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Which brand of Capacitors do Naim use?

Why?
If you have a current model and need to replace some caps it should be obvious what they are.
Otherwise what does it matter?
 
Well in fact I have some older models, which are due a service, but as I live in Germany, options are limited, thus playing with the idea of doing as much as possible myself. Would like to know what the modern equivalents are.
 
Stick with decent makes then, the current brands are crap in comparison. AVX tantalums, Vishay electrolytics (or Nichcion KZ / Elna Silmic if you want to be posh). Look at Acoustica, lots of advice there.
 
It's not as simple as brand, decent makes like Rubycon, Nichicon, Panasonic etc do several ranges at different quality and price points. I have been looking for good lifetime at raised temperatures and Panasonic FC are still a good choice
 
There are certain benefits to using the tantalums over film caps in specific places, which hinge largely around the highish (circa 1 ohm or more) ESR of the tantalums, whereby this effective resistance pads down tendencies to oscillations. Interstage coupling and monolithic regulators seem to need this ESR.

In terms of SQ, replacing the tants for film caps (i.e. as input coupling caps in a poweramp) could well shift the sonic signature away from the users preferance.

Film caps also tend to be physically larger than the tants and room cannot always be found for a part-for-part swap between tants and films.

I wonder if the relatively low thermal rating of the main filter caps used in the Naim gear contributes to the need for recaps....some other gear can be used for decades and show no signs of quality roll-off.
 
Pete MB&D said:
+1

Get some film caps in place of the Tantalums and it will sing.

Pete
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rontoolsie said:
There are certain benefits to using the tantalums over film caps in specific places, which hinge largely around the highish (circa 1 ohm or more) ESR of the tantalums, whereby this effective resistance pads down tendencies to oscillations. Interstage coupling and monolithic regulators seem to need this ESR.

In terms of SQ, replacing the tants for film caps (i.e. as input coupling caps in a poweramp) could well shift the sonic signature away from the users preferance.

Film caps also tend to be physically larger than the tants and room cannot always be found for a part-for-part swap between tants and films.

I wonder if the relatively low thermal rating of the main filter caps used in the Naim gear contributes to the need for recaps....some other gear can be used for decades and show no signs of quality roll-off.
Click to expand...

I replaced all the tants in my NAC 62 for Wima films - sounded way too polite in my view afterwards.

If you look at the NAC 12 thread in classics, the brand Naim use today is mentioned.
 
Some would say musical rather than polite, the tants do have a sonic signature that some find appealing.
Which isn't a criticism.

Pete
 
Agreed Pete - horses for courses really. I swapped out a whole heap of electrolytics in my A&R A60 for films and loved the result. I never actually put the tants back into the NAC 62, moving onto a valve based pre...must get around to it sometime!

Richard
 
Earlier Naim gear used Roederstein electrolitics in either brown or orange plastic cases & marked ERO or ROE. They were probably the best around back then & were used by a number of the better ( & more expensive ) brands such as Quad & Krell. The tants were likely the same brand which is of course German. As a rule good audio design steers clear of tantalum caps & certainly anywhere near the audio signal. However, Naim would know that & must have had a good reason for using them in places as they are not a cheap capacitor. For that reason I'd stick with them. Film caps don't really deteriorate & unless they are damaged physically or by a nearby fault they shouldn't need replacing. But, if u must change, u would need to pay considerably more to better your German brands Wima & Roederstein.
A word of caution regarding some of the fancy film caps: they can markedly change the sound signature of equipment & not always for the better. Not because they are bad but, because the circuit was not signed off on with their particular sound character in mind.
 
S_J said:
Cheapo ones (no really they do)
Click to expand...
Expensive doesn't always mean better sound

Naim choose their parts based on trying lot's of different models & make a final decision based on sound quality, not necessarily the most expensive as you say.
 
I think price has a big influence on the decision, there are lots of very expensive good sounding components out there that don't feature in Naim equipment.

Pete
 
All of the current stuff I've seen inside of uses lots of SMD so its tricky to identify the small value 'lytics but the tants are definitely still AVX and the reservoir caps appear to be Kemet rebranded BHC.

I agree with the sentiments expressed above, don't replace tants with films in Naim gear unless you wish to "sterilize" it - Changing solid tants for wet tants on the other hand. well... ;) On the older stuff I usually use Nichicon KZ small value 'lytics, AVX tants & Kendeil for reservoir caps as they provide a very similar balance to the components used originally IME.
 
Pete MB&D said:
I think price has a big influence on the decision, there are lots of very expensive good sounding components out there that don't feature in Naim equipment.

Pete
Click to expand...
For good reason,

Judged on sound, nothing more, hundreds are tried before a final decision is made rather than just thinking it's new, it's pricier so obviously better.
 
Current power amps all seem to use BHC/Kemet res caps. (same thing just change of ownership)
Tants also Kemet
HiCap res caps uses Felsic 1500uF 63V - but you can't get them and theyarent as good as Kendeil anyway.
Most axial caps are sic/safco promisisc or prorelisic - again you can't get them and they aren't that good anyway.

they se blue samwha's for non critical things (and recapping old shoe box pre's). Vishay BC blue axials in some switching circuits and a few other odd things in various places.
 
I’ve just recapped my NAP140 using BHC caps from Farnell (now badged Kemet) and kemet tantalum (yellow) 10UF (145-7618) caps to replace the blue (NEC?) originals. I Did my NAC72 at the same time, replacing the tants with AVX tants and the red roederstein electrolytics with nichicon kz (muse) sold in UK by hificollective. I kept all the originals. I wont be putting them back in. ;)

If you want to replace the originals like for like, I'm afraid you will have to pay a premium for new old stock (assuming they are not cheap knock offs) or use modern replacements like me. There is plenty of information and advice in the pfm archives.
 
colasblue said:
Current power amps all seem to use BHC/Kemet res caps. (same thing just change of ownership)
Tants also Kemet
HiCap res caps uses Felsic 1500uF 63V - but you can't get them and theyarent as good as Kendeil anyway.
Most axial caps are sic/safco promisisc or prorelisic - again you can't get them and they aren't that good anyway.

they se blue samwha's for non critical things (and recapping old shoe box pre's). Vishay BC blue axials in some switching circuits and a few other odd things in various places.
Click to expand...

Colasblue means 15,000f for HiCap res caps.
 
I have bad experience to replace the original tantalum with something else. The highly recommended Vishay BC128 did not do the job at all for me and I also tried all sorts of available Tantalum. All Kemet and AVX I could get have been different from the original ones in sound and they also looked different. Colour was the same, but the printing on it was different and sound as well.

At the end, I used the original ones and I'm happy with the result.

To be honest, I like the NAIM sound and changing it with different components makes no sense to me. There are a lot other amps around which do "HiFi", but if it comes down to fun, a Naim is difficult to beat.

Just my 2c ....
 
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