Today I replaced the Solen tweeter caps with AudioCaps in my Lynn Olson Ariels.
Good grief, what a startling difference! Astounding! Oo. Oo. Oo. It's so good.
I had expected the difference to be quite subtle. It ain't. I have a couple of recordings (of a large orchestra and a big brass band) that were difficult to listen to before. I likened their sound to a big blob with porcupine quills sticking out it. I had attributed the "spikes" to early reflections, or maybe the source material was not recorded well. Nope. With the new caps, those recordings are clear and pleasant as you please.
I'm driving the speakers with a Rotel RA-02. My boss has Dunlavy SC-IV/A's at home driven by about $60,000 worth of tube preamps and amps (no exageration). Today he was listening to my system, shaking his head, and muttering to himself, "I can't believe it. I can't believe it."
I asked him what he couldn't believe. He said he thought he was going to get rid of his tubes. Now this is a guy who only a couple of weeks ago was religiously devoted to tube equipment. He has audiophiles over to his house to savor tube equipment like connoisseurs sip wine. Then he listens to a new, state of the art $500 transistor amp and his whole world falls apart.
He'd listened to it before. The AudioCaps made all the difference.
Good grief, what a startling difference! Astounding! Oo. Oo. Oo. It's so good.
I had expected the difference to be quite subtle. It ain't. I have a couple of recordings (of a large orchestra and a big brass band) that were difficult to listen to before. I likened their sound to a big blob with porcupine quills sticking out it. I had attributed the "spikes" to early reflections, or maybe the source material was not recorded well. Nope. With the new caps, those recordings are clear and pleasant as you please.
I'm driving the speakers with a Rotel RA-02. My boss has Dunlavy SC-IV/A's at home driven by about $60,000 worth of tube preamps and amps (no exageration). Today he was listening to my system, shaking his head, and muttering to himself, "I can't believe it. I can't believe it."
I asked him what he couldn't believe. He said he thought he was going to get rid of his tubes. Now this is a guy who only a couple of weeks ago was religiously devoted to tube equipment. He has audiophiles over to his house to savor tube equipment like connoisseurs sip wine. Then he listens to a new, state of the art $500 transistor amp and his whole world falls apart.
He'd listened to it before. The AudioCaps made all the difference.
First of all, I never heard solen's caps but I often hear you guys complaining about how they sound. Whats wrong and why? then what else to buy and which price? thank you
Hello,
I replaced the caps in my crossovers with Solen poly caps and had great results. I cascaded 3 Solens together to hit my value.
I suspect that they are not in favor because they are now rather ordinary and quite affordable.
There is so many things you can do to a loudspeaker to improve the sound. Replacing the caps is just a small part of it. I imagine some people would also notice large increases SQ if they did some of these other things as well.
Just my thoughts.
KevinLee🙂
I replaced the caps in my crossovers with Solen poly caps and had great results. I cascaded 3 Solens together to hit my value.
I suspect that they are not in favor because they are now rather ordinary and quite affordable.
There is so many things you can do to a loudspeaker to improve the sound. Replacing the caps is just a small part of it. I imagine some people would also notice large increases SQ if they did some of these other things as well.
Just my thoughts.
KevinLee🙂
I think your right but what about those solen caps that were sounding harsh if placed on the ''other side''. Or it might be the speaker that react to different kind of caps?
KevinLee said:
The reason they are not in favor with me is because my system sounds much, much better with the AudioCaps. Of course, they cost 10 times as much, so they ought to perform better. I just didn't expect such a dramatic improvement.
Solen
Dave
Yes it a big difference, I replaced my Solen caps many years ago with TRT and MIT-Reliable caps what a major sonic difference. These are Polypropylene foil caps vs. metalized polypropylene caps. Also, there is a big difference in the metalized film that difference companies use. Solen uses a thinner film than the high end cap manufacture use which account for some of the performance difference.
Dave
Yes it a big difference, I replaced my Solen caps many years ago with TRT and MIT-Reliable caps what a major sonic difference. These are Polypropylene foil caps vs. metalized polypropylene caps. Also, there is a big difference in the metalized film that difference companies use. Solen uses a thinner film than the high end cap manufacture use which account for some of the performance difference.
Solen
For me, I stay away SOLEN caps. I have a shoe box of them that I'll never use because I know how they perform. Having said that, if I am trying to get a large value cap say 100uf of film I will use 60-70uf of the high voltage SOLENs and parallel them with MIT-Reliable, TRT or Cresendo caps to make the large value. This works well. However use only the 500v Solens.
For me, I stay away SOLEN caps. I have a shoe box of them that I'll never use because I know how they perform. Having said that, if I am trying to get a large value cap say 100uf of film I will use 60-70uf of the high voltage SOLENs and parallel them with MIT-Reliable, TRT or Cresendo caps to make the large value. This works well. However use only the 500v Solens.
Hi,
Excuse me for saying so but your boss is an absolute moron for jumping to such a conclusion.
60K of tube equipment beaten by a pair of boutique caps?
Makes me wonder whether he's got his ears in his wallet too.
No offense to you at all, I readily believe those caps are better than the Solens.
The Rotels are fine as far as transsssistors go but they're definetely thin sounding, almost as clinical and anemic as the Jeff Rs.
Mind you. in all fairness the last Rotel I listened to dates from 1998, things may have improved since.
