Crossover capacitor polarity question

rtate · 12th August 2008, 11:51 AM

I am rebuilding the crossovers on my Dahlquist DQ10's and replaceing the stock caps with "boutique" film caps.
I had always thought that it did not matter which way a film cap was installed but now I'm not so sure?
The caps are marked or identified as to which side is the shield and one cap,(Auricap) has a red and bleck lead on it.The others use the shorter lead as the shield.

What is the proper direction to place these caps in the circuit??
What are the results if they are "backwards"?

AndrewT · 12th August 2008, 12:32 PM

if you change the caps in your speakers and deliberately or accidentally change the capacitor characteristics then you will change the corrections that the manufacturer has engineered into the standard crossover.
It is guaranteed to sound different and this is nothing to do with component tolerances.

It is quite likely to sound worse than standard.

sreten · 12th August 2008, 12:52 PM

Hi,

FWIW the "shield" should connect to the lowest impedance point,
i.e. the amplifier or towards the amplifier. Reverse is likely inaudible.

/sreten.

12th August 2008, 11:51 AM	#1
rtate diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada	Crossover capacitor polarity question I am rebuilding the crossovers on my Dahlquist DQ10's and replaceing the stock caps with "boutique" film caps. I had always thought that it did not matter which way a film cap was installed but now I'm not so sure? The caps are marked or identified as to which side is the shield and one cap,(Auricap) has a red and bleck lead on it.The others use the shorter lead as the shield. What is the proper direction to place these caps in the circuit?? What are the results if they are "backwards"?

12th August 2008, 12:32 PM	#2
AndrewT diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Scottish Borders	if you change the caps in your speakers and deliberately or accidentally change the capacitor characteristics then you will change the corrections that the manufacturer has engineered into the standard crossover. It is guaranteed to sound different and this is nothing to do with component tolerances. It is quite likely to sound worse than standard. __________________ regards Andrew T.

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12th August 2008, 12:52 PM	#3
sreten diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brighton UK	Hi, FWIW the "shield" should connect to the lowest impedance point, i.e. the amplifier or towards the amplifier. Reverse is likely inaudible. /sreten.

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