Smoother/Duller Cap

[tuckers]

I have a high order filter for a Raven supertweeter I am using, design given by person knowledgeable in this kind of design. He recommended Solen Caps, which I am using. I am finding the sound of the supertweeter is a bit rough with some sibilance. He suggested I try a duller sounding cap like a Fostex.

Is there a smoother and duller sounding cap that will work for this? The Fostex I have seen are pretty expensive for caps.

I am using Deuhland resistors ( I hope they are not considered bright).

And I need I need the following cap values of 2.7, 2.8, 4.5 and 7.

[Pano]

I've found the Jantzen caps to be "smooth." Ditto Obbligato caps.
Not super expensive, either, so worth a try.

.

[augerpro]

What frequency are you crossing at?

[CLS]

I'd suggest giving the caps some bias voltage by a battery. It's not expensive to try. Maybe some caps cheaper than Solen can give a good result.

[rabbitz]

I've found Auricap tends to be dull compared to Mundorf, Solen and Jantzen.

You may want to look at the crossover as there is a possibility it might not be the cap.

[tuckers]

I am using the Raven as a supertweeter, very steep slope, crossing over between 14 and 16 Khz. I have designs for 14, 15 and 16Khz. Last night I changed from 15Khz to 16Khz, and realized I made a mistake in my 15Khz. So I fixed it and used the 16Khz crossover last night. I am getting much better results.

I still think the Raven is not matching perfectly with the main driver, It's more a tonal issue than anything, so investigating caps is the right direction I think. It sounds just a bit rough and forward.

I found a great review article about the qualities of caps here:
Humble Homemade Hifi - Capacitor Shootout

I don't want to give up resolution, splash and dynamics I am getting though.

[tuckers]

I've heard about battery biasing. My Vandersteen 5s had a battery bias in their bass rolloff eq box. How do you do that?

Also, Reading some more in caps, I read that you can use the Vishay MKP1837 as a bypass cap and that can give a smoother more refined sound. How do you wire a bypass cap? Does it go between the positive and negative terminals or in series or parallel with the cap? Can you do it at every position there is a cap in your crossover, or only certain caps?

[tinitus]

Attenuation
Try a series resistor only
But it affects xo function

Anyway, crossing at 15khz I see no reason to use steeper than 12db
If your Raven makes the sound rough and forward is is no doubt due to severe xo malfunction and phase issues

But still no info on the rest of your system

btw, how do you know your 14-15-16 khz xo really works at these frequencies

About battery biasing caps
I thought it was only fore polarised electrolyte caps
And only useful where caps size is beyond whats available in film caps

[tuckers]

I am hair splitting when I say it is rough and forward, this is just a tiny amount I want to tweak out, most people would be very happy with the results already.

I am getting the design from Tonian Labs. He uses Ravens as supertweeters with several of his full rangers and sells stand alone supertweeters with crossovers inside. I don't want to share his crossover design in public. I am using it with my Audio Nirvana 15 inch full rangers in an open baffle (and plan to build a cabinet with them).

I currently using a FirstWatt J2 and Amarra digital front end.

[Badge]

your description matches my experience using the Solen caps. A reasonable priced alternative that is not bright, but open and detailed are Sonicaps. Danny at GR Research carries their line and uses them in his designs.