Changing Capacitors

Hello! I am changing some Caps in an Audio Device, The Audio Device I have has some 220uf 100v capacitors, I wanted to upgrade to Nichion Muse Caps but they are to big, Will I notice a decrease In preformance if i change the caps to a 100uf 100v?

If It do, There are some other caps that come after the 220uf 100v, the other caps are 63v 47uf, Can i just change those to 100uf 100v and then use the same 100uf 100v where the 220uf's went to make up for the loss in capacitence?

It depends on where the electrolytics are located in the circuit.

you can have a try, since you said both are on the same line, you may not see any different, also check it when you drive your amp to maximum power, what i suspect is you may feel the difference when at high out.

BlueDragon Audio said:

Hello! I am changing some Caps in an Audio Device, The Audio Device I have has some 220uf 100v capacitors, I wanted to upgrade to Nichion Muse Caps but they are to big, Will I notice a decrease In preformance if i change the caps to a 100uf 100v?

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If you're dropping the value, you're down-grading the amplifier, not upgrading it.

I know

I know, I know i may be down grading the 220uf 100v to a 100uf 100v, but right after that cap there is another cap 63v 47 uf, I was going to replace that cap as well with a 100uf 100v. So In a sense I am downgrading that one cap, but then It goes into another 100uf 100v instead of the 47uf 63v there for making up the diffrence. Because after those 2 caps it goes it steps down again to 47uf 25v. I was going to step that up as well to 100uf 63v. So in sense I sould be all good, even at high output because I upgraded the caps following the 1st 220uf 100v right??

A schematic to explain the voltage drops from one capacitor to the next would be helpful.

The marketing people have you brainwashed and right where they want you. Changing caps for no good reason is... well, you fill in the rest.

if any thing connected directly on the same potential you can not say you are upgrading, if its just only a step down it may work as good as before. mostly power amp portion directly wired to the imediate voltage after rectification.

a schematic can help us to explain more

BlueDragon Audio said:

Hello! I am changing some Caps in an Audio Device, The Audio Device I have has some 220uf 100v capacitors, I wanted to upgrade to Nichion Muse Caps but they are to big, Will I notice a decrease In preformance if i change the caps to a 100uf 100v?

If It do, There are some other caps that come after the 220uf 100v, the other caps are 63v 47uf, Can i just change those to 100uf 100v and then use the same 100uf 100v where the 220uf's went to make up for the loss in capacitence?

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Why are you changing the caps out?

Conrad Hoffman said:

The marketing people have you brainwashed and right where they want you. Changing caps for no good reason is... well, you fill in the rest.

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The same marketers who want people to spend big bucks for Monster Cables.

Ummmm yea.... Most likely I am changing the capacitors because they suck.... No I do not fall into Bs marketing schemes.. Patm and Conrad. Have you ever looked inside of a Monster Cable?? Seriously. Have you actually physically cut one open and looked inside to see what all the hype is about... Lol, I have. Everbody knows you GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! In about 80% of all things this saying is true and correct. Have you ever looked in a Mogami Cable? Have you ever looked inside a Radio Shack Cable? Have you ever done cable shoot outs before?? Lol, The better the quality of the cable duhhh the better the sound response is going to be. A radio shack cable that uses regular wire to transfer the audio from your $1000.00 Mic to your Daw. Is going to suck. It's not just going to suck, you are going to have alot of issues during mixdown. Not only that but at live shows. Radio Shack cable or "Generic" Xlr cable is not going to handle the stress a Monster Cable can... Lol, Know what your talking about before you comment on something doods. I mean know what your talking about inside and out literally! That means physically opening whatever your talking about up and disect in in and out. Lol.... I don't want to hear people say....Ohhh why did you waste $50.00 in capacitors... 1st off Aluminum Electrolitic Caps are not even suppossed to be anywhere near an Audio signal! You need to use Film Capacitors. If you are going to use Aluminum Electrolitic Caps, U need to use the good ones.... Lol Elna Silmic is not one of the leaders in caps for no reason. They use Silk, From silk worms as the Dialectric.. Thus Giving the audio super less distortion. You can't honestly tell me that If I get a bunch of G-Luxon 220uf 100v Caps that cost me .15 cents a pop, that they are going to sound the same as The Rubycon Blackgates I bought for $100.00 a piece. Lol I may not know a whole lot about electronic circuits but I do know some. And What I know the most about is how things sound and how much better they can sound. I may not know the best way to filter Dc using a capacitor, but I shure as hell know how a 1394 controller works inside and out. I know how to programm eeeproms... lol basically. I know truley how things work and the quality of it, not because I was tought how to. It's because I physically opened it up and looked at it through a microscope at 200x, and got to know it personally on a molocule level relationship.