Cheers,😉
P.S. The Solens are dull sounding caps to my ears.
Excuse me for saying so but your boss is an absolute moron for jumping to such a conclusion.
60K of tube equipment beaten by a pair of boutique caps?
Makes me wonder whether he's got his ears in his wallet too.
No offense to you at all, I readily believe those caps are better than the Solens.
The Rotels are fine as far as transsssistors go but they're definetely thin sounding, almost as clinical and anemic as the Jeff Rs.
Mind you. in all fairness the last Rotel I listened to dates from 1998, things may have improved since.
Cheers,😉
P.S. The Solens are dull sounding caps to my ears.
Hi,
And you never wondered how this could have sounded if they'd used decent caps as they should have at this price point?
Ah...that just saved your skin.
Cheers,😉
And you never wondered how this could have sounded if they'd used decent caps as they should have at this price point?
Ah...that just saved your skin.
Cheers,😉
FKP1
Solens are good for the main body of capacitance. Parallel just .1 microfarad of Wima FKP1 film & foil 1000V blue cap and the lack of body and depth is replaced.
SCR that makes the Solen (as well as Audyn, Axon, Mundorf etc.)
has a tin foil film & foil series that is very good for the money too.
I know that in due time we are going to see a complete series of teflon caps by them with up to 10uf values in metallised teflon plus tin foil & teflon in lesser values. Considering their best value pricing policy this maybe good news.
Solens are good for the main body of capacitance. Parallel just .1 microfarad of Wima FKP1 film & foil 1000V blue cap and the lack of body and depth is replaced.
SCR that makes the Solen (as well as Audyn, Axon, Mundorf etc.)
has a tin foil film & foil series that is very good for the money too.
I know that in due time we are going to see a complete series of teflon caps by them with up to 10uf values in metallised teflon plus tin foil & teflon in lesser values. Considering their best value pricing policy this maybe good news.
Rotel is good
Hi,
The new cd player is great too 🙂
(just thought I'd stick up for Rotel, as they make good kit)
Slightly off-topic: has anyone replaced the parallel caps in a x-over? Is it worth it? Mine has a 33uf 'Elko-glatt' electrolytic there...
-Simon
Hi,
I believe the RA-02 is one of the new ones, and they are excellent for the money. It is not particularly thin-sounding.
The new cd player is great too 🙂
(just thought I'd stick up for Rotel, as they make good kit)
Slightly off-topic: has anyone replaced the parallel caps in a x-over? Is it worth it? Mine has a 33uf 'Elko-glatt' electrolytic there...
-Simon
Does putting a good (expensive) cap of small value in parallel of a cheap one gives the same result as using a good one all the way.
It looks like a good way to save money!
Good crossover are too expensive to build with premium quality parts everywhere. You have to save money somewhere!
F
Hi,
IME, it isn't...it's just a bandaid.
Filmcaps have come along way over the past 25 years and some good ones aren't expensive at all.
For instance, replacing any run of the mille NKP with an Audyn cap will be an improvement already and these caps are really not expensive at all.
Yes, I did.
It's one of the last places I'd look to upgrade but it's still audible as are the resistor that usually accompanies this kind of network.
Cheers,😉
IME, it isn't...it's just a bandaid.
Filmcaps have come along way over the past 25 years and some good ones aren't expensive at all.
For instance, replacing any run of the mille NKP with an Audyn cap will be an improvement already and these caps are really not expensive at all.
Yes, I did.
It's one of the last places I'd look to upgrade but it's still audible as are the resistor that usually accompanies this kind of network.
Cheers,😉
Aha! I've been wondering about this for ages, thanks for answering!!!
Maybe I'll try a standard MKP or whatever it's called...
My series caps are the ones in my avatar - LCR polypropylene from Maplin - damned good, especially for the money!!!
-Simon
Hi,
I'll take a look at those in a minute...
Do you know the manufacturer of those?
If ever you need HV coupling caps cheaply take a look at the 1000-1500 volt range as offered by RS components.
Those are the same as used by the Jadis valve amps and largely responsible for the good imaging of those amps.
Cheers,😉
I'll take a look at those in a minute...
Do you know the manufacturer of those?
If ever you need HV coupling caps cheaply take a look at the 1000-1500 volt range as offered by RS components.
Those are the same as used by the Jadis valve amps and largely responsible for the good imaging of those amps.
Cheers,😉
Depend on your application and $$
Gary
I would not do it to the tweeter but I would do it on the midrange if the value in uf is high.
Some people claim it is very close, I know it is a good improvement over just using a SOLEN by them self. When doing this some people claim that you should use multiple values of difference sizes. This is supposed to enhance the cap's dissipation factor or the tangent loss.
I do not believe its' a band-aid, it is a design decision and a cost trade off. In addition, for the midrange it just makes good sense.
Gary
I would not do it to the tweeter but I would do it on the midrange if the value in uf is high.
Some people claim it is very close, I know it is a good improvement over just using a SOLEN by them self. When doing this some people claim that you should use multiple values of difference sizes. This is supposed to enhance the cap's dissipation factor or the tangent loss.
I do not believe its' a band-aid, it is a design decision and a cost trade off. In addition, for the midrange it just makes good sense.
I prefer not to parallel caps at all. A single, good cap sounds better. Also parallel caps in XO make difference, so upgrading is worthwile.
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