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Electrolytics for Naim xps

B

baitrunner

pfm Member
My xps has original caps dated 98. I have decided to do a recap but unsure which electrolytics to use.
I know Intune audio and Olive and Black provide Kemet Alc20's, but looking on Kemet's website it would seem they no longer manufacture these. Would the kemet Alc10's be the equivalent and what Naim are using now, or would Kendeil's from Witchat be preferable. Any advice appreciated. Lew
 
Lee, if you're a Naim purest then only the correct spec original item will do. Otherwise you want the same or lower ESR and the same or higher ripple current and voltage rating. The Lower the ESR the faster/ better the cap. Lower ESR caps tend to be physically bigger for a given ripple current rating. Don't worry at all about the capacitance, just meet the ripple current requirement and then get the lowest ESR cap that meets cost/ size restrictions.

Mundorf would probably be best from Hifi Collective, or Epcos from RS.

Are you looking for 2 large screw terminal caps or 6 solder in items?

(I've get loads of screw in cap options from cap rolling in my Bedini amp) ...
 
I believe Intune audio can supply the correct ones which are low profile and are now Kemet who bought BHC some years back.
 
Whatever you do, pick higher voltage & temp ratings for each part; the replacements will last longer.
NB the pin centres /max cap physical sizes are no challenge to find equivs in modern parts for, just start your search with 40v or even 50v and 105degC as minimum ratings. If that means you end up with 3300uF where the original had 4700uF, don;t worry about it (and don;t worry about find the 'lowest ESR possible in the allocated volume, which is a bit of an audiophool goose-chase: this is an external regulated supply, that only feeds things which have internal supplies locally re-regulated once, or often twice.)

pfm member 'MJS' here aka WitchHatAudio who as ex-naimies specialise in servicing&upgrading Naim gear can give you the benefit of experience, and prob supply good parts if you ask nicely.
 
The Kendeils we stock are too tall for this application. We'll be buying a different batch next time with a squatter aspect which will work. You need a 50v part though - these caps run at or slightly above their 40v rating. Naim fixed this with the XPS2 transformer but the originals are prone to dying.
 
Many thanks for all this great info, it gave me plenty of options to consider. In the meantime i am going to keep this as near to stock as i can with the cheaper Kemet Alc10's until the shorter profile Kendeils are available from Witch hat. Then i will have a reconsider if need be.
 
As an update. Fitted Kemet alc10 caps and replaced tants as well while i was at it.
What a difference(for the better) and this is from first switch on. I did previously have problems with a few discs not reading properly when loaded ,thinking it was the cds2 itself i was going to get it serviced, but this seems to have cured those issues .
 
Yes, that's the classic version of an XPS fault: fixed similar for a friend of mine - superficially all the rails appeared present & correct via digital voltmeter on the output, except that (because a couple of the reservoir caps were utterly internally cooked, to the point of rattling when shaken once removed) the regs were only really being fed half-rectified sines - loos ok under no-load, but as soon as the player's spin-up demand was applied to the regulated +15v rail it collapsed (because 100 x a second its own input went to 0v) and hence 'no disc found'. Replace the reservoir cap for ...anything, and all was fine.

Enjoy it for years yet, you know what to do 'next time' !
 
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