Bennic vs. Solen

[cyberspyder]

I can get the Solen caps for cheaper than the Bennics specified by Zaph, and I read somewhere the Solens were a bit more decent. Is it ok if I sub them in?

 

[DcibeL]

Yes, they'll be just as good.

 

[cyberspyder]

Is Solen a reliable place to get them? BTW, there are two versions of the Solen caps...which one should I go for?

 

[DcibeL]

Solen is an excellent place to get all your speaker parts, provided that they carry what you need. Being within Canada, shipping is very cheap and you won't pay any customs fees.

I'm not sure where you got "two different kinds" from, Solen has several different types of capacitors. for crossovers, the standard Solen fast cap (metallized polypropylene) are great. The 400V versions are rumoured to perform better than the 250V parts.

 

[cyberspyder]

Solen is an excellent place to get all your speaker parts, provided that they carry what you need. Being within Canada, shipping is very cheap and you won't pay any customs fees.

I'm not sure where you got "two different kinds" from, Solen has several different types of capacitors. for crossovers, the standard Solen fast cap (metallized polypropylene) are great. The 400V versions are rumoured to perform better than the 250V parts.

That's what I meant...oops . BTW, what about the resistors they carry? Are they on the same level as the Eagle ones? Also, if I was getting it from them, they don't have a 4 or 5 ohm one. Can I just run 2, 2 ohm ones in series?

Thanks, Brendan

 

[taj]

Yep, Solen is a reliable place to get Solen caps. go figger.

No idea which cap you are referring to, but the only choice that might make a difference (depending of course on your AHAC ('audiophile hyperbole absorption coefficient')) is to choose a film or metalized film cap over an electrolytic type cap.

For values under 10uF go with any film type. Above that let your budget be your guide. In fact, "let your budget be your guide" works for me universally.

My 2-cents. (todays' budget, and worth every penny!)

..Todd

 

[cyberspyder]

Indeed...I'm trying to get the best bang for my buck here.

 

[taj]

Since this is your first build, you might find it educational to buy some cheapo caps and some more expensive ones, and swap them back and forth to judge the difference for yourself.

Your next build's buying decisions will then be based on your own expertise. That's worth a few bucks.

..Todd

 

[DcibeL]

That's what I meant...oops . BTW, what about the resistors they carry? Are they on the same level as the Eagle ones? Also, if I was getting it from them, they don't have a 4 or 5 ohm one. Can I just run 2, 2 ohm ones in series?

The metal oxide resistors are great. I'm not sure what you mean, they have 3.9, 4.3, 4.7, and 5.1 in both metal oxide and wirewound. If you need 4 ohms, just get 3.9 (close enough). If you need 5 ohms, get 5.1. They're 5% resistors, so take that into account.

 

[taj]

For resistors, you are best advised to find the least inductive resistors you can. Metal Oxide Film resistors aren't (I think) completely non-inductive since they are typically spiral grooved. Wirewounds are virtually always inductive.

Any (inductivity?)(induction?) inductance! will throw off the filters in your crossover to some degree (unless it was designed in).

Digi-key Canada carries Mills (listed as Huntington) MRA series resistors in their online catalog. They are pretty much non-inductive. Parts Connexion also carry Mills and a few other choices.

Oh, another Canadian supplier is www.AUDIYO.com. They carry Mundorf resistors and some seriously pricey caps as well as a lot of other snake-oil-based products

..Todd

 

[DcibeL]

While inductance in large power resistors exists, for audio crossovers it is fairly insignificant to have to factor it in to the equation. See this thread.

 

[cyberspyder]

So which one should spring for? Their wirewound cement resistor, or the more expensive metal oxide?

Again, thanks alot.

 

[Salas]

The MOX sounds a bit shrill to me. I prefer the plain boxy cast one, has better tone although a bit gray for detail. Cleaner sounding than both without edge or cloud is the Mills one and I recommend it. Mills.

 

[cyberspyder]

Any 'budget' recommendations?

 

[cyberspyder]

Anyone with some insight as to which resistor I should go for? Lynk's metal film non-inductive, or the other cement wirewound?

Thanks, Brendan

 

[gtforme00]

From the looks of it, both are non-inductively wound. At half a dollar for the metal-oxide, or a quarter apiece for the wirewound, either are a good value.

It really isn't worth worrying over, I personally use wirewound.

 

[cyberspyder]

So non-inductive really doesn't matter much, at least not for el-cheapo speakers right?

Thanks, Brendan

 

[gtforme00]

The two resistor types available at Solen are both non-inductive. That is, both the wirewound and the metal oxide they sell have non-inductive winding patterns. Now, whether the inductance in a normal wirewound is important is a different discussion altogether. There is a thread here that shows the measurement of several common resistors and their inductance. I personally don't think that the inductance in a normal wirewound is significant for most applications. The only place I might use a non-inductive resistor is in a notch circuit where the inductance is very critical to the notch frequency.

This is all a non-issue for you though. You happen to have an inexpensive source of non-inductive resistors with Solen there. I would just get one of the two types they offer and move on with the project.

 

[cyberspyder]

w00t, saved another couple of dollars, sweet. Anyone know of another place to get Aura sound tweeters (other than madisound)?

Thanks a bunch, Brendan

 

[Luke]

HI Brendan,

just build it, and when your done try a nicer cap say in series with the tweeter first, judge for yourself what the capacitor talk is all about. Its perhaps a little overated but does make a difference, probably more so than cabling IMO.