Current production high-end caps

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, it's like he rated the Black Gates highly in everything because everyone expects the Black Gates to be rated highly, so ruling them out (yes, because they are now discontinued), that pretty much leaves the Elna Silmic II at the top. Alone. Are they really that good? I guess I can't know without hearing equipment with them in it, myself.

And yes, the whole point of this thread is because Black Gates are discontinued, so yes, I want alternate answers, and yes, sounds like I need to try Elna Silmic II's. I was just being disingenuous.

As to what I want them for -- I don't know, to upgrade stuff -- my M-Audio Sonica, vintage receivers, that kind of thing. In vintage equipment, often the caps are dried out to varying degrees of dehydration ( or depetroleumation, or whatever), so it's probably a good idea to inspect and/or replace them all.

[Jon L]

I've had vintage gear modified, and happened to have chosen black gates for it, and was quite happy with the results.

It's kind of a moot point since you are unlikely to find good film caps at the uF ranges your Blackgates probably represent. Even if you can, it's definitely not going to fit due to the size.

For smaller size coupling caps, I love teflons and suggest starting with Russian FT-3 teflon capacitors, as there may not be a need to spend much more on more fancy teflon caps if FT-3 fits in well with your gear.

[luvdunhill]

And Christ, these were in the _power supply_. Not to say they couldn't have an effect, but I'd really be shocked if he would have such consistent results if he were blinded.

Since there are polystyrene fans here, anyone have any opinion on the el-cheapo ($1 or less) polystyrene caps available from Parts Connexion?

yes, they give the real stuff a bad name. Look for the old yellow Philips / Siemens KS box caps, with *real* leads. The other stuff you have to be very careful not to damage them, and honestly I'm not sure how you tell if you did indeed damage them. There's also a company called LCR (?) that sells grey box caps that are in current production. I've only found them through Farnell.

[luvdunhill]

Not just in the power supply, but before the regulator...

Not sure what you mean...are you saying its not a biased test because Black Gates should have been #1 based on price? I'd say it's convenient that Elna Silmic II came in 1st, since the Black Gates are discontinued..

Nelson Pass and others prefer the silks for measurement reasons (and listening). There are test results over at DIYaudio somewhere...

I actually use Black Gates before regulators, so my feelings are hurt

[Filburt]

I'd take the Silmic II over the BG, personally. On top of that, it costs a small fraction of the price (check digikey for Elna RFS).

grenert - the cheap polystyrenes are not of the same performance as something like an RTE, RTX, or (so I've heard; never tried) some of the good Philips/Siemens KS box caps. The construction of them is such that series inductance is apparently higher, I guess because it's essentially they shove leads into the film stack inside the plastic, so precision is lower and the path is longer.

edit - I see luvdunhill mentions the P/S caps too; maybe there are worthwhile then

[guzziguy]

Your BGs just weren't burned in enough. They probably weren't milspec either.

[n_maher]

I'd take the Silmic II over the BG, personally. On top of that, it costs a small fraction of the price (check digikey for Elna RFS).

Hand Made Audio really is a better source from my experience. Digikey doesn't carry much of the line and nothing over 35V.

[luvdunhill]

I'd take the Silmic II over the BG, personally. On top of that, it costs a small fraction of the price (check digikey for Elna RFS).

grenert - the cheap polystyrenes are not of the same performance as something like an RTE, RTX, or (so I've heard; never tried) some of the good Philips/Siemens KS box caps. The construction of them is such that series inductance is apparently higher, I guess because it's essentially they shove leads into the film stack inside the plastic, so precision is lower and the path is longer.

edit - I see luvdunhill mentions the P/S caps too; maybe there are worthwhile then

here are those LCR caps I referred to:

LCR COMPONENTS | MKP/HR 10000PF +/- 1% | Capacitors | Passives | Newark.com

[grenert]

Thanks for the info on the polystyrene caps. It looks like PS are nearly unobtanium in the United States except for boutique varieties.

[luvdunhill]

Thanks for the info on the polystyrene caps. It looks like PS are nearly unobtanium in the United States except for boutique varieties.

yes, that's more or less true. What about Ebay? I've dealt with tubehunter in the past and he has 2 of the box type for sale right now. What are you looking for, perhaps I could hook you up?

[grenert]

yes, that's more or less true. What about Ebay? I've dealt with tubeshunter in the past and he has 2 of the box type for sale right now. What are you looking for, perhaps I could hook you up?

Thanks for the link (I fixed the spelling of the seller's name for anyone else who wants to take a look there). He's got a lot of cool stuff! The caps are for the Denon DA-500 mods (filter section). The six caps in there now are 2700pF. It looks like the ones on eBay are too big.

I do see another seller, QRO_Team, who has some Russian box polystyrenes for sale. Anyone deal with him or use those caps?

[luvdunhill]

Thanks for the link (I fixed the spelling of the seller's name for anyone else who wants to take a look there). He's got a lot of cool stuff! The caps are for the Denon DA-500 mods (filter section). The six caps in there now are 2700pF. It looks like the ones on eBay are too big.

I do see another seller, QRO_Team, who has some Russian box polystyrenes for sale. Anyone deal with him or use those caps?

I almost bought some of those, but was worried that they wouldn't fit. What type of filter is this? seems interesting

Either way, I'd just use these:

Relcap RTE Capacitors

they come in the size you need and are physically small, and they sound great. I'm not sure how many you need, but for less than a fiver they shouldn't break the bank. I can even pick some up for you at PartsConnexion and send them with your Pearl parts if you'd like to save a bit on shipping.