Mixer Recapping
- Thread starter Thrust
- Start date
ranjam
New member
Bi-Polar are used for crossover networks. I'd use any electrolytic, as long as I was dead certain the original ones were bad. Too many Internet 'gurus' tell you that you have to change the caps 'just because', and that ain't necessarily so.
If you have a capacitance meter, that's half of the battle. I use something like this; LCR RCL INDUCTANCE CAPACITANCE RESISTANCE METER + Leads | eBay, since I can also do inductors, and tweak EQ's, crossovers, wah pedals, you name it. The second half of the battle is the ESR, and ESR / LOW OHMS METER KIT WITH STAND | eBay does that for you. Any 'guru' who says to change a capacitor simply because it is accepted wisdom is just pulling his pud, and trying to get us all to join in. No thanks. Unless you have more test equipment than I do, you're just regurgitating folklore.
Audio applications aren't any more demanding than say a TV set. Do Nichicon advertise that their capacitors give you redder reds or a better chroma burst signal?
I wonder why not. Wait, I do know why not; they can't. Even with today's BS advertising, they can't. A cap is a cap is a cap. Well, there are certain applications that certain types can make or break the circuit stability, but overall, I'd use any electrolytic for audio. In radio work, ceramic disc types don't have inductance over 500KHz, so you use those. In power supply filters, the high inductance of the cap prevents bypassing high frequencies, so you often bypass them again with a paper cap. But not for audio. I wouldn't worry at all.
If you have a capacitance meter, that's half of the battle. I use something like this; LCR RCL INDUCTANCE CAPACITANCE RESISTANCE METER + Leads | eBay, since I can also do inductors, and tweak EQ's, crossovers, wah pedals, you name it. The second half of the battle is the ESR, and ESR / LOW OHMS METER KIT WITH STAND | eBay does that for you. Any 'guru' who says to change a capacitor simply because it is accepted wisdom is just pulling his pud, and trying to get us all to join in. No thanks. Unless you have more test equipment than I do, you're just regurgitating folklore.
Audio applications aren't any more demanding than say a TV set. Do Nichicon advertise that their capacitors give you redder reds or a better chroma burst signal?
I wonder why not. Wait, I do know why not; they can't. Even with today's BS advertising, they can't. A cap is a cap is a cap. Well, there are certain applications that certain types can make or break the circuit stability, but overall, I'd use any electrolytic for audio. In radio work, ceramic disc types don't have inductance over 500KHz, so you use those. In power supply filters, the high inductance of the cap prevents bypassing high frequencies, so you often bypass them again with a paper cap. But not for audio. I wouldn't worry at all.
ranjam
New member
I would say I wouldn't use bi-polar. But that's me. I might ask one of my repair shop 'mentors' to be 100% sure, but for now..... no.
My basic math and theory; you don't use polarized capacitors for crossovers because polarized capacitors have a large leakage current when the charging voltage polarity is 'reversed', and you get distortion. But I hadn't heard anything about using NP capacitors for polarized. In the good old days, the physical size, and cost, made it impractical to do that. But these days they can make capacitors much smaller, so who knows.
My basic math and theory; you don't use polarized capacitors for crossovers because polarized capacitors have a large leakage current when the charging voltage polarity is 'reversed', and you get distortion. But I hadn't heard anything about using NP capacitors for polarized. In the good old days, the physical size, and cost, made it impractical to do that. But these days they can make capacitors much smaller, so who knows.
It depends were the caps are used ..... if you need high Value"s and they are in the signal path then a BP Electro cap is perfectly accepable (Film caps are usually too big in high values) if the caps are for Supply filtering you would be better off using regular electrolitics as they are smaller than BP caps , cheaper and will have higher values for a Given size .......