Xicon vs Panasonic vs Nichicon Caps

I'm putting together an order for a bunch of power supply caps.

The Panasonics sell for about twice as much as the Xicons or Nichicons. All are rated for 105 C.

Can anyone comment on the relative performance of these brands, ie is there any reason I should pay twice as much for Panasonic?

Thanks,
Leigh

You are asking a had question. Somethings that might help you.

The amout of materal used. More Al more cost.

The chemistry used. FWIW there was a run of bad chemistry caps about a year ago used in PCs google and read I forget the links.

I tend to use panasonics why? because in the last 21 years at my job I must have replaced thousands of Al caps. The shop trys to use panasonic when ever possable because they work.

We have two lc102s in the shop I work at (not an audio shop, audio is a hobby of mine). Some things I have noted over the years. "Good" Al eletro caps tend to have more mass low esr caps tend to be short and fat. This is not a joke on my part. There are brands of caps I stay away from.

Cap brands I tend to trust panasonic,elna,nichicon,rubycon,mallory,spraque,cornell dubler(sp). I would think there are others. FWIW I have not tested a SMD cap I liked

I second Gus's statements. Panasonic caps are very good and reliable. I also like Nichion Muse caps. For HV apps (power supply filtering for tube amps) I like Sprague Atoms and LCR cans.