# Boutique Capacitors - Where to buy?



## joneeboi

I'm wondering if there is a thread that lists the different vendors that offer all our favourite boutique caps. I tried searching for it but didn't come up with much. If someone could direct me to a list, that'd be great. If such a thread does not exist, I would like to start one. Thing is, I don't know which are considered "boutique" so this thread's survival depends mostly on your input. Now, where are those caps?

[size=x-small]*
 Acoustic Dimension*[/size]
 Black Gate, Jensen, Jupiter

[size=x-small]*
 Angela Instruments*[/size]
 Angela, Black Gate, Cornell Dubilier, Elna, Fender, Jensen, JJ, LCR, Nichicon, Sequa, Sprague

[size=x-small]*
 Antique Electronic Supply*[/size]
 Alessandro, Audience, Hovland, Mallory, Nichicon, Sprague, Peavey, Silver Mica, Solen, Wima, Xicon

[size=x-small]*
 Audiokit*[/size]
 Digitex, ICEL, Intertechnik, MIT, Polystirolo, SCR, Solen, Sprague, TRT, Silvercap, Wima

[size=x-small]*
 Audiyo*[/size]
 Mundorf

[size=x-small]*
 B&D Enterprises*[/size]
 Cornell Dub., Hitachi, Nichicon, Nippon Chemicon, Panasonic, Rubycon, Sprague, Vishay


*Caps&Coils
*Jantzen Audio, ClarityCap  


[size=x-small]*Digikey*[/size]
 Elna

[size=x-small]*
 DIYCable.com*[/size]
 Audience, Cardas, ClarityCap, Erse

[size=x-small]*
 DIY HiFi Supply*[/size]
 AudioNote, Black Gate, FEP/SN, Jupiter, Obliggato, Silver Mica

[size=x-small]*
 diyparadise*[/size]
 Elna, F&T, Panasonic

[size=x-small]*
 E-Speakers.com*[/size]
 ClarityCap, Duelund

[size=x-small]*
 Euphonia Audio*[/size]
 Audience

[size=x-small]*
 Handmade Electronics*[/size]
 AudioCap, Elna, F&T, Illinois, Nichicon, Rubycon, Silver Mica, Solen, Sprague

[size=x-small]*
 hificollective*[/size]
 Ansar, Audio Note, Black Gate, Elna, Jensen, LCR, Mundorf

[size=x-small]*
 Leda Resources*[/size]
 Bennic, Mundorf, SCR

[size=x-small]*
 Madisound Speaker Components*[/size]
 Bennic, Carli, ClarityCap, Fostex, GE, Hovland Musicap, Madisound, Mundorf, Solen

[size=x-small]*
 Michael Percy Audio*[/size]
 ASC, Axon, Black Gate, Hovland, Jupiter, Nichicon, Reliable, Solen, TRT, Unlytic

[size=x-small]*
 parts conneXion*[/size]
 ASC, Audience, Audio Note, Black Gate, Cardas, CE, Cornell, Duelund, TRT, Hovland, Jamicon, Jensen, JJ, Jupiter, MultiCap, Mundorf, Paccom, PIO, Polystyrene, RelCap, Silver Mica, Sanyo Os-con, Solen, Unlytic

[size=x-small]*
 Parts Express*[/size]
 Audience, Audio Cap, Dayton, Jantzen, Kimber Kap, Ruby Tubes, Solen, Xicon

[size=x-small]*
 Realaudio*[/size]
 CDE, Nichicon, RIFA, Wima

[size=x-small]*
 Reference Audio Mods*[/size]
 Audio Consulting, Black Gate, Elna, Jensen, Leclanche, Rubycon

[size=x-small]*
 Sonic Craft*[/size]
 Audience, AudioCap, Black Gate, Cardas, TRT, Jupiter, Kimber, MultiCap, Mundorf, RelCap, Sonicap

[size=x-small]*
 Soundlabs Group*[/size]
 Audience, Leclanche, Mundorf, Vistaton

[size=x-small]*
 Strassacker: Speaker, Do-it-yourself*[/size]
 Intertechnik, Jensen, Mundorf

[size=x-small]*
 Tang Hill International LTD. Audio*[/size]
 Audience, AudioCap, BHC, Black Gate, Cardas, Dubilier, Elna, Elwa, ERO, Erse, Gen, Hovland, ITT, Jensen, Mullard, MultiCap, Mundorf, OdioCap, Os-Con, Philip, Plessey, Rifa, RelCap, Solen, Soshin Mica, Sprague, Suflex, TCC, TRT, Wego, Wima

