I'm Thinking of Taking F1's Advice on My SRT's

Gatecrasher

Well I have a 2nd pair of SRT subs I plan to remove the drivers from and send in to Polk to have the spiders repaired like they did for me in 2014 for my other pair. While I have them apart I might as well replace the 20+ year old electrolytic capacitors in the amplifiers like I did with the other two.

Each amp requires four 10,000 uF 80v caps. For the first pair I went with new Rubycon caps which were the same ones originally used by Polk. I bought them on eBay 10 for $37 from a vendor in China which made me a little nervous but after installing them they seem to work good. No problems so far.

F1 suggested that I should have went with a more expensive set of Mundorf "audio grade" caps which cost a lot more. He seemed to think they would make a noticeable difference. I kind of blew it off at the time because the cost was so much more but I found these on eBay the other day and think I might have to try them. Even though I'm pleased with the way my first two speakers are performing, maybe they can sound even better? I contacted the seller and he says he has more than the 6 in this eBay listing. With the current exchange rate they would be about $30 each so $240 to do both amps.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/361113110543?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

What do you think, should I give them a shot? If they would make a significant improvement I'd probably follow-up by getting another set and re-doing the other pair of subs too. I really like my SRTs and plan to keep them for years to come. They are definitely worth putting $240 into.


I saw on another audio forum people were talking about these Elna "audio grade" capacitors. They look to be Chinese and are cheaper but still fairly expensive compared to the Rubycons. Has anyone on here ever tried them?



http://www.ebay.com/itm/220771815119?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Even though I give F1 a hard time on here from time to time I admit he does seem to know quite a bit about audio so I think I might have to spring for some higher-end caps this time around and give them a try. They can't hurt and I'm not really keen on buying another set of Rubycons (which may or may not be counterfeit) from China.

Does anyone know where to get a better deal on these high-end "audio grade" caps?

cortico

M-Lytic are great filter caps for power supplies, I am planing to use the 4 pole version on my next recap project.

Also, Nichicon KG Gold Tune, are also a great option and the cost is lower.

I would give you my word of advice to not purchase caps on eBay. Instead look well credited websites like the links below, just to name a few.

http://www.partsconnexion.com
http://www.percyaudio.com/
http://www.digikey.com

Below is a picture of 2 huge 10000uf/63V Nichicon gold tune I installed in a 70's receiver, the result is great.

Gatecrasher

Now that you mention it, I have heard of Nichicon too. So now I have another one to consider if they have them in 10,000uF 80v.

The eBay seller is in Germany and actually has a real website too so I think it's probably legit:

Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 3
34117 Kassel, Deutschland
E-Mail: info@schuro.de
Internet: www.schuro.de
Telefon: 0561/16415
Fax: 0561/770318

What do you think?

https://www.hifituning24.de/

cortico

Seems legit, but eBay is flooded with counterfeit electronic components...

Yes, Nichicon has your value, they have different fisical dimensions too, easier to find a perfect fit to your equipment. I have no affiliation, but check parts conexicon website.

Dennis Gardner

I would buy from a reputable company to insure that you have a recourse. There is a good chance that you won't be able to hear the difference in a sub amp regardless of the level of the cap, as levels of distortion under 10% is rarely detected by our hearing in those frequencies. The stability that is gained by using quality components is what makes them worth the extra $$$ when Polk has admitted that the components they used were less than they should have, thus the mass failure rate.

pitdogg2

Hard to go wrong with any of the big 3.
Nichicon
Mundorf
United chemi con

There are some Elna's I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy as long as you stay near their top you should be OK but I do not think the lesser models are made in your size values.

Gatecrasher

I was looking at the United Chemi Con website and their 10,000uF 80v snap-in capacitors have a specification listed as: "Endurance with ripple current : 2,000 hours at 85℃"

What exactly does that mean?

cortico

Ripple current is the alternating current flowing through a capacitor it causes internal temperature rise, that rating shows the capacitor ability to perform whitin spec at high temperature in a given amount of time.

cortico

Gatecrasher wrote: »

Now that you mention it, I have heard of Nichicon too. So now I have another one to consider if they have them in 10,000uF 80v.

By the way, the m-lytics are really impressive, they produce an envolving and deep soundstage. I preferred the NichiconGold Tune because they sounded a bit more transparent in my somehow warm colored marantz gear, the mids and vocals stand a bit forward on the mix, I can make both sound pretty much the same tweaking the mids knob, tough.

Both have nothing to do with standard power supply caps.