Advice on best resistor and capacitor brands?

[daydreamer]

Hi Guys,

What are the best brands for resistors and capacitors? And also, what is the least brand you would consider in a pinch?

thanks

Andy

[Cliff Schecht]

For most personal stuff I use pretty much anything in my pile. This is a big mix of Dale, Ohmite/Stackpole CC resistors, Xicon and pretty much anything that Ohms out and has strong leads.

You'll quickly learn that certain resistors don't belong in certain places though. CC (carbon comp) resistors are noisy and should be avoided in the plates and anywhere that needs a large value (they have lots of thermal noise!). Metal film are the lowest noise, most accurate and peoples opinions vary all over the place. I don't like the Xicon metal films personally but I love any Dale RN series resistors (as do the Dumbel guys). Metal-oxide flame retardant resistors are best for anything over 1W in the power supply but I also use a lot of overrated CC resistors in the power supply because they are low inductance and are very sturdy typically.

The opinions for caps vary all over the place. A brand that a lot of people don't mention much in the tube amp world is Nichicon but I recommend them over just about any other manufacturer. They don't make any super HV caps but just about any electrolytic they make is titties. Sprague/Atoms, F&T, Illinois, JJ, Xicon and others all make usable HV electrolytics. Some are better than other but honestly, most tube amps won't notice the difference between one brand and another.

For signal caps, I use paper in oil and polystyrene whenever possible. These are about as good as it gets before you go Teflon, which is prohibitively expensive IMO. You'll get lots of opinions here and there are a lot of options. Sprague 6PS Orange Drops and mica are sort of a stand-by for most people as the combo really does sound fine and looks neat to boot.

Others should have lots to add here, you sort of opened up a can of worms. Simple question with a ridiculously long and complex answer .

[daydreamer]

thanks heaps Cliff,

That is awesome info, really thorough! I'm not a tone junkie as such, but I do want to avoid the obvious mistakes, component wise, if I can.

I'm still making my way through the back pages of the forum as well, and it is seriously educational!!

So far I can source everything locally cheaper than kit prices which is encouraging, but got a bit to go yet before I start first build (cross checking my BOM with the advice here for instance) . I want to know what it all does first as well ( I just worked out what a grid resistor is yesterday...yay for me )

thanks

Andy

[alanp]

Do paper in oil caps need to be replaced after awhile? And are polystyrene caps the ones that look like green versions of orange drops?

[dynaman]

Yeah, I'll grudgingly agree with Cliff. The Xicon metal films have short and skinny leads. They're a pain but they worked OK when I used them. I've recently been building with Vishay/Dale CCF60 metal films and I dig 'em. I prefer their leads and higher voltage ratings. Best of all, they cost like 6 cents per piece from Mouser.

I can't speak for all Nichicon electrolytics, but I scored a few hundred of their 22uf @450V radial caps for a song a couple of years ago. I got both varieties - standard and compact. Lots of folks don't like radials, but mine have performed flawlessly, even when accidentally abused. I also have used the same variety of Rubycon and mine appear to simply be relabeled Nichicons. Beats me.

Film caps? I won't touch that one. I just use whatever matches my board material and/or wire.

[daydreamer]

Cheers Dynaman, Vishay/Dale, 6c?! I love it!!

I hadn't thought of ease of use, I'll keep that one high on the list.

I will most likely use a turret board, but love the idea of doing a full point-to point-layout, i guess the integrity of the component leads would be a highlighted in that style even more so.


thanks

Andy

[mcrracer]

I would also include thinking about eyelet boards in your builds. You can make your own eyelet boards for less than $3.00 each. I have seen prices for turret boards around $39 and up. For me the savings makes a difference and I have the means to cut my own board material. I buy my eyelets 10,000 at a time in order to get a great price. I don't know the availability of the raw materials in your area.

[daydreamer]

cheers Mcrracer,

I'll put that on the shopping list. That is a massive saving you are making there, and I guess there is more flexibility with your layouts?, not to get ahead of myself, but having an interesting layout is all part of the charisma of a design for me, I'm very 'visual' in that respect, even though it's the sound that matters!!.