[size=x-small]*
 TubeDepot.com*[/size]
 Audience, F&T, Hovland, Illinois, JJ, LCR, Silver Mica, Solen, SoZo, Sprague, Xicon

[size=x-small]*
 The Tube Store*[/size]
 Audience, F&T, Illinois, JJ, Mojotone, Rifa, Solen, Sprague, Xicon

[size=x-small]*
 Tubes4all*[/size]
 ERO, Intertechnik, Jensen, Philps

[size=x-small]*
 V-Cap*[/size]
 V-Cap

[size=x-small]*
 Welborne Labs*[/size]
 CDE, Elna, F&T, Nichicon, Solen, Wima

 ----------------------
[size=x-small]*
 Reading to consider:*[/size]
ecp.cc
Angela Instruments (scroll down)


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## Log1c

partsconnexion.com has them.

 Mainly they are considered Blackgates (all), Nichicon (some) and then all of the metal film caps.

 I'm new to this boutique thing as well so someone else can probably fill in the specifics.


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## ruZZ.il

Michael Percy Audio
Sonic Craft
Parts Connection
Hand Made
 all come to mind... I just scored some BG's NX and Sonicap GEN II's from parts cnx and sonicraft, that are warming up in my new MHM. you could also look through some of the MHM pages here since we've all recently been building/looking.. so its all been recently discussed..

 .. and I'm a n00b too.. but heck, t'sounds good!


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## LawnGnome

You can get elna silmic II from digikey.

 The elna cerafine series was considered to be very close to blackgate performance at much less cost. And the silmic II series is now 2 levels above the cerafine.

 You could recap all your components with them for the cost of doing half a component with bg's.


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## joneeboi

I was thinking of listing each brand of capacitor offered at each store, but with parts conneXion's offerings, it would take a long time. Perhaps one day I could invest that kind of time.

 Maybe when you list the store, you could say which caps are offered there. I may or may not incorporate that information, but at least we'll know.


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## FallenAngel

Actually, _dsavitsk_ has already done it, it's on his site www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html but it's down at the moment, but you can always see the cached version.


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## balou

Audio Kit also has a range of boutique caps. Theyre probably the shop of choice for EU residents (shipping costs). www.audiokit.it


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## dsavitsk

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *FallenAngel* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Actually, dsavitsk has already done it, it's on his site www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html but it's down at the moment, but you can always see the cached version._

 

There is also a cached version at archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/200705210...cap-notes.html
 It seems to not be as up to date. 

 Web site will be back up soon ...

 There is also this one: http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

 and this one: http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf

 You'll see we all disagree a bit.


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## Mazuki

Has anyone ordered from Percy Audio lately? I've emailed this guy three times over a couple of weeks and I will haven't gotten a single response? As far as I know there is no order form, do I email him some kind of spreadsheet with everything?


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## tomb

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *dsavitsk* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_There is also a cached version at archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/200705210...cap-notes.html
 It seems to not be as up to date. 

 Web site will be back up soon ...

 There is also this one: http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

 and this one: http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf

 You'll see we all disagree a bit._

 

Whoa! That's an understatement. This guy:
http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf
 wished Jupiters had never been made. With a few exceptions, the caps he finally recommends as best are in the $hundreds of dollars.


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## dsavitsk

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *tomb* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_wished Jupiters had never been made._

 

My only guess is he had a bad pair, or he melted them a bit and they were leaky. He's the only person I've heard of who had such a strong reaction to the Jupiters. Most people seem to say they sound great, but they melt so easily that they are a real pain to use. My experience is that they are so much better than Auricaps, etc. that something had to have gone wrong with his.


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## LawnGnome

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *tomb* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Whoa! That's an understatement. This guy:
http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf
 wished Jupiters had never been made. With a few exceptions, the caps he finally recommends as best are in the $hundreds of dollars. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

I hate reviews like that.

 They always end up with one product that they claim the end all be all, greatest thing ever made that will take you into some new magical wonderland. And everything else is useless.

 One guy's ears, in one system, with one set of each test caps, without blind tests.

 Sure sounds like a solid review to me!


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## Log1c

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *LawnGnome* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I hate reviews like that.

 They always end up with one product that they claim the end all be all, greatest thing ever made that will take you into some new magical wonderland. And everything else is useless.

 One guy's ears, in one system, with one set of each test caps, without blind tests.

 Sure sounds like a solid review to me!
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

He is definitely a member of the more money than brains club.


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## joneeboi

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *FallenAngel* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Actually, dsavitsk has already done it, it's on his site www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html but it's down at the moment, but you can always see the cached version._

 

I'm going to borrow a little bit of information...
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Edit: Now here's another question: what makes one capacitor boutique and another a jelly bean? Maybe there's a thread for this too, eh? Hmm...


