Cambridge Audio A5 cap replacement..?

[markiemrboo]

I was thinking about (note: only *thinking*) replacing the capacitors in my amp, a Cambridge Audio A5. Reading about 'Black Gate' capacitors, and how fantastic they're supposed to be.

So really, do you think it'll be worth it? I don't actually know what's in there at the minute. Also, will I be needing any 'special' kind of solder to get the best out of it? I've got a reel of Antex (same make as me iron) lead free solder, silver based (or something like that). Says "Sn97, Ag2.5 Cu0.5 0.8mm".

There's actually nothing wrong with the amp, but if I can improve sound quality by just replacing caps...... then I figured why not.

[kc8adu]

Re: Cambridge Audio A5 cap replacement..?

any good brand of cap is fine in your amp.
iirc black gate are rebadged nichicon muse series with 10x markup.
a ripoff.snake oil.
nothing wrong with the nichicon muse.
dont get me started on audiophool bs.
if the amp works right i wouldnt bother.

[willawake]

Re: Cambridge Audio A5 cap replacement..?

imho to improve sound quality get better speakers that match with your amp.

i was looking at a black gate site. http://www.blackgate.jp/ but could not find any specs heh.

cd player clock upgrades, external dacs are interesting.

[linuxguru]

Re: Cambridge Audio A5 cap replacement..?

Black Gates are mostly marketing snake-oil. The best general audio-grade caps are fairly inexpensive - Elna RJH or Panasonic FC/FM - they're widely used by a variety of excellent Japanese manufacturers, including Matsushita (all brands, including Technics), Alpine, Onkyo, Marantz, etc. Anything more expensive is money down the drain.

The only avenues to significant improvements in sound quality in an audio system are to improve the speaker quality, speaker layout and room accoustics - that's the most bang-for-the buck. Any other tweaking is mostly wasted. The worst value comes from so-called 'oxygen-free' or 'silver wire' or 'Monster' speaker cables - don't waste your money. A difference of even 1 ohm in DC resistance in a speaker cable is not going to alter sound quality in a perceptible way, only the power level going into the speaker.

High-Sn (high-tin) solders are susceptible to long-term reliability problems from tin-whiskers - I'd use stock 60:40 or 63:37, which flow easily, wet easily and last for 50+ years.

[markiemrboo]

Re: Cambridge Audio A5 cap replacement..?

Ah ok. I guess I probably shalln't waste my money then. Though I suppose if I take a look and find a crappy brand of caps in there maybe it might be worth replacing them regardless of whether sound quality might be improved? Maybe?

I know about the whole cable thing. Didn't waste my money getting expensive over-advertised hyped up cable.

I actually find this solder flows ALOT more easily than what I was using before :-s Then again, I don't really know what it was that I was using before.