I'm sure I can get the materials, as much as Perth is a long way from everywhere, there is a massive mining industry with all the associated flow on businesses. The more I look, the more i find...a local supplier even imports Hammond trannies! And there seems to be plenty of electrical manufacturers around as well.

thanks
Andy

[mcrracer]

I use many of the "classic" layouts Use what works and is time tested. I do draw my own layouts for the amps I have designed. To me ,many sections of a layout are sort of standardized for example the PI circuit in a push pull (think Marshall 18 watt). When you study enough schematics and layouts, patterns begin to emerge that you recognize as the "building blocks" of your own layouts. Good luck.

[TheGimp]

Avoid Ceramic caps like the plague.

They are microphonic, and shift value with applied voltage.

For pf range caps, silver mica is the only way to go.

Orange caps can be either Polypropylene or Polyethylene, so you can't go by the color.

Polypropylene is prefered as its absorption losses are less, this results in cleaner signal transmission.

Xicon polypropylene caps are brown instead of orange.

PIO (depending on construction) can have less absosrption than PP or PE caps and thus sound better still, but aren't necessary unless you are doing audiophile amps. If you have a cheap source of them, use them.

[daydreamer]

Use what works and is time tested

without a doubt, especially layouts from the builder's on this forum, there is a lot of quality going on round these parts! ...

at the moment I'm working on the AX84 P1 extreme design, and comparing it to the others suggested to me in a previous thread. although it may be the long way round, I want to have a good grasp of the "building blocks" before I start.

Do you have any component brand preferences?

thanks
Andy

[daydreamer]

Avoid Ceramic caps like the plague

Should I stick to electrolytic then? (I'm stretching my understanding here, I really should wait for my book to turn up, so I'm not asking too much basic stuff)

thanks Gimp. (BTW I've noticed you use LTSpice a lot, I've installed it, haven't had time to get into it yet though, where do I get the tube modeling libraries from?)

thanks
andy

[mlp-mx6]

The answers depend on what you're trying to build.

For example, if you are building according to the Dumble template, you cannot "avoid ceramics like the plague." In some circuit locations they are REQUIRED for the expected tone/response. Be careful with explicit recommendations.

Most of the layouts posted in this forum have recommended cap and resistor types. I would recommend you follow those suggestions as a starting point, then experiment to come to your own conclusions.

['67_Plexi]

Avoid Ceramic caps like the plague.

They are microphonic, and shift value with applied voltage.

For pf range caps, silver mica is the only way to go.

Orange caps can be either Polypropylene or Polyethylene, so you can't go by the color.

Polypropylene is prefered as its absorption losses are less, this results in cleaner signal transmission.

Xicon polypropylene caps are brown instead of orange.

PIO (depending on construction) can have less absosrption than PP or PE caps and thus sound better still, but aren't necessary unless you are doing audiophile amps. If you have a cheap source of them, use them.

Disagree on the Ceramics, it depends on the quality. There are a whole myriad of different spec. ceramics and price range. Never have either of those problems and I use around 150 a month. Of course avoid the ones that cost 2 cents for anything critical. I don't use SM at all, had too many examples that pass DC, plus I actually don't like how any of the recent ones produced sound.

Prefered by who, you, many people, everyone ? Just kidding.....By absorbtion losses (unfamiliar term to me), do you mean dielectric soak or dielectric memory ? If so Film caps don't really suffer from it at a level that would affect a guitar amplifier. If there is a minute difference, it's not a deal breaker in comparison with the difference of tone of the material.
Maybe in some analogue logic circuit or something it may be.......I guess I would say just use the material that sounds the best in your application. Try them all, it's the only way to know. Electrolytics suffer from it, sure.
If it's not dielectric soak, explain further and quallify your remarks so folks, myself included, know what you are talking about.

Alan.
Carol-Ann Amps.

['67_Plexi]

Avoid Ceramic caps like the plague

Should I stick to electrolytic then? (I'm stretching my understanding here, I really should wait for my book to turn up, so I'm not asking too much basic stuff)

thanks Gimp. (BTW I've noticed you use LTSpice a lot, I've installed it, haven't had time to get into it yet though, where do I get the tube modeling libraries from?)

thanks
andy

Andy, You are getting mixed up with the different answers.
Electrolytics come in values that start around 1uF and go upwards, there are a few smaller ones, but you wouldn't use them. Ceramics are much lower values, typically in the pF range as ar Silver Mica.

My tip of the week to folks is don't write off good quality Tantalum caps as a replacement for low uF value electrolytics in cathode bypass applications.

Anyway, back to work........

Alan
Carol-Ann Amps.