I've been researching all day/night, and I've only come across one post saying that Sonicaps are film & foil type capacitors. I'm wondering if more info is available?

 Most other brands I've looked at, describe things like the winding process,  soldered leads, film type/thickness, etc. Maybe that's just more sales blurb too, but at least it's somewhat informative.  If Sonicap is just another metallized poly type, then there seems little to distinguish them from the competition (Dayton offers 1% tolerance, compared to Sonicap's 5%, makes Sonicap look a bit mediocre in the absence of any other specs.)

Go to:

http://www.soniccraft.com/sonicap.htm

They are a wealth of info on how the caps are made, types, etc.

The Dayton 1 percent caps are exactly the same as the Dayton 5 percent caps.  They just select out the caps that are within 1 percent and sell those separately.  The goal of course in manufacture of caps would be for them to be right on spec for capacitance.  In practice, though, we have to allow some tolerance to account for minor differences in manufacturing process and materials.  Sonicaps usually test at a value that deviates less than 2 percent from the marked value.  Sonicaps beat the Dayton (even the 1 percent group of Daytons) in ESR which is a better indication of quality than the tolerance on capacitance spec.

Bob Crites 

I wouldn't be worrying about tolerances. You can call the suppliers and buy matched sets of the values you need to get the best performance. Almost all the places that sell caps will measure and match for you for a small charge or for free. Sonicraft does it for free....they sell the Sonicaps.

Groomlakearea51:

Go to:http://www.soniccraft.com/sonicap.htm

They are a wealth of info on how the caps are made, types, etc.

I looked around their site yday, and only found their sales blurb, nothing about the actual manufacturing.  Saying its "revolutionary" doesn't tell me much, sounds more like propoganda =) 

My apology, there was a section at one time that described how they were made. I guess it's gone now...

 I've had great experiences with Sonic Craft.  Not with Sonicaps, but with other parts for projects.  Good deals to be found there! (I like their Vampire connectors)

I have had experience with a number of caps and Sonicaps are the best 'bang for buck', to my ears and a few mates of mine at least. Try this guy

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

"My apology, there was a section at one time that described how they were made. I guess it's gone now..."

Sorry Marshall, but that site has never had any real information about the caps. Jeff Glowacki has never discussed or revealed any particulars about construction, and he won't. I've been talking to Jeff off and on for over 10 years and I can't even get him to tell me how the leads are terminated.

The guy from humblehomemadehifi is hearing things. He also rates the AudioCap Theta below some metallized types, which is absurd.

Ok, well now I'm pretty upset, the reply I got back from Sonicraft was complete bullsh*t, similar to the arguments I've seen in regard to Bose not disclosing their tech specs cos apparently we consumers are too stupid to use such information to make any kind of informed decisions. This leaves a really bad feeling for me, and pushes me more toward the much cheaper competition's products (at least they're upfront about their products. None of this hiding behind marketing hype crap.

I'd sent an email asking for info about the caps manufacturing/materials, and here's the completely useless reply I got (and my reply to the reply.)

>>We find that 99.9% of customers are unable to determine sound
characteristics from construction details.  Our stand is that in
reality, none of them can determine sound quality via construction
details.  We have never had a page that discussed construction details.

>>This is what I can tell you, they are all axial lead.  The
voltages/dimensions are given.  If you have some special application
requirements, feel free to submit them.  If we see any problem, we will
advise.

>>You are also welcome to contact the President of Sonic Craft, Inc., and
the designer of the Sonicap, Jeff Glowacki (940) 689-9800.


reply:
Does that mean you won't disclose this information?  Sounds like Bose's
load of BS to hide inferior products. I'm disappointed.

 --

I don't like being blown off or bullsh*tted like that. Especially when they claim some "revolutionary" bs makes their product worth the 400% price markup compared to their $4 competition.

consistent:

have had experience with a number of caps and Sonicaps are the best 'bang for buck', to my ears and a few mates of mine at least. Try this guy

I've read that review page, it ranks the Sonicap much lower than the cheaper Claritycap, for example..  Still, these are subjective judgements.  I had higher expectations for SoniCraft, but they're letting me down :/

I buy Sonicaps by the hundred, not because of anything that Sonic Craft (especially Jeff) told me, but in spite of what they told me.  They are very good caps by my testing.  The ESR tests very good and that tells you everything about a cap.

Bob Crites 

rosc2112:

 

Ok, well now I'm pretty upset, the reply I got back from Sonicraft was complete bullsh*t, similar to the arguments I've seen in regard to Bose not disclosing their tech specs cos apparently we consumers are too stupid to use such information to make any kind of informed decisions. This leaves a really bad feeling for me, and pushes me more toward the much cheaper competition's products (at least they're upfront about their products. None of this hiding behind marketing hype crap.

 

I'd sent an email asking for info about the caps manufacturing/materials, and here's the completely useless reply I got (and my reply to the reply.)

 

>>We find that 99.9% of customers are unable to determine sound
characteristics from construction details.  Our stand is that in
reality, none of them can determine sound quality via construction
details.  We have never had a page that discussed construction details.

>>This is what I can tell you, they are all axial lead.  The
voltages/dimensions are given.  If you have some special application
requirements, feel free to submit them.  If we see any problem, we will
advise.

>>You are also welcome to contact the President of Sonic Craft, Inc., and
the designer of the Sonicap, Jeff Glowacki (940) 689-9800.


reply:
Does that mean you won't disclose this information?  Sounds like Bose's
load of BS to hide inferior products. I'm disappointed.

 --

 

I don't like being blown off or bullsh*tted like that. Especially when they claim some "revolutionary" bs makes their product worth the 400% price markup compared to their $4 competition.

Sounds like you should just go with the cheap stuff.  I think everyone in Arkansas is a bullshitter.  

horses and courses! I avoid all the hype, bull and general sci-fi (specs). I do listen to what others say and then go and try things myself, making up my own mind. I like Bob think the Sonicaps, whatever crap they use inside, are a bloodygood cap compared with alot of other (more expensive) crap!