Element 14 Audio Grade Capacitors

Farnell have a range of non polar electrolytic caps.

They are certainly not "Audiophile" grade but are pretty cheap.

uk.farnell.com/.../leaded-aluminium-electrolytic-capacitors

In the range of capacitance you mention film caps are not that pricey and will have much better characteristics.

https://uk.farnell.com/w/c/passive-components/capacitors/film-capacitors/prl/results?range=inc-in-stock&st=3.3uf&sort=P_PRICE

Why not try both and see if you can hear any difference.

MK

Thanks Michael.

I'll check them out.

Is a + or - 10% variation on caps a sign of being inferior over 5%?

As the original poster is in australia it should be possible to replace "uk.farnell.com" with "au.element14.com" for these links.

To be truly honest, most of the Hi-Fi stuff is "snake oil" - differences in capacitors may cause subtle differences in audio but it's hard to say a given capacitor is necessary "sounding better" than another, and even if they do initially, this may change throughout the lifetime. Degraded capacitors will cause increased hum, shifts in crossover frequencies, or perhaps non-linearities to arise. As long as the capacitors meet the designers' original intent, the equipment should perform to spec. Anything beyond that is sometimes "placebo" when people convince themselves that they've improved something because they've changed X, but in reality, it may not be (objectively) better.

But for those who believe in the superiority of certain capacitors, I'd probably stick with Nichicon (Japanese) capacitors myself. Certain series of theirs are "specifically" targeted at audio applications. This site seems to have a good summary of them: https://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/nichicon.html That being said, once you know which series, you can go wherever and source the values you need, assuming you can find them. The FG series is particularly sought after, so you might find it very hard ...

Other than them, I'd say ELNA is also worth a look if you can find them. Otherwise, "standard" stuff from Rubycon or Panasonic is likely to be much better than actually needed.

- Gough

It just means that the value of capacitance is more tightly controlled (for a 5%) capacitor.

In a cross over circuit a 20% error in capacitance could give you a 20% variation in turnover frequency.

So, for example, your tweeter might cut in at 3.2kHz rather than 4kHz and the mid range unit cut off 20% higher than intended.

This (unfortunate) combination of tolerances could easily result in an audible peaking of the speaker response. But in 40 year old speakers using the original drive units I think this will be the least of the changes from the original spec.

The (measurable) difference between film capacitors and non polarised electrolytic will be much greater than that between different makes of of non polarised electrolytic.

What you can hear is another thing altogether.

MK

Thanks Gough.

I wish I could establish the answer to the issue you raise regarding the performance of caps in audio scientifically.

If I had a pile of money & lots of spare time I'd definitely set up a test lab and make an assessment.

I've found many align with your view while others swear by a caps performance beyond its µF value.

Some who have done that and report that many caps need to go through a burn in process to fully reveal their character, and that sonic results are not just down to individual caps but also their compatibility with the speakers involved. For example, if a cap is overly bright, it will be a poor match with bright speakers.

Also, if a Speaker is of low quality or is lacking in certain frequencies, then a cap which excels in these frequencies will not reveal its capability.

Then there are listeners whose hearing varies considerably.

Individuals will favor certain frequencies and may never be able to hear subtleties beyond their hearing range.

What I'm looking for is the best bang for buck capacitors which align with the speakers they'll be used in.

For example:

I don't want to fit a $10 cap in a pair of speakers which might sell for $30 but would like to improve their sound.

The 50 year old electrolytic caps currently in place must be well and truly dried out by now. 

For these I'd try to source neutral sounding electrolytic caps which are cheaper, but would be disappointed if the replacements added a distorted or skewed sound.

Alternatively, if I have nice speakers fitted with old original electrolytic caps, I'd consider investing a little more, but not go over board in terms of realizing an acceptable sound.

Was hoping some of the engineers might have first hand knowledge on what to avoid, or what would work well.

cheers  Rocky

I am an element14 and audiokarma community member :). Adore electronics and audio.

A standard capacitor that meets the original specs will do. I am not usually suggesting to replace components if all is still OK.
Replacing electrolytes after 50 years makes sense though - if you have the speakers open anyway. They have an end life (hello Philips )

A generic capacitor with similar specs and known good vendor will do for audio. 

If you exceed the existing voltage rating, that's OK. Don't divert too much from the existing capacitance. That impacts the filtering.

Thanks Jan.

Any particular supplier you recommend?

i don't no how many speakers i would have fixed over the years,Most of them would have the rubber surround collapsed because of age,

i would have needed to repair more broken legs of components on cross over boards than replace just replacing caps.

i am not an audio file but i will say the heaver solid cabinets (even home made) do have better reproduction 

over your average Japanese box

then paper tweeters not as good as some others.

in Australia i would look at WES components for drivers

can you use an ESR meter to check caps first.

can you run a frequency sweep one cabinet original and other after changing caps.good luck. 

Thanks 90.

I have a meter which performs resistance, capacitance & inductance measurements.

I have about 8 pairs of speakers needing attention. but limited time.

At this stage I'm exploring possible sources for audio quality electrolytic caps as well as reasonable but economic poly caps.

Once I can source parts I'll get into removing bits to test.

I don't want to do this prior to establishing a parts source for fear of having many speakers in various stages if disassembly.

Also, another key part of my exploration is to get an engineers point of view regarding caps & audio.

Today I repaired a 70's vintage Amp which a friend brought to me for help.

Surprisingly I got it going and then started testing some of the speakers I've accumulated.

Some of these speakers have potential and I'm looking forward to playing with their crossovers.

I'll replace caps in one of a pair and then listen to the difference on mono.

Just hope I can secure worthy well priced caps.

I'm learning that caps have varying functions.

In some applications noise is not an issue, whilst audio demands low noise as well as other attributes.