Difference between lowESR and audio quality caps?

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • 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.
  • 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
      • 3112
      • 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.
            Mann-Made Global Warming.
            - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.

            -
            Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

            - Dr Seuss
            -
            You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
            -

            Comment

            Related Topics

            Collapse

            • momaka
              Seasonic B12 BC-550 – barely 2 years old and with BAD CAPS already!
              by momaka
              I know I've been a little scarce lately (like the last 2-3 years), but I'm still here and still doing my thing with fixing PSUs.

              For today's considerations, I have a Seasonic B12 BC-550 [A551bcafh] 550 Watt ATX power supply for you (click on links for full size images).

              https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=3591771


              https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=3591772

              It's a modern ATX unit with fixed (non-modular) cables and an 80-plus bronze certificate. Here's the label:

              https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=359177...
              03-12-2025, 03:42 PM
            • DXseekerMO
              Backlight strip quality, Amazon vs Ebay vs ShopJimmy. Is there really a difference?
              by DXseekerMO
              Hello everyone!

              Recently I've noticed that some ShopJimmy backlight strips don't have double-sided tape installed upon them when an application calls for it, and I must purchase the tape separately. In a recent chat conversation with a customer service agent I told them if this tape wasn't applied when it was called for I would begin to consider ordering my backlight strips elsewhere. It looks like this time may have come.

              I recently got a TCL 65S4 with bad backlights. After looking at the SJ listing here: https://www.shopjimmy.com/tcl-jl-d65...365as-m-led-ba...
              Yes
              0%
              1
              All backlight strips are the same quality
              0%
              1
              No
              0%
              0
              12-16-2021, 03:58 PM
            • eryjus
              Heathkit IO-4205 Power Supply Caps
              by eryjus
              Hello,

              First, I am a complete noob with high voltage stuff. I'm learning, but I need help by someone looking over my shoulder.

              I recently came into posession of a Heathkit IO-4205 5MHz Dual Trace Oscilloscope. The documentation is copyright 1978. I'm told it works.

              I opened it up to check the caps before I applied power, and found the following black caps and wanted to know what they were. They are on the power supply board. I was able to read the name and model and came up with, "Nytronics 162J-1, 0.1uF, 20% tolerance, 2000VDC."
              ...
              05-10-2023, 11:21 AM
            • momaka
              HannStar Hanns-G HC194d LCD monitor repair
              by momaka
              Normally, I never post repairs this quick after I do them, because… I am usually very slow. But today, I’m making an exception here. Why? No idea. Perhaps only because the repair details are still “fresh” in my head… which is ironic, given this is a 16 year old monitor that hardly anyone will care about today. It is new to me, though. I picked it up last November from someone on my local Craigslist. It wasn’t very close to where I live, but was close to a family friend that I had to go visit anyways. So after watching the posting on Craigslist for a few weeks and seeing it getting...
              03-15-2023, 10:17 PM
            • Paxman_Swede
              Identifying caps on an old Zoom 9000
              by Paxman_Swede
              Hello!

              I have two projects on my work bench. One is a friends dead JBL Xtreme speaker with a blown voltage regulator and corresponding bulged and shorted cap. That cap has clear markings so I know what replacement I need for it.

              The other project however is a whole different deal. It's a Zoom 9000 guitar effect from the 90th that has developed a devil hound howl when there is no input from the guitar. I'm guessing caps problem. So, since I don't really use this effect anymore I thought it would be a perfect project to learn on.

              I have studied the board and...
              01-14-2025, 09:51 AM
            • Loading...
            • No more items.
            Working...