They will always be available, but you are going to have to pay the piper a good penny for them.

Video is TO LOONG! Good to see you! Polymers have a bad rep "soundwise" for one reason, or another, Audio Note Kaisei was portrayed as an alternative to Elna RFS2, but they must be made on the space station, as the prices are astronomical.

Ceramic caps are not stable... all high end amplifiers have film capacitors, WIMA or or other audio grade capacitors... ceramic caps are the worst for audio.

My Favourite. Tony is a top Man as we say in UK.

Agree with what you're saying about listening through speakers, although 'Manufacturers admit they can’t measure what the human ear can interpret to the brain' - I do wonder if a fair bit of this is down to peoples brain interpreting differences that aren't necessarily scientifically there when they 'upgrade' certian components, or buy $1000 speaker cables - there's not really a difference there other than your brains expectations. Not that there's anything wrong with that - those upgrades feed the audiophiles hobby, and someone happy with a hobby is a good thing.

here's something that's barely mentioned in discussions on the topic you mentioned: by the age most ppl can afford 'proper' hifi gear, their hearing is *not* even close to what the papers use as standards... (add to that the fact that the vast majority of listeners have no 'listening training' but that's a bit besides the point) in this particular case, the output of the caps is practically identical. the actual signals that ultimately reach the ear are subtracted and there is nothing left. no amount of hearing + hearing training can extract information from silence, there is nothing to interpret... ps: there's nothing wrong w/ following manuals, it's my preferred method too... that being said, i find 'audiophile arguments' esoteric in nature :)

Uh NO, we can measure everything related to sound reproduction in minute detail. The numbers do predict what we will hear. I get so tired of the fallacy repeated over and over that the human ear can hear things we cannot measure. That's an old wife's tale and used by the snake oil salesmen to defend the crap they sell to the gullible. Now here's something to think about, by moving your head just an inch or more during a listening test with speakers, you will change the frequency and phase response going to your ears. It doesn't take much to make quite a large difference so making comparisons that way is not productive.

@@duroxkilo What gets me are the audiophile magazines and online reviewers that are in their 60s and a lot pushing 80 claiming their hearing is just as good as when they were younger. They are full of BS. Most can't hear past 10kHz yet make silly claims about high frequency detail for some piece of gear.

@@davidlong1786 Agree about moving your head, play a 1000hz test tone, and move around in your best listening spot. It's crazy how the sound changes, even disappears in some spots.

Only way he could feel it thru his spine.

Weren't you blabbering on about this in your last video. 🤔

It's actually quite a bit less than half the capacitance in reverse polarity. The max voltage is also a small fraction of the max voltage in forward polarity.

@@xraytonyb Not that there should be any but a polarised at least will block DC. We have all seen many polarised caps die / go short or loose value but regarding film caps, I think most of us seem to be under the impression that they never degrade unless having suffered moisture ingress. Are there any good videos about the degradation of film caps and the difference is say sound after replacing older film caps in older audio equipment?

@@xraytonyb So when calculating circuit capacitor values for electrolytics, there should be large correction factors built into the formulas. Why do we not normally see this?

Almost everyone and most manufacturers use Wima polycaps.............in the end the sound gets a POLY-propylene sound ( = to much of the same sonic signature )............lean and clean...........somewhat flat sounding and kind ofa more lifeless polyproplyne type of sound. Personaly I use them sparingly and I use the less as possible any caps in any circuit for music reproction .....If so I prefer FOIL capacitors .........and in a a PRE-amp of quality only ONE in the signal path ..... For regular repair and design i prefer polystyrene instead of polypropylene...better thighs and less coloration.........as used ever since in most SS phono RIAA amplifiers. In ost commercial amplifiers the choice of capacitors doesn't make big difference as showed in this video...........as soon as correctioncircuits and NFB is used difference will be neutralized ....as the same happens to the music they produce...........on the testbank those amplifiers measure up to perfection but not soundwize even if they measure quite the same.......

Good quality Film caps can last many many decades and not change values all that much, good quality electrolytic caps change values much sooner. Film is almost always more expensive all things being equal.

