Solen Lytics

[Blackburn]

Anyone like em? I know of a couple here who do and maybe they'll chime in, but being somewhat unconventional, how do any that have experience with them feel about them tonally? Just how 'fast' are they? I like the value selection and the prices aren't too bad, compared to some like Spragues. I've liked F&Ts for some time, but the Solens appeal to me in their uniqueness.

DK

[talbany]

IMO..They are too fast and too good for guitar amps!

Tony

[David Root]

The ones I'm familiar with are way too large to fit in a "normal" type layout. Expensive too. I'm thinking of the ones that a 47uF/630V cap is about one quarter of the volume of a beer can.
I think that Carr Amps use them exclusively, but they are the only guitar amp mfr. I know of that does. FWIW Carr amps have a pretty good reputation.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Never seen Solen 'lytics. Have seen Solen film caps - good stuff! Occasionally used a 22 uF 630V to replace a "dynamite stick" 20/600 in old B-15's and similar. If it's the Solen film caps you mean, yes they're big, a bit expensive, but should never need replacing.

[LeftyStrat]

To echo what Leo said, I've never seen Solen electrolytics, but they have way huge replacements for electrolytics. Tony's right that a one for one swap is a little too much.

I have an untested theory that you should lower the capacitance when using Solens. If you're replacing a 20uf electrolytic with a Solen, maybe 10uf would be sufficient.

And I'll try it next time I feel like blowing ten bucks on a 10uf cap, and have the room.

I do like the idea of ridding my amps with any electrolytics. They blur the bass and have a short lifetime.

[talbany]

I don't care who uses them!!
I've built 2 amps with the Solens...40uf I think (1 was a Marshall 18w,forget the other)..Both amps were stiff as a board and sounded clamped to me (might work for a Bass amp though)..I replaced them with Sprague's and the amps immediately opened up..I will never use them in my guitar amps again.YMMV

Lefty is right if you use then go with half the value..Then again..There are better places to spend your money!!...Like transformers and speakers..IMO

Tony

[David Root]

I agree with you Tony, I don't use them either, just pointing out one mfr. that does use them.

[talbany]

I agree with you Tony, I don't use them either, just pointing out one mfr. that does use them.

Dave
Sure!.. I know Dave Barber also used them in his Echlon Amp.. At one time we talked about taking over production of that amp.. He was the one that turned me on to them and he sweared by them? but I never got the chance to play that amp.. Perhaps maybe in a single ended amp like the Carr Rambler might be something to consider since those SE amps are inherently loose amps to begin with might help to keep those amps tight on the way out?..I just never preferred them in a push pull amp..

All The Best!

Tony

[rp]

If you want to experiment on the cheap: http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/C-MKP I think these are chinese knock-offs of Mundorfs or something like that. Maybe you get what you pay for vs Solens or Wimas but it's a cheap way to try it. If you do report back, though myself I'll go with talbany on this and am in no rush.

[dobbhill]

I understand the previous opinions regarding using Solens as power supply caps, but what about cathode bypass caps? Has anyone A-B'd them with the standard electrolytic in that position?
D

[rp]

? Lots of people use films for bypass - Marshall .68 is film, why not then 25? But you won't find a 22-25 in low voltage film - a 22/6.3V film would be terrific but it doesn't exist, so good luck fitting what you can find. Also you don't need Solens here, what's special about Solens is that they actually offer high values, high voltage, high quality western made films at a reasonable price. Otherwise there's the giant Wima boxes at 2-3 times the cost, plus expensive Hi-Fi Cans from Mundorf etc, and now the cheap Audiophilers I linked.

As IMO there's little sonic effect on the preamp stages after 5mF I'll often use 1-4.7/100V films. Sounds fine, whether different I can't really say as I've never sat and A/B'd as I don't think I'll hear 2 caps and A/Bing is such a PITA.

Love to hear if others found they hear/hate/love the sound of film bypass caps.

[beasleybodyshop]

I completely replaced all the "brown turds" in my SF Super Reverb with Solen fasts last month.

As far as tone, they do seem to be "quick" in a sense. I do notice crisp and tight bass response in my SR that was not there prior to swapping out the 'turds.

To my ear (and for this amp) I thought it was a pleasing improvement. YMMV.

[Blackburn]

Thanks everyone for the responses! I read something a long while back about them in a circuit and can't for the life of me remember where or what particular amp it was, but there was something written about the transient response of them, I think. I'm also familiar with Carr and his exclusive use of them as I've seen some gutshots. He certainly plays fast and loose with the glue gun! The clips I've heard of his amps sound pretty good but I've never used one in person so I can't speak for responsiveness or possible harshness. I'll probably stick with regular aluminum and keep going with F&Ts and maybe even give the Spragues another chance sometime, though the cost is up there and rather close to some hifi choices but not in the stratosphere like many.

[VacuumVoodoo]

Film caps in cathode bypass duty up to 2.2uF at 5% tolerance or better as this is where all important low end shelving equalization is set. -20%+50% on electrolytics in these positions can make or break low to low mid response.
Also, large variations in cathode bypass caps between two otherwise almost identical amps will result in distinct sonic differences between them.
As for polyprop capacitors in ripple smoothing duty (B+ filtering by another name). You guys are opening a can of worms.
Has anyone asked a question why WIMA, EPCOS etc high capacitance high voltage caps are radically more expensive than Solens and some other audiophile" grade caps?
One reason is to be found in what these are called. DC-link capacitors, developed specifically for ripple filtering duty. Solens are not since they don't say so explicitly.

Solen 22uF/630V---ca 12$CAD
EPCOS 20uF/630V--ca 15$US

The difference? EPCOS specify which application these are made for, Solen doesn't. Check the Epcos data sheet, then try to find similar info on Solens.

http://www.epcos.com/inf/20/20/db/fc_20 ... 74_678.pdf
https://www.solen.ca/pdf/solen/fastcap.pdf

So, about specmanship. 2 milliohms or 0.5 milliohm in ESR specs.
Right. Cool. What is the resistance of 1" of the lead? and then another inch or 3 of connecting wire to the rectifier?
Makes one wonder why EPCOS package theirs in boxes with short 0.2" pins.

So, "speed" and transient response. How fast a capacitor charges up OR DISCHARGES depends on capacitance, ESR and the resistive part of driving source impedance and its current sourcing % sinking capacity.
In tube amps and their linear power supplies all this is lost in wiring resistances and inductances. Only advantage is the extremely long lifetime. But hey, you can achieve close to that by correctly degrading high quality electrolytics.
And always remember, there's this "wishful hearing" phenomenon will all fall victim to.

[David Root]

Black Gate used to make a 22uF 6.3V non-polar film cap in the premium NX line. These are super clean audio grade. I used them back in my "Black Gate phase" some years ago.

They are of course no longer in production but probably still available on Ebay.
They are tiny (see pic) and will fit on ANY board no matter how cramped.