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## kipman725

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *tomb* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Whoa! That's an understatement. This guy:
http://www.vhaudio.com/21capacitorshootout.pdf
 wished Jupiters had never been made. With a few exceptions, the caps he finally recommends as best are in the $hundreds of dollars. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 


 thanks that was a good laugh.. so much meaningless crap. His level of self dilusion is so monumental. His use of meaningless statistics and figures astounding. His Lack of meaningfull testing saddening. I think this travasty is best summed up in his own words:

 "The experience is equivalent to religious transformation in the Kingdom of High-fidelity!"

 Yes to belive anything he says would require close to religious belief.


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## mb3k

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Mazuki* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Has anyone ordered from Percy Audio lately? I've emailed this guy three times over a couple of weeks and I will haven't gotten a single response? As far as I know there is no order form, do I email him some kind of spreadsheet with everything?_

 

I also got deterred by Percy because of no response over several weeks - no clue why there was no response.

 The store that carried a lot of Nichicon caps was here:
http://shop.diyrealaudio.com/


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## LawnGnome

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *kipman725* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_thanks that was a good laugh.. so much meaningless crap. His level of self dilusion is so monumental. His use of meaningless statistics and figures astounding. His Lack of meaningfull testing saddening. I think this travasty is best summed up in his own words:

 "The experience is equivalent to religious transformation in the Kingdom of High-fidelity!"

 Yes to belive anything he says would require close to religious belief._

 

I'm stealing that last bit for my sig.


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## Mazuki

Quote:


 I also got deterred by Percy because of no response over several weeks - no clue why there was no response.

 The store that carried a lot of Nichicon caps was here:
http://shop.diyrealaudio.com/ 
 

Nice find mb3k! Too bad about Percy Audio, they carry so many caps


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## tomb

Handmade has always been my source for Nichicon Muses. Although BDent carries the one, single solitary 470uF 35V ES - which happens to be perfect for a Millett C7.

 That diyrealaudio link freaked me out when I saw $35 for the same cap - but then I looked up "NT$" and saw that 32-33 NT$ ~ $1 US.


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## balou

Quote:


 Now here's another question: what makes one capacitor boutique and another a jelly bean? 
 

 For boutique parts, you pay a two digit sum for one piece. For jelly beans, you pay one dollar for a two digit sum of pieces...

 Price


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## LawnGnome

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *balou* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_For boutique parts, you pay a two digit sum for one piece. For jelly beans, you pay one dollar for a two digit sum of pieces...

 Price 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

And it seems more and more often price is the only thing that is different.

 Besides jellybeans being yummy.


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## dsavitsk

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *LawnGnome* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_And it seems more and more often price is the only thing that is different._

 

People who say things like this typically haven't tried both or used equipment that can reveal the difference. SR-80's or DT-770's, or HD497's, or mp3 sources are going to so swamp the sonic signature, that you'd never hear know there was a good cap in there as there are so many bad ones. In that range of equipment, something like a few Solens will likely offer a nice step up from stock.

 And, that brings up an important point with regard to how to read these reviews -- for instance, I like the Mundorf Silver Oil caps, but I don't like them if your combination source/amp/phones are in the sub $10K range. You just won't hear the difference and it will be as waste of money. This stuff is last 0.1% stuff.


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## LawnGnome

...


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## LawnGnome

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *dsavitsk* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_People who say things like this typically haven't tried both or used equipment that can reveal the difference. SR-80's or DT-770's, or HD497's, or mp3 sources are going to so swamp the sonic signature, that you'd never hear know there was a good cap in there as there are so many bad ones. In that range of equipment, something like a few Solens will likely offer a nice step up from stock.

 And, that brings up an important point with regard to how to read these reviews -- for instance, I like the Mundorf Silver Oil caps, but I don't like them if your combination source/amp/phones are in the sub $10K range. You just won't hear the difference and it will be as waste of money. This stuff is last 0.1% stuff._

 

Spending 50-100$ to recap an amp, you could put that money into a better amp in the first place.

 Also, a good circuit would minimize the effect of the capacitors in the signal path.

 You don't have to spend a fortune to get good capacitors. The reason audiophile capacitors cost so much is exactly that reason, they are marketed specifically as audiophile caps. 

 As well as the elitist factor. Part of the reason everyone is all about BG's and tend to ignore Muse, Cerafine, and Silmic II series.


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## dsavitsk

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *LawnGnome* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Spending 50-100$ to recap an amp, you could put that money into a better amp in the first place.