@@user-qq2jj2mn8w Thank you!

Electrolytics need time to form. The sound will change once you get some time on them and they settle in. Once they form they should be stable for decades. Of course an old stereo that has been stuffed in a closet for years may have to reform again. Older leaky capacitors can change the bias on transistors and change the sound. (leaking DC)

Thats not posible.

Better to damp components and circuits...........and protect them from magnetic induction ...........everything is microphonic and capture RF...........even transistors are microphonic ..... Use a stetoscope to listen to filtercaps .........

Neither will pair up the best one with the ba2000 amp and sell as group. The other separate

Don't forget the milk bottle salt water capacitors! :)=)

@@xraytonyb and $200 oil filled ones!

what about making your own using teflon !!

Film caps are going to have a lower ESR and faster rise time, but at slow audio frequencies would that be relevant? Would there be enough difference to cause a phase shift to become something audible? Can you be more specific? Just saying that a subjective opinion of A is better than B does not help us to understand why. Please explain the benefits, thanks

@@zulumax1 I've restored a humble Yamaha c450 amp, to use for background music in my audiorepairshop. Used mainly the standard electrolitics, like in the original design, and used good quality too. The amp is fed with a decent recordplayer, and also a very good sounding highend cd player. Also decent loudspeakers and diy cables are used with high quality crossoverparts in the speakers. This combination sounded very good, and i used it for about six months. A year ago i decided to swap all electrolitics in the signalpath for filmcaps. For experimentel purposes, and my curiousity. I didn't expect much of a difference, but boy i was wrong! There is a profound difference in resolution, transparancy, speed and decay of notes. Also the soundstage improved quite a bit, and i was very, very pleasantly surprised. This was easy noticeable, no need for audiophile ears. Kickdrum attacs (much faster), aucoustic guitar, piano decay, you name it. I noticed no downsides in the sound. Example, the number riders on the storm. Everyone knows that song. It has so many small and tiny details in the first part. It's like hearing new things in something very, very familiar now. Very enjoyable. But Tony is right about the design of a circuit, and the designers who are taking into account the difference in parts. But things like speed, decay and soundstaging are not things you can measure, only hear when using a reveiling system without great bottlenecks. Every piece of the chain has to be of equal quality. Otherwise the difference is less easy to spot.

@@zulumax1, poo pooing a part for an upgrade in performance is laughable. There are such things as beyond question. The characteristics of the part demand scrutiny. Same capacitive value, possibly higher voltage rating and definitely higher temp rating. These effect longevity. Sonic, Jantsen, mylec, there are many brands but specialty caps open up resolution by having higher rise times and having or contributing to lowering the noise floor which opens up the sound. Some caps are more prone to smearing due to slower rise time characteristics. Sonic improvement is accomplished when the listener is happy. That is what matters. Just because a capacitor is rated the same, does not mean it will sound the same. Products, on the most part, are speced at a price point. This makes them subject to adequate performance given their quality. The signal path is a place given to varying frequencies and levels of operation, dynamic contrast. It makes sense to use parts that will allow that signal to be as least affected as possible. An electrolytic as a type is best suited to power supplies as it can handle swings well and in sufficient quantity will allow higher current capability, especially in power amps. The key to power supplies is being able to handle peaks without fatigue. There are brands like Nichicon which make audio grade capacitors. Can’t kick them, but the sonic benefit based upon ear checks and happy people that have a familiar friend in their gear and choose the high road to audio. Finding parts that deliver happy listeners, that matters. Whether this answers your question enough, that’s your call. This is a philosophy and a discipline. I can’t make others see what I hear. Their own ears are their guides. Happy people make the world go around.

It won't make any difference with these types of film caps. Some of the mylar caps (like those yellow ones and the orange drop types) used in tube gear will show a small difference, but it is very small, compared to the old paper/foil caps. I did a video on this where I installed the caps in an AM tube radio in both directions and was unable to see/measure any difference in SNR. Check it out when you get a chance.

@@xraytonyb Ok , Thanks ! 👍

​@@uliseszx6044 Rectangular, stacked film caps are a different beast to cylindrical, coiled.