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Will boutique capacitors on the power rails make any difference?


sbelyo

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I'm building a pair of the rev2 dynahi boards and a pair of Sigma22's and I wanted everyone's opinion on weather or not boutique capacitors make a difference in those boards.

Since there's no electrolytics in the signal path (correct me if I'm wrong) I'm not so sure they would make a difference. And I think I remember somewhere that the boutique capacitors often have a negative effect when placed in those positions.

My other option would be just to use Panasonic FC's

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1. In my opinion the power supply is definitely part of the signal path in the following sense - any noise generated by the power supply is likely to find it's way into the signal path.

2. Boutique capacitors, unless they provide better ripple rejection or other characteristic, are in my opinion wasted on a power supply.

So my is the same as above, use proven high quality capacitors designed for the intended application.

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AC currents move in a loop, so in a circuit where signal currents go through capacitors, it is worth considering what one uses in those spots. That means coupling, but is also means places like Rk bypasses in a grounded cathode stage, or "Ultrapath" caps, or certain types of power supplies.

That said, many boutique caps, particularly electrolytics, are not really that good, or are just rebrandings of other things. Also, if you find youself needing lots of fancy parts as band-aids, it might be time to consider a better circuit -- topological improvements will make a bigger difference than parts upgrades (that is not a comment on the Dynahi or Sigma mentioned by the OP which should not need band-aids as they are great circuits).

In this case, I'd agree to the OP to just use FMs (I've never liked FCs for whatever reason.)

Here's a nice little write up: http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/ETF.html

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That's pretty much what I thought... I'm gonna stick with the Panasonics. I think I used FM's in my original Dynahi. I thought the FC's had lower ESR and higher reliability. I'll have to read the datasheets again

Backwards. FMs are lower ESR. Not sure if reliability is higher or not. FCs are available in more sizes however. Pana also has a newer series out called FR as well.

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  • 1 year later...

@sbelyo: Did you build the dynahi board? Did you use boutique caps?

About dynahi board, can these boards be modified cancellation of noise signals? If the noise signals could be cancelled, I could listen clearly even if you plug in cheap ordinary headphone. What are the advantages of Panasonic FC? I thought all the caps were the same.

 

printed circuit assembly

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