> I know that there are maximum capacitance levels for tube recitifiers
Not true.
The rating is Peak Current. You control this with winding resistance.
Tube data sheets often ASS-ume "typical" capacitance AND resistance to give quick-use data. Indeed since these values ARE typical (copper and iron have not changed much), we fall into the habit of 20uFd-40uFd tube capacitors.
But allow a somewhat higher winding resistance, like 1,000 ohms on a 5Y3 fed 300V, and you can go thousands of uFd.
> with solid state rectification, do the same concepts still apply
If you had been doing rigorous tube-rect calculations, the same figuring works for solid-state.
If you wanna do "5Y3=20uFd" type rough-and-ready figuring, then pick a rectifier steady-state current rating bigger than the transformer rating. And don't sweat the capacitance.
Note: transformer rating! If you have a 0.1A load and a spare 3A winding, you use a 3A rectifier.
And unlike tube practice, where current is expensive, in modern solid-state rectifiers the current is cheap. So always round UP. For a "3A" winding, whatever load I really have on it, I would prefer to use 6A rectifiers. A 3A will last years, a 6A will last a century.
OK, here's the practical difference.
Tube amps need lots of power, often at several voltages, so they cost a lot. So you will usually "right-size" the transformer. And it usually won't have "too low" winding resistance for the rectifiers usually used for that power level. But if you take the PT out of a Marshall Mega, 700mA, and power a 90mA 5Y3 with "safe" 35uFd first cap, you will possibly have trouble. But that would be dumb, so you don't run into that trap so often.
Transistor stuff often needs less power than the smallest transformer. A couple op-amps is less than a half-Watt, low-price PTs start at 10VA. So you are forced to face the fact that the rects must be sized to the transformer, not the actual load.
> Be careful not to exceed the peak ratings of your rectifier diodes ... Many smaller low-ESR caps in parallel often will work better than one big cap
For low rectifier stress we would favor high ESR.
But cap ESR is never "significant" in audio systems. (Or when it is, as in buzzy old guitar amps, it means you want new caps to get ESR down to like-new level.) Winding resistance is the dominant resistance around the loop.
> attempting to reduce the supply ripple to a negligible amount.
It is rarely practical to get ripple on the first cap much below a few percent. Further rejection must be added as needed. In small-power stages, with additional R-C filters. In low-volt or fussy systems, regulators are popular. Audio Power amps are designed so the last stage has significant power supply rejection (and rejection still goes to zero when you clip heavily, as in stage-amp use).
> For a transient load (eg power amp), you not only want to reduce the ripple to a negligible amount, but you also want to be able to produce peak currents far in excess of the transformer rating for good transient response.
Most audio power amps "must" survive full power bench tests. Your filter caps must satisfy two goals: inaudible ripple at idle, and satisfactory voltage and ripple at Full power. Many older amps slacked-off on the second requirement. If the amp is "solid" at maximum power, it is difficult to contrive a legal "transient" which will suck the caps down.
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