box caps

[jeffaroo]

im looking for a good source for box caps. id prefer to just pay for a assortment rather than hand pick every one out. any ideas ? id also like to keep the order in the usa if i can help it

[jkokura]

Tayda. Or Smallbear.

Jacob

[madbean]

EPCOS

http://www.mouser.com/EPCOS/Passive-Components/Capacitors/Film-Capacitors/_/N-9x371?P=1yznbzrZ1z0vn48Z1z0zl90Z1yzn99gZ1z0x83kZ1z0x692Z1z0x1d4

[atreidesheir]

I second the Epcos for the box film types.  Used them since I started and they seem pretty good.

I have ordered the blue box caps from Tayda and I think they are Epcos too.  They sure do look the same.

I also use greenies from tayda for some values. 
Also look for the big asorted value ceramic capacitor lots on ebay.  You can get 50 each of 50 common values for @$15.
I mention the greenies and ceramics because they are good to fill in the inventory.
I apologize for the unsolicited advice.

[RobA]

I use the EPCOS caps too for most things. I'll note though that https://avnetexpress.avnet.com usually has them cheaper than Mouser. The two things that Avnet has a significantly better price on are EPCOS caps and TI parts. For other things, I find it's kind of a toss up who's going to have the better price/availability.

[gtr2]

I bought bulk values in the dark red panasonics ECQ-1 but my stash is depleting and I can't find them for the deal I got.  I've used the EPCO's and have some but I can't get past the bright blue color.  Does that make me a cap snob?

Wima's are sweet but $$$

Some of Tayda's box caps are Arcotronics which KERMIT owns.  Haven't used any yet.

It's hard to beat Smallbear's deal on the Topmay bags of 100.

Josh

[raulduke]

I've started using WIMA MKS2 where I can, and Epcos if I can't get the value I want with the WIMA's. Both types are pretty cheap from Farnell (in the UK).

[Chi_Boy]

I use the EPCOS caps too for most things. I'll note though that https://avnetexpress.avnet.com usually has them cheaper than Mouser. The two things that Avnet has a significantly better price on are EPCOS caps and TI parts. For other things, I find it's kind of a toss up who's going to have the better price/availability.

Avnet is around half, or less than half on the few values I checked.  That's significant.

Never heard of them though.  Are they easy to work with?  Anything to know before ordering?

I'll be checking them out for sure.  Thanks for the tip!

[oldhousescott]

Avnet has been around for a long time. They are primarily a distributor to equipment manufacturers, just like Mouser and Newark. Good to know about the EPCOS caps, those are what I normally use these days.

[pickdropper]

Avnet has been around for a long time. They are primarily a distributor to equipment manufacturers, just like Mouser and Newark. Good to know about the EPCOS caps, those are what I normally use these days.

Yeah, Avnet is legit.  I've never places orders from there for guitar pedal bits, but I've placed extremely large orders there before without issue.

[RobA]

Avnet are good. There are only two things I can think of when ordering from them. The first is that when you place an order with TI parts, they ship from a different warehouse. So, the website puts up some warning text that you will be charged shipping on both orders and you can't select the checkbox that says take more time and ship them together to reduce the shipping cost. So, I called their customer service number to ask about it and they said that they take this into account and only charge shipping once. This is in fact what they do. I've only been charged one shipping charge on the orders where this happens.

The second thing is that their search is a bit of a pain. When I'm price comparing, I always start on Mouser to do the searches and then put in the part number directly on the Avnet site. That said, at least all the parts they do carry are findable on their site, unlike some others.

Rob

[culturejam]

What do you guys think about MMK box caps?

I've been using them (along with Epcos, Wima, Topmay, and others) for a couple years. Jack Deville swears they sound bad, but I don't know that I can hear it.

What about you guys?

[pickdropper]

What do you guys think about MMK box caps?

I've been using them (along with Epcos, Wima, Topmay, and others) for a couple years. Jack Deville swears they sound bad, but I don't know that I can hear it.

What about you guys?

I got the impression that Jack disliked most box caps.

Funny that in the audio nerd world, people seem to regard the Wima box as better than the other Mylar type caps.  And there are many different grades of poly cap out there, even within the same manufacturer.

I can't say I've ever heard the difference between them.  The main difference I've seen in caps was going from a polyester  box to a polypropylene box with a lower dissipation factor output cap significantly reduced the DC offset in a headphone amp I built.  I still can't say it sounded better, but it made the amp less likely to damage the headphones

[culturejam]

I got the impression that Jack disliked most box caps.

I recall him saying Epcos were fine (and of course Wima).

Glad to know I'm not the only one without golden ears. 

[pickdropper]

I got the impression that Jack disliked most box caps.

I recall him saying Epcos were fine (and of course Wima).

Glad to know I'm not the only one without golden ears. 

I've never described myself as golden ears, but I'd be willing to bet I've participated (and administered) more scientifically controlled listening tests than most.

I've met and tested some golden ears that had amazingly consistent test/retest results in various listening tests.  I'd be real curious to see if they could tell the difference either (hint:  I doubt it)