Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

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  • Shodan486
    Badcaps Veteran
    • Nov 2009
    • 203
    #1

    Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

    I'm (again) confused. Browsing on ebay, I've found some caps labelled as "high audio quality" and of course the regular ones and lowESR...Can I be provided with some insight to these audio caps? ...I guess they're not very well suited for motherboards, right?
    Mobo: MSI K8N Master2-FAR CPU: 2x Opteron 265 OC'd @ 2,25GHz RAM: 2x2GB Crucial DDR400 CL3 ECC/Buff. (ECC OFF), VGA: ASUS HD6950 2GB Reference edition FLASHED TO HD6970 HDD: 80GB ATA133 Seagate ,OnBoard: 2xGLAN, 8-Ch. Realtek audio, USB2.0/Firewire, PCIe Physx card PSU: 850W Corsair AX Case: Cooler Master HAF932 + NZXT 5 Fan Controller.
    Tags: None
    • ratdude747
      Black Sheep
      • Nov 2008
      • 17136
      • USA
      #2
      Re: Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

      what did i tell you- ebay=fakies and crappers.

      why are you looking there... caps are not that expensive...
      sigpic

      (Insert witty quote here)

        Comment

        • 370forlife
          Large Marge
          • Aug 2008
          • 3113
          • United States
          #3
          Re: Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

          They are not all fakes, you just have to watch out, especially at their feedback and I believe there is a thread around here somewhere that people started naming off sellers on ebay that sold fakes.

          Ebay is a great place to get some NOS primary caps for psu's. I got 10 nichicon 200v, 680uf 25mm caps for $10 on there. Real deals too, compare that to about $3 a pop on digikey for 200v, 680uf caps.

          Audio caps are not very well suited for motherboard use, or psu use for that matter. They typically have pretty high ESR, as well as some other different attributes. More knowledgeable members can shed some light on that.
          Last edited by 370forlife; 12-26-2009, 10:58 AM.

            Comment

            • linuxguru
              Badcaps Legend
              • Apr 2005
              • 1564
              #4
              Re: Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

              Audio caps are optimized for Linearity and low Dielectric-Absorbtion - they're not usually low-ESR, although there are some low-ESR audiophile caps like Nichicon Muse KZ. The inter-electrode spacer plays an important role in audio caps - various materials including silk have been tried. The foil etching and electrolyte composition also differs in audio caps. Leads need to be copper or other non-magnetic material on audiophile caps - any trace of iron, nickel or cobalt in the leads or plating is a strict no-no for audio caps in the signal path; it contributes unwanted inductance as well as EMI/RFI pickup.

              Low-ESR motherboard caps are not usually very linear, although there are some low-ESR caps that are also pretty good for audio use, like Panasonic FC, Nichicon PW and Rubycon ZL. Motherboard-grade caps often have ferro-magnetic (steel or nickel-plated) leads for greater rigidity - the extra lead inductance is usually not an issue on flush-fitted motherboard caps.

                Comment

                • shadow
                  Badcaps Veteran
                  • Feb 2007
                  • 732
                  • Australia
                  #5
                  Re: Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

                  wow...very informative post! Thanks linuxguru!

                    Comment

                    • PCBONEZ
                      Grumpy Old Fart
                      • Aug 2005
                      • 10661
                      • USA
                      #6
                      Re: Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

                      Yes, Thanks!
                      That's the most sensible & complete answer to that question I've seen.
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