the power amplifier at the low frequency and large dynamics. What's more, its high frequency is less powerful.

The sound of the RIFA capacitor is a "rich phase". The low-frequency dive of the same capacity of the capacitor is not as deep as the depth of the spectrum. There is not much thought on the volume, but the texture is quite good, flexible, loose and not fat, not sloppy. . The shape of the mid-range is full and solid, but not hard. The high frequency band is smooth and delicate, and the airiness and the analytical power of the silk thread are also the characteristics of the RIFA. Known as "the best of the best" is well deserved.

The RIFA capacitor is especially suitable for power supply filtering of digital circuits, which can reduce the digital taste. When I polish the CD player, I apply it to the filter circuit of the digital part. The effect is really very good. This is a deep feeling.

According to the experience of the author, the RIFA capacitor is easy to use. Its performance is not limited to the improvement of high, medium and low frequency, regardless of speed, dynamic, texture, density, is an overall quality improvement. It’s really "a penny and a share of goods", and it makes sense.
Fortunately, there are not many listeners who know this capacitor at present. At present, the price of second-hand goods has not been too ridiculous. I have used more than ten kinds of capacitors in this brand, of which 5 series and 6 kinds of electrolytic capacitors have been used.

The capacitor that can also be called the world famous brand is the German ROE electrolytic capacitor . I have used 7 or 8 capacitors of this brand, two of which are electrolytic capacitors . According to the online information, ROE electrolytic capacitors can be compared with SPRAGUE capacitors. They can be said to be the only choice among the major European and American audio brands, but I can't agree with this conclusion.

The author believes that ROE electrolytic capacitors and RIFA capacitors are still very different. European audio equipment ROE capacitors are used a lot, and various horizontal vertical capacitors are often visible on the circuit board. Speaking of the representative of SPRAGUE capacitor and ROE capacitor in HI-END audio equipment, Krell's amplifier can be used as a model. Krell's power amplifier main filter capacitor is sprague capacitor, input stage power amplifier and driver stage capacitor. , the ROE was adopted. Krell's predecessor and digital equipment are also painted hoists. In particular, the ROE capacitors used in Krell's pre-stage and digital equipment must be packaged in a pig liver color plastic case, EK material. ROE capacitors are mostly gold outer skin packaging. They are mounted on the internal circuit board of the chassis. It is beautiful. It is reminiscent of the golden sound and tone. Australia has a ROE capacitor as the main filter capacitor. In the design of the design, the capacitor is exposed to the outside to increase the high quality of the equipment itself.

However, the recent ROE capacitor, the small value of the capacitor package has been changed to black, but the black ROE electrolytic capacitor I have not used. The sound of the DIN--41 238 model is the most embarrassing.

1, the nominal parameters

The nominal parameter is the value listed on the capacitor housing.

*Electrostatic capacity, expressed in UF. Not much to say.

* The working voltage is referred to as WV and should be the nominal safety value, that is to say, the application circuit must not exceed this nominal voltage.

* Temperature, most commonly 85 degrees, 105 degrees. High temperature conditions (such as pure class A power amplifiers) are preferably nominally 105 degrees. In general, it is preferred that the high temperature coefficient is also helpful in improving the performance of other parameters.

2. Dissipation factor (DF)

Sometimes the DF value is also expressed by the loss angle tan. Whether the DF value is high or low is related to temperature, capacity, voltage, and frequency; when the capacity is the same, the higher the withstand voltage, the lower the DF value. The higher the frequency, the higher the DF value, and the higher the temperature, the higher the DF value.

The DF value is generally not labeled on the capacitor or on the specification. When selecting a capacitor in DIY, it is preferred to select a higher withstand voltage. For example, when the operating voltage is 45V, it is not reasonable to select 50V. Although there is nothing wrong with the normal operation of the withstand voltage of 50V, there is a lack of consideration in terms of DF value. Using 63V or 71V withstand voltage will have better performance. Of course, it is not worthwhile to increase the price/performance ratio.

3, equivalent series resistance ESR

The level of ESR is related to the capacity, voltage, frequency and temperature of the capacitor. The lower the ESR requirement, the better.

When the rated voltage is fixed, the larger the capacity, the lower the ESR. When the capacity is fixed, the high rated voltage can be used to reduce the ESR. ESR is high at low frequencies and low at high frequencies, and high temperatures can cause ESR to rise. Equivalent series resistance ESR Many brands can be found in the specifications.

4, leakage current

I will understand at a glance, that is, leakage! The presence of aluminum electrolytic capacitors have a leakage, which is determined by the physical structure. Needless to say, the leakage current is of course as small as possible!

The higher the capacitor capacity, the larger the leakage current; lowering the operating voltage reduces the leakage current. Conversely, using a higher withstand voltage will also help reduce leakage current. Combining the above two parameters, it is a simple and feasible method to preferentially select high-pressure varieties under the same conditions; reduce internal resistance, reduce leakage current, reduce loss angle, and increase life. It is really a lot of benefits, but the price will be higher.

There is a saying that when the electrolytic capacitor works far below the rated working voltage, it cannot be effectively enough to maintain the depolarization between the electrode and the electrolyte, which will cause the polarization of the electrolytic capacitor to reduce the chopping current. Large ESR, which leads to early aging. However, the premise of this statement is “far below the rated working voltage”. Based on some long-term practical experience, it is more reasonable and reliable to select about 2/3 of the nominal working voltage nominal value.
Amateur, we electrolytic capacitor leakage current can substantially estimate - the same capacity to withstand the rated voltage of the electrolytic capacitor is charged, the degree of drop placement voltage detected after a period of time across the capacitor. The smaller the falling voltage, the smaller the leakage current.

5, chopping current Irac

The chopping current is an important parameter for the filter circuit of the stone machine. The higher the chopping current Irac is, the better. Its height is related to the operating frequency. The higher the frequency, the larger Irac, and the lower the frequency, the smaller Irac.

The traditional view is that we need to have a high chopping current at low frequencies in order to obtain good high current discharge characteristics, so that the low frequency is more robust, full and flexible, and good control drive characteristics. In fact, the high chopping current at high frequencies also contributes a lot to the front of the tone, allowing for better extension of the high frequencies and less roughness.

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