Hewge A$$ power caps on the old school amps

[ds1919]

In the home autio community, the super duper high end amplifiers have these Huuuge power capacitors and power supplies. I mean, they're like Cambells Soup cans, and sometimes there's 4 or more of these on the amp.We;re talking class A/B, not D or tube gear.

I've auditioned many, yet many of these amps. They all sound different, but they all sound incredibly good. Bass impact is so fast and precise, and clarity is mezmorizing.

Some of the high end car amplifiers were built using this technology/theory/concept/practice, implementing "no expense spared" mentality to their products. One of which comes to mind is the Harmon Kardon car amplifier. The CA-260 amp, the flagship of the brand, had two 10,000uf caps, housed in their own steel sub-chassis. I had, maybe 6 years ago, 4 of these things in my 5 series bmw with two 10 subs. Rated at 120w each, they sounded more like 1500w total. Now I know about the old school amps having "truer" ratings, but what impressed me the most was the bass' sonic impact. It was sharp, precise, accurate, emphasized, and sounded like a full, complete sinewave. The difference was like eating vegetable oil in a bottle, or eating real butter.

that was the story part.

I wonder, why dont amplifier makers utilize this same concept of huge caps and power supplies? I am aware that production costs would be more, but it would set them apart from the pack. Doing some basic math here, it would be about $5 more per amp for the BIGA$$ caps, then another $20 for making htem fit and look good etc. But the amps could sell for $400 more, or even more, than the competitors. And even so, I think that they will outperform the competition in every way. Word of mouth,success as a product.

Or,,,,was this tried again and again and failed?

[ToNasty]

Caps are crap. Thats what i think

[Ray]

Well.. Short answer.

Just look at todays market.

Small piece of fuckin junk full range D amps.

Cheapest price wins, just copy someone elses design.

Little attempt made to make sure there is enough internal capacitance to support the board.

No, that being said, there are tons of manu's still doing it right, but be ready to pay for it.

Or add your own caps before the amp.

The caps are crap statement is funny

Yes, for most D amps it is true, but we are talking A/B amps.. Caps do have their place, and most of todays amps would benefit from a few.

Line noise and voltage stability is something that most people dont think of.

Just wire it to .25 and boost the line voltage...... Problem solved right??

Hell, think the PA speakets can even reproduce it accuratly enough to matter?

No.. And hell no.

[ds1919]

Ray, your words are like Gospel.