 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
24.116.190.59
In Reply to: Oh fer chrissake. MAINS rated caps only. posted by Timbo in Oz on December 24, 2004 at 02:16:00:
They're actually the whole reason for this exercise as I have been told that power conditioning is essential for good digital performance. This seemed to be the easiest place to start for someone with very limited tweaking skills, especially if applied at the outlet.I didn't know about the insurance concern. If I install these at the outlets will I have broken some electrical code? Does this tweak done within a component bypass any insurance stipulations or electrical codes?
Follow Ups:
I sure wouldn't put them in the outlets. In a component, behind the fuse, I feel they can't do much harm. I only have them in my CD player and I turn that one off when I am not around. You can cover the caps in a non-flammable compound in case you don't feel that's safe enough. On the other hand, there are people selling line conditioners that have Auricaps in them, across the A/C.I've had mine in use for almost 2 years now.
But the warning is soemthing not to take lightly -insurance companies just love to find anything DIY'd and not installed by licensed electricians that they can use to raise suspicion that you may have caused a house fire, even if it is 99.999% certain the dishwasher started the fire (speaking from experience with my in-law's place, where they still are messing with the insurance about a fan I installed in their basement for a darkroom, about 20 feet away and on a different floor from where the fire actually started, and all on a different circuit than the dishwasher where the fire clearly originated)
So, play it safe. However, one thing is for sure - regular AC rated caps don't do what Auricaps do. Save your time and effort if you think those are an alternative that will get you similar results. Been there, done it.
Peter
Peter
I am not familiar to such tweak but can anyone explain why it is called auricap tweak? Can we use cap from other brand?
I have try to use Jensen CO 0.47uf on the internal AC terminal to my Denon 3910 and the result is great.
"Auricap" is a trade name for metallized polypropylene capacitors made by Audience. See the link to the site, which is loaded with hype for the audio properties of these capacitors. I haven't used these capacitors, so I can't speak to their audio properties.This tweak, however, places the capacitors across the AC line. The purpose is to shunt RFI/EMI present as difference-mode noise and reduce the level of it that gets into the audio component's power supply.
The relevant property of the shunting capacitor in this application would be its RF impedance, not its midrange transparency. No matter how good the dielectric material used may be at audio or radio frequencies, the geometry of the capacitor determines its parasitic inductance.
This inductance, which is present in any real capacitor, forms a resonant frequency with the capacitance. The capacitor has its lowest impedance at this resonant frequency, and then behaves like an inductor with rising impedance as the frequency increases above this self-resonance. Note that the self-resonant frequency is typically far above the audio band and does not affect the audio properties of the capacitor.
If the RFI/EMI on the power line has significant energy at frequencies above the self-resonant frequency of the capacitor, it is less than completely effective. Adding it might improve the sound, but the improvement would not be as much as if a capacitor with a higher self-resonant frequency were used.
All we have are anecdotes about how adding the Auricaps across the power line improves the performance of some audio gear. I'm not equipped to carry out the tests, but I'd like to see someone independent measure the self-resonant frequencies of the recommended Auricap and some alternatives, such as silver-mica and ceramic capacitors, as well as the X- and Y-rated caps.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