 Also, a good circuit would minimize the effect of the capacitors in the signal path._

 

Part of me says that I don't disagree with you at all. Once you have a great circuit that is well built and where there is little else to do, then investing in good caps is a good thing to do.

 On the other hand, though, why is spending a ton of money to build a better amp so morally superior to getting the same benefit for the same money by using better caps? It is like tube rolling in the end.

  Quote:


 You don't have to spend a fortune to get good capacitors. The reason audiophile capacitors cost so much is exactly that reason, they are marketed specifically as audiophile caps. 
 

Maybe, maybe not. They may be more expensive than they need to be, but find me a non-audiophile cap that compares with a top of the line made for audio one and I'll use it. I've tried the Russian Teflons and their ilk, and they compare as mid-range caps. Compared to audiophile caps, they are a good deal, but they don't sound better than the best of the best.

  Quote:


 As well as the elitist factor. Part of the reason everyone is all about BG's and tend to ignore Muse, Cerafine, and Silmic II series. 
 

For a reason -- Blackgates sound better than those. No comparison.

 Anyway, as I say, I don't think you have actually made the comparisons using equipment or a circuit on which you could tell the difference.


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## joneeboi

Any idea where we could find some answers to this question? It seems it may be a bit more philosophical than I'd thought. So far, we have "Boutiques sound better." 

 "But joneeboi, consider the CMoy. It's such a simple design that sounds really good to some people. How can you justify such reasoning when the CMoy design is nearly the most simple a circuit you can get with today's technology for a headphone amp?"

 "You bring up a good point, imaginary objector. To that I respond with the fact that Blackgates perform leagues ahead of other capacitors in capacitor performance benchmarks."

 "Oh, so now audio is reduced to numbers and specs?! You contradict yourself in your original statement that, and I quote, '*outiques sound better.' How do you know how a capacitor sounds when you're just looking at its performance figures?"

 "Perhaps numbers and sound aren't mutually exclusive. I'll concede that numbers don't reveal everything there is to sound in general, but I believe that it can at least give us an idea about why it sounds better."

 "You're a pig-headed bigot. I hope you fry yourself on a tube amp. Goodbye."

 "..."

 **

 Well, that got heated pretty quickly. Anyone care to enlighten our imaginary objector?*


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## tomb

Something simple that seemed to get obscured in all this and it gets to the point in your observation about a CMoy, etc.

 Premise: "Design the circuit to be the best it can be, then you won't need boutiques." (paraphrasing)

 The problem with this statement is that some tube circuits require capacitors in the signal path, period. In those cases, the quality of the capacitor's sound contribution means everything. The sound of a tube amp may be totally controlled just by the output coupling capacitor. If the cap sounds bad, the amp sounds bad.

 Applications like that are why boutiques exist.

 Likewise for speaker crossovers - you have to have a capacitor - it's not a cutoff (RLC) without one. Yet, by definition, the signal goes right through the cap. If the cap sounds bad, the speaker sounds bad.

 Something like a CMoy, or even the best digital amps, may not have a single cap in the path of the signal. What caps are there are for power. There are some who claim that BG's are even best in those cases, but the justification becomes much more problemmatical. A good Panasonic FM may be as good as it gets.

 IMHO, and YMMV.


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## dsavitsk

Back to the original request of the thread, in addition to the dealers on my site, 
http://www.e-speakers.com
http://www.diycable.com
http://www.madisound.com
http://www.tubedepot.com
http://www.tubesandmore.com
http://www.diyhifisupply.com
http://www.thetubestore.com
http:///www.partsexpress.com
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com


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## joneeboi

Fun updates. Any suggestions for improvement?


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## joneeboi

Exposure bump.


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## limathy

hi, does anyone know which online stores will ship worldwide?


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## Crafty

Hi, 

 Another addition to the boutique cap stores. 
http://www.capsandcoils.com
 Sells: Jantzen Audio and ClarityCap 

 I ship worldwide 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 Kind regards
 Roland 
 Caps&Coils


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## Von Soundcard

Any good stores with a large catalogue of good caps (Mundorf and other PiO, Auricap, Elna etc.) in Europe ?


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## dsavitsk

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Von Soundcard* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Any good stores with a large catalogue of good caps (Mundorf and other PiO, Auricap, Elna etc.) in Europe ?_

 

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/
http://www.jacmusic.com/


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## Von Soundcard

Thanks for the link, the UK site is one of the good ones which I use to search for its many producers, although the prices are also higher than on other sites in Europe and they seem to focus on certain ranges.

 Any other european sites with more producers and ranges ?


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