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So I've been reading lots of the stuff on the internet (which is never good for the wallet) and some people talk about upgrading the capacitors (cap's) and potentiometers (pots) in their amps. I'm wondering what the benefits of each one of these is, what difference will I hear (assuming I'm going from cheap crappy stuff to start with to good quality stuff).
Next how do I know what to use. Do I just use similar stuff from a different company (e.g. if my cap says 2200uf 35v do I use other pots that say the same thing? And what do those numbers mean?)
Same for pots, what do I care about matching with those? Also is there anything else that would be recommended to upgrade over each of those.
Sorry for the newbness of this post, I think DIY stuff is fantastic but I don't understand alot of it yet.
Chris
Cap upgades: Depends where it is in the circuit as to if there is any benefit using high quality capacitors. In the signal path of audio is an area where people drop some serious money. Typically this will be the case with coupling capacitors, they block unwanted DC and pass AC, however it is widely regarded that this is bad for sound quality overall and you need certain values as a minimum to not impact significantly on your low frequency/bass performance amongst other ill effects. Typically the view is they are best left out if their use can be avoided. There are other areas where people may use boutique caps and it becomes debatable as to if they are beneficial in all applications.
Certain dielectrics and capacitor types are superior for certain applications so that is an area people often may upgrade. With film caps they may swap out polyester for polypropylene or teflon.
One of the main areas I upgrade existing circuit is if they are using poor quality electrolytics and have or will likely experience bulging or premature failure, that is an issue of reliability and not audible improvements.
Typically you can just swap in like for like, but I'd be careful if you're not exactly sure what you are replacing as you may not be certain what type you should be using for the application.
The main thing I suggest is start reading up on the topic, feel free to experiment, however I would suggest doing it with small cheap projects first. Where it is both cost effective in terms of build cost and collateral damage should anything go wrong.
Pots: The main thing is that with cheap ones I've found the feel to be poor, they can sometimes be stiff or difficult to turn with audible scratchy grating noises, they also wear out over time. Typically though decent brand pots are fine and while they will fail eventually are much more reliable. I'd suggest to try and use Alps or Panasonic etc. as a minimum rather than no name brand pots. I guess the upgrade for potentiometers would be a stepped attenuator, one way to describe them would be that instead of a potentiometer which has a wiper on a track, you use a rotary switch to 'select' a resistance from a resistor network with the resistance going up in 'steps'. Another option is digitally controlled volume control ICs but you need a microcontroller of some sort to control it.
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Update: did some reading. From what I read it kind of seems that as long as voltage is the same than the I can increase the farad rating with no negative effects and possibly benefits? Is this correct?
Depends entirely on the circuit. The capacitance value could be crucial to correct operation.
In certain applications, increased capacitance can be beneficial, however even that is to a point and I cannot just blindly suggest it as a rule. The opposite may hold true as well or the original value may indeed be the very best choice.
Let's say hypothetically a circuit could actually beneft from some larger capacitance on it's rail capacitors as the original designer only allowed for a low value due to cost and height, if those two constraints don't concern you then you could conceivably 'upgrade' over the original, however then it becomes a case of considering "if it ain't broke don't fix it" ?
Diminishing returns among other things comes into play, where to you draw the line on your upgrades ? The original circuit may work just fine and you may see no improvement even though you've made it 'better'.
Having said that in most cases a good design should allow for slight variances in the intended value and still operate correctly, however even if that is so it's not a reason to blindly 'upgrade' parts without understanding their function.
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I think its the other way around. Voltage rating can be increased with no negative effects but I doesnt give you any benefits either.
Farad rating should be the same as original. I hope some corrects me if Im wrong
Well increasing the voltage rating will more than likely cost you in terms of case size.
Capacitance again depends on application.
