Capacitor replacements

bassist001 · Post by **bassist001** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:45 pm

Hey, so I'm in the process of building some new gear for the studio I work at. At the moment I am building a Sta-Level and I just had a quick question. Is it safe to replace the electrolytics in the circuit with non-polarized caps? I know the benefit of Elec caps is more bang for your buck, not sacrifice some quality. Say if I have a 20uf elec though, can I swap it for a 20uf film cap? Same voltage limits?

I should add that these caps are in the power section.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:43 pm

I found a schematic... those look like polarized caps in the power supply, and would have been electrolytics in the original. Definitely polarized.

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:55 pm

Where are you finding 20 uf film caps that a mortal can afford? My usual suspects dry up at 1 uf!

And it's usually ok to swap a polarized cap for a non polarized version. Going the other way can be iffy, if you can't guarantee the polarization voltage.

dfuruta · Post by **dfuruta** » Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:12 am

Apparently bipolar electrolytics show lower distortion levels than polarized; doesn't matter if it's in the power supply, but something to think about for blocking caps (in a preamp's input, for example).

Where are you finding 20uF film caps in reasonable sizes? I want to know too!

bassist001 · Post by **bassist001** » Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:11 am

Yeah there are these guys that fit the bill.

http://tubedepot.com/cp-so-2200-630v.html

Great size and would work. I already knew that the original used electrolytics, and that's why I want to see I could swap them. Not 100% sure if I will stick with that. But if it's possible. I at least want to test it and see if there is an audible difference.

Darlington Pair · Post by **Darlington Pair** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 6:51 am

Film caps aren't going to give you enough benefit in the power supply to be worth the cost, signal path is a different story. Good power supply practice is uses a low ESR electrolytic cap bypassed by a small film cap. Chances are in a Sta-Level you can almost double the values of your supply caps and have cleaner supply rails. You can't do that with a Solen, a 40uF Solen wouldn't even fit in the Sta-Level chassis, they are absolutely fantastic signal path caps so I would just spend the money there.

bassist001 · Post by **bassist001** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:38 am

Well, my chassis is about twice the size of a real sta-level cause I couldn't find a small one like the original. So size is really no issue. So I'm just curious to try and see if there is an audible difference between the two.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:44 am

Well, residual power supply ripple might have better extension and soundstage with these caps.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 12:03 pm

Haha! probably.
Better keep the power supply filter caps as electrolytics, up the temp rating, up the value to double, put little .01 film across ?em, but, that?s just power, not signal, cleaner (more filtered, = less ripple, ripple is bad). It?ll make you happy.
Signal caps usually like film.

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:18 pm

Well, if it's being built like the original (http://www.waltzingbear.com/Schematics/ ... _Level.htm) those tube rectifiers are going to work against anything resembling rock solid supply rails. Large signal swings will modulate the supply.

But that's part of the tube sound, man!

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Capacitor replacements

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