Why do capacitors in the reissue cost $2.20 while the ones in my old beater only cost $11?

I need 5.

So that's, like, $44.00 more than I have to spend if I decide to get the good ones.




I'm going to go with the good ones because it's hard to know just when the ones that blow up and squirt white goo all over the place start sounding bad.




Weren't we talking about parts cost recently?





all the best,
mike

They are made in China, I guess.

Yes, but can you translate this:

"Why do capacitors in the reissue cost $2.20 while the ones in my old beater only cost $11?"

 

Mike when I was bulding quality amplifiers in my hi fi days I never skimped on quality components. I built a Williamson class A valve hi fi amp back in the 70's. The electrolytic capacitors in the power supply had to be 8 uf 500V because the DC rail in the Williamson is 500V! (I wore it a few times too)  I had to import them from Phillips in Holland because they made a 600 V capacitor. I was nervous about putting 500V onto a capacitor that was only rated to 500V!There were cheaper 500v units available even in Australia but I am so glad I got them from Phillips instead. They were built like a tank and almost the size of a softdrink can. And they looked fantastic too. They were quite expensive from memory.

Also the output transformers had to be special in terms of their windings. The Williamson circuit uses some interesting taps on the primary of the output transformer. But I could not get the output transformers anywhere. I contacted a high quality transformer manufacturer in England and they said they would make them for me but a minimum run of 10! I convinced 4 other people to build Willimason's so I could get the 10 output transofmers wound by this quality company. They cost a lot too I can assure you.

I think from memory we all got a local transformer company to wind the power transformer and the inductor used also in the power supply because there was not one large enough with enough Henries. The circuit called for a massive inductor there too.

I was lucky with the output valves because I worked in Foreign Affairs at the time in the area of cryptographic encoding of our communications between our embassies. (My original area of expertise and the first area of electronics for me.)  We had hundreds of them because our coding technology used KT66's would you believe. (Those were the days! I was cleared to Top Secret then and because of that I did not have to open my briefcase on the way out so I was able to smuggle pairs of them out each day! ) And we had a million dollar valve tester there too so I could get perfect matched pairs. We all got our chassis chrome plated too!

I say go for it. You will be happy in the end and the gear will never fail. BTW I sold mine which I was very sad about. It did heat up the room on a good day! All 5 of them are in Canberra and fully functional to this day without fault! They do sound incredible. Coupled with Quad Electrostatic speakers (and a sub woofer) it is possibly one of the finest sounds you will ever hear. And it was all fed from the finest direct drive turntable with SME arm and Shure V15 III pickup which I still believe was one of the best cartridges produced ever! All I have got now from that era is the turntable.

Where do you guys get your hand rolled oil and aluminum caps for guitars. You talking about BumbleBee's? I've been modding my Randall preamps and am looking for an online store that has more to offer than Mojotone or the like. Thanks

Lol. NOS tuna. . . . that's funny dude. I've replaced all the caps in my Randall preamps with Orange Drops and Silver Mica's. As of yet I don't hear a difference but I'm hoping they just need to break in.  Def gonna try the Vitamin T's in my Les Paul. Thanks for the info. Have a good evening.  BTW, would you have any ideas for maling my Marshall like SL+ preamp more "Marshally"? I'm kind of a novice at this with good soldering skills.

Hi Mike - if you can tell us where, in the circuit, these capacitors are used we can probably figure out which ones need to be expensive and which one may not need to be...

Hi Mike - guess you really can't own enough old Fender amps eh? The thing about parts prices is that they are, to some degree, imaginary (if I were a jaded sort) or possible just arbitrary. The problem with parts selection is that specifications are not always complete, and comparing one part to another can be trying! If I were building one-offs I'd probably skip price as a consideration, well except that I don't really believe in all those magic caps, but then as soon as the cost becomes an order of magnitude greater than anything else I get suspicious... anyone want to buy a $300 power cord? In many cases parts are selected for street appeal as much as anything else. A company might use a "premium" part just to be able to say that they did. Most of the time this is pure marketing. There are exceptions of course... I tend to save my pennies for specific brands of transformers, for example. Some are just plain neutral, some provide very specific non-linearities... so it's still a choice, but I don't skimp. I've tried the lower priced fare and been disappointed every time. For capacitors I've settled on a couple different families, and I don't stray far from them, come to think of it the same goes for resistors. Recently I've had to learn all about surface mount parts - makes me appreciate tubes even more!!!!!

old Vibrolux reverb = 16uf 450v Spragues = No Brainer!
Arbitrary pricing; supply/demand. Quality; first rate!
If there's room in the cap cover go 20uf on the screens.
I don't know why, but a stable screen supply just "works" for me.
Generally I put a diode in line to prevent the output plates from "pulling" power
from the rest of the string.
1) Helps keep the screen supply extra stable
2) Adds a bit more "sag"
T