I am changing the capacitors because the properties of the dialectic sucks. thats why.

Ohh sorry about generic cable vs monster cable. Generic cable is not made with anything copper, and if it is it's majorly watered down, the sections in the cable that need to be shielded are done so poorly. The ends of the cable are made out of a tin or metal plating witch corrodes over time.... Monster cable is the exact opposite. Everything is gold plated, heavily shielded, and made with huge amounts of copper or silver.

Oohhhh hold on, I forgot to tell you that Copper is the 3rd best conductive element on this planet, next to Silver and Gold. Platinum is the 1st Silver is 2nd, Gold is 3rd and Copper is 4th. That is why your printed Pcb's use a Copper Immersion process. And even better Pcb's use a Platinum and Silver or Gold Immersion Process. That means that all the little electrons flowing through the circuit board are flowing through traces that are made of Platinum, Silver, Gold or Copper. When electrons travel through things that have ultra low resistance properties. The end result is better, this means more power, less noise, 0 lag, It dosent get as hot.... ummm and if it happens to be an audio signal, you wind up with a great one!!1

BlueDragon Audio said:

Ohh sorry about generic cable vs monster cable. Generic cable is not made with anything copper, and if it is it's majorly watered down, the sections in the cable that need to be shielded are done so poorly. The ends of the cable are made out of a tin or metal plating witch corrodes over time.... Monster cable is the exact opposite. Everything is gold plated, heavily shielded, and made with huge amounts of copper or silver.

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Monster cable is expensive crap - NEVER buy anything that says 'monster' on it.

Theres a certain minimum quality of cable that you need to meet, above that it makes no difference whatsoever. Radio Shack cable might be crap, but then everything they sell is.

I've NEVER seen any cable, no matter how cheap, that wasn't made of copper - differences are how thick the copper is, but more importantly, how good the screening is between the cables.

A good quality cable might cost £5.00, and the retailer might make £1.00 on that - a Monster cable (of a similar quality) might cost £50, but the retailer makes £40.00 profit on the sale - THAT'S the difference, massive profit margins for the retailer, and sod all for the customer.

BlueDragon Audio said:

Oohhhh hold on, I forgot to tell you that Copper is the 3rd best conductive element on this planet, next to Silver and Gold. Platinum is the 1st Silver is 2nd, Gold is 3rd and Copper is 4th. That is why your printed Pcb's use a Copper Immersion process. And even better Pcb's use a Platinum and Silver or Gold Immersion Process. That means that all the little electrons flowing through the circuit board are flowing through traces that are made of Platinum, Silver, Gold or Copper. When electrons travel through things that have ultra low resistance properties. The end result is better, this means more power, less noise, 0 lag, It dosent get as hot.... ummm and if it happens to be an audio signal, you wind up with a great one!!1

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Not sure where you got your stats, but they are incorrect.

1. Silver
2. Copper
3. Gold
4. Aluminum.

Platinum is nowhere near these in conductivity.

And as far as Monster Cables, I agree with Nigel. Crap for the price. If you truly think they are good, I have these specially designed hardwood acoustic volume knobs for you to buy.

I have one question. Couldn't changing the caps for "better" ones, drastically change any tuned circuits? Wouldn't a lower/higher ESR affect things?

Electrolytics, especially of this size, wouldn't be used in any audio circuitry except maybe a passive crossover. So no tuned circuits to worry about. They are almost certainly power supply filter caps or DC blocking caps.

I've got about 35 years of analog experience, much of it audio, and an entire test bench devoted to impedance measurements. Yes, I've taken apart many cables, including the brand I refuse to even mention. There is no property of a cable I can't measure with high precision. I know far from everything, but rarely get fooled.

If you think expensive equals better...
If you think precious metals sound better...
If you think oxygen-free copper is the better grade...
If you think electrolytics are always bad in the signal path...
If you think films are always the right choice...
If you think measurements are worthless...
If you aren't measuring EMI as well as audio...
If *all* your modifications sound like an improvement...
If you haven't put as much effort into your room treatment as your electronics...

Than you're a victim of audiophile myth and bad science at best, marketing hype at worst. The first thing to do is abandon generalizations. Some parameters matter in some situations and not in others. You have to analyze the specific situation, like the particular part of you amp that the caps are applied to. Only then can you make an intelligent decision about what parameters will affect the sound, and what won't. Then and only then can you choose the best part. Often it will even fit.

Best,
CH