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For some reason, even unknown to me, I am going through an early 1970s Kustom 200 bass head, working on noise problems and slightly lower power output. I want to shotgun replace the tantalum capacitors on the boards. Opinions about tantalums--whether to replace them with the same type or some other electrolytic else seem to be a dime a dozen. Lots of stories about them being unreliable, while other people say they are superior for audio. Another story line seems to be that old tantalums were unreliable but new ones are reliable. Any suggestions for how to proceed based on experience with these early transistor amps?
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Tantalums come in two flavors solid (those old little radial multi-striped gum drops or the newer solid body colored ones with polarized leads) or the very expensive axial electrolytic type which uses sulfuric acid as an electrolytic solution. You don't want to be around these when they vent.
Tantalums should never be reverse biased period. I believe that they have a bad reputation for this mis-application problem. They are also expensive but have a low leakage and high capacity/volume.
I have never seen any data to support the tantalums are noisey in signal path rumors. -
"superior for audio" ....Hey, you're working on a Kustom solid state head. The more INFERIOR, the better, I think
Tantalums were used because they were small. There's a lot more options these days, so whatever you can find that meets the specs should be fine.
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If you're already going to shotgun replace all the small electrolytics, just go with aluminum.
Tantalums cost more, are more difficult to source, and die more readily if they see the wrong voltage.
I just overhauled a Kasino Concert and replaced every tantalum in the thing with aluminum electrolytics. Sounds great.
Biggest reduction in noise came with replacing a flaky LM3080. So if you're wanting to reduce noise, remember the preamp IC's. Also the transistors on the preamp boards.Comment
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