[Ramblingman]

I was just wondering if anyone thought it would be worth swapping out the cap inside a tomahawk with the blackgate equivalent.

I did a quick search and it looks like the closest one they have is their 15000uF 10v NX cap. This should work i think...

Anyone think it would be worth giving it a go?

 

[Manny Calavera]

How would this potentially improve it ?

 

[Ramblingman]

I dont know, just thought the way that everyone goes on about black gates that it might be worth the couple of $ to swap it out.

It doesn't make any sense to me how it would improve it other than perhaps a better quality component but even then its still going to be an electrolytic cap and might have no effect on the sound.

 

[FallenAngel]

Yeah, why not, at the least, placebo effect will make you think it's totally worth it! As for reasonable reasons for it, that looks like a Nichicon UPW cap, so why not, BlackGate NX will be a better cap in some ways (I'm hoping for ESR at least, but since they don't publish their specs, who knows, I did see ESR measurements confirming that their NX caps do match some of the bullsh*t advertisement tactics claiming they really are nice caps.

 

[error401]

As far as I can tell, there isn't anything close to that size in the Black Gate line. I think you missed a 0, the Black Gate NX series tops out at 1500uF, not 15000uF - and that cap is in the same size case (I think, from eyeballing the pic).

It would seem to be a power supply cap. I don't think it's a UPW though, all the UPW I've seen have a brown sleeve. My guess is it's a Panasonic M series, which comes in this value and is blue with white markings like that. Panasonic caps also tend to have the reddish marking that's barely visible at the top of the cap, so that's my bet.

There is a UPW in this value and case though, and it might be an improvement since it's a Low-Z cap. May as well give it a try, but I don't think you'll be able to hear a difference. The cap is already grossly oversized, and probably there is local decoupling with fast ceramics anyway.

 

[Ramblingman]

I did actually miss a 0... oops thanks for pulling me up on that error401.

Seems that that the consensus is that there wont be to much of a difference, thanks for the info everyone!

 

[KoKoKrunch]

The tomahawk's circuit looks too simple for it to cost that much... but I think you ought to find out what the cap is used for, probably for power supply...

 

[Uncle Erik]

It'll void your warranty, won't it?

 

[MASantos]

Ray Samuels is one of the most respected headphone amp builders and designers around. He spends countless hours designing and testing his products. He would never use a cap that wasn't the best for its specific application.

There is one thing you need to understand, Blackgates are not the best capacitor to every application.

 

[nikongod]

regarding capacitor capacitance differences: i would not get too concerned with being forced to use a smaller cap there if you want to fit a black-gate. the amp will run for a few seconds after its switched off... the stock cap is way bigger than necessary.
Quote:

Originally Posted by MASantos /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ray Samuels is one of the most respected headphone amp builders and designers around. He spends countless hours designing and testing his products. He would never use a cap that wasn't the best for its specific application.

but sonnic preferences differ. one mans harsh and grainy is anothers detailed and clear...
one mans smeary bloated is another's warm and smooth.
Quote:

There is one thing you need to understand, Blackgates are not the best capacitor to every application.

to be sure i agree they are not the end-all-be all, but in an analog circuit, they generally do quite well.

 

[AudioCats]

15000 uf is way overkill, you probably won't need more than 3000 uf per channel, so 6800 should be good enough.

But I don't think you can get a blackgate that big to fit into the matchbox case.

 

[Tgun5]

If you do the mod I would be interested in knowing the outcome