Well, tolerance on old electrolytics was - 50% plus 25%. Most did much better. Besides, you need to test the accuracy of your cap meter at higher values. Many do not read in tolerance to their marked specs even right out of the box. As long as ripple is reasonable and the waveform is normal, you should be fine.
The small caps (orange) that are sealed with epoxy are typically fine. But the smaller value caps are the most susceptible to being bad since they have less electrolyte in them. The lower voltage ratings have less good characteristics also. I am always extremely suspicious of capacitors rated at less than 16 VDC for example. Even new ones test poorly.
The small caps (orange) that are sealed with epoxy are typically fine. But the smaller value caps are the most susceptible to being bad since they have less electrolyte in them. The lower voltage ratings have less good characteristics also. I am always extremely suspicious of capacitors rated at less than 16 VDC for example. Even new ones test poorly.
Crossover caps conduct high currents compared to what you normally see with signal stages. Replacing them with film types is exactly the wrong thing to do. Foil would be a lot better, but they still aren't right. Crossovers were designed compensating for the characteristics of an electrolytic.
Given they are subjected to higher currents, they will suffer damage over time. Your findings are expected.
Given they are subjected to higher currents, they will suffer damage over time. Your findings are expected.
unlucky all caps have some thd....not perfect you know have impedence resistence and vary with Hz plus is microfonic....
This is grammatically correct: it should be, but it is NOT, because we don't live in a perfect world.
Btw, I recently swapped out the protection fuses of my beloved Jecklin Float electrostatic headphones with custom fuses made of silver wires. The difference is clearly audible. The fuses are in series with the phones.
It may improve an extremely poor electrolytic. It may also create new problems. Kind of hard to predict.
You cannot "correct" the characteristics of an electrolytic by putting a film or foil capacitor across it. There are losses in the dielectric of the electrolytic, those are there - period.
You can put smaller value and film capacitors across filter or bypass capacitors to lower the supply impedance across low to high frequencies, that is when this technique is effective. But people tried to do the same thing with the signal path. It doesn't work the same.
nicoch58, crossover networks are voiced using whatever capacitor type the designer chose. So when you replace those with other types you stand the very real risk of changing how it sounds. So if electrolytic types were used, stay with those if you want the speaker to perform as designed. I've seen this so often over the years. People never learn. Now if you want to say it "sounds better", okay. That is an opinion, but it no longer performs as designed.
Hi Salas, I have never measured a capacitor that has increased in value greatly in a crossover over time - ever. So what you are seeing is new to me, and I can't think of any wear mechanism that would cause this. I would suspect they were mislabelled and were maybe even higher when installed. Not unless you are measuring in-circuit where you may have some capacitance effectively in parallel. Depending on test frequency, you may have a resistor or inductor that allows another capacitor to be in circuit unexpectedly.
Hi Zung, Normal fuses change resistance with current - a lot. So your new fuses may present a more constant impedance and that would greatly lower distortion. The fact the wire is silver means zero as long as a comparative wire had the same characteristics. This is why I am not a fan of fuses as speaker protection. They are a terrible idea in the signal path.
You can put smaller value and film capacitors across filter or bypass capacitors to lower the supply impedance across low to high frequencies, that is when this technique is effective. But people tried to do the same thing with the signal path. It doesn't work the same.
nicoch58, crossover networks are voiced using whatever capacitor type the designer chose. So when you replace those with other types you stand the very real risk of changing how it sounds. So if electrolytic types were used, stay with those if you want the speaker to perform as designed. I've seen this so often over the years. People never learn. Now if you want to say it "sounds better", okay. That is an opinion, but it no longer performs as designed.
Hi Salas, I have never measured a capacitor that has increased in value greatly in a crossover over time - ever. So what you are seeing is new to me, and I can't think of any wear mechanism that would cause this. I would suspect they were mislabelled and were maybe even higher when installed. Not unless you are measuring in-circuit where you may have some capacitance effectively in parallel. Depending on test frequency, you may have a resistor or inductor that allows another capacitor to be in circuit unexpectedly.
Hi Zung, Normal fuses change resistance with current - a lot. So your new fuses may present a more constant impedance and that would greatly lower distortion. The fact the wire is silver means zero as long as a comparative wire had the same characteristics. This is why I am not a fan of fuses as speaker protection. They are a terrible idea in the signal path.
he use elko becouse are cheap not becose is design choice or better sound ,plus are in // to woofer or in series with mid in the 3way zero problem ,notch too
I build speakers for 35y never used an elko
Good for you.
Electrolytic capacitors handle higher currents and are of reasonable size. To be honest, there is nothing wrong with electrolytic capacitors, you design with their characteristics in mind.
If you use film capacitors, well. They don't conduct current well for one, and they do lose the film over time. Bad choice. Using foil rated for high current is the only decent non-electrolytic design choice, and a good dielectric of course (not polyester). That means a huge cap, expensive and heavy. Prone to breaking solder joints or leads. I'm sorry, but an electrolytic capacitor is not only valid, but a good choice in many applications.
I used electronic crossovers. Passive components create all kinds of problems and power loss in crossovers, but you can make it function. That is what a passive crossover is all about, the cheap way to make a speaker system work. So it's funny you are complaining about electrolytic caps blindly.
Electrolytic capacitors handle higher currents and are of reasonable size. To be honest, there is nothing wrong with electrolytic capacitors, you design with their characteristics in mind.
If you use film capacitors, well. They don't conduct current well for one, and they do lose the film over time. Bad choice. Using foil rated for high current is the only decent non-electrolytic design choice, and a good dielectric of course (not polyester). That means a huge cap, expensive and heavy. Prone to breaking solder joints or leads. I'm sorry, but an electrolytic capacitor is not only valid, but a good choice in many applications.
I used electronic crossovers. Passive components create all kinds of problems and power loss in crossovers, but you can make it function. That is what a passive crossover is all about, the cheap way to make a speaker system work. So it's funny you are complaining about electrolytic caps blindly.
lol!
Okay, you just proved everything right there.
You have a phase issue you are unaware of. Cool. Minimal expense in your crossovers, but not done right. That's your business of course. What is true in the industry is that consumers will accept almost anything as long as it works "okay". However once exposed to systems that work correctly they generally can't believe that they were "happy" with what they had. Don't feel bad, the same holds true for audio electronics and right up to automobiles.
Passive crossovers allow a speaker system to FUNCTION, but not very well compared to an active system (which blows passive systems away!). Period, end of story.
Okay, you just proved everything right there.
You have a phase issue you are unaware of. Cool. Minimal expense in your crossovers, but not done right. That's your business of course. What is true in the industry is that consumers will accept almost anything as long as it works "okay". However once exposed to systems that work correctly they generally can't believe that they were "happy" with what they had. Don't feel bad, the same holds true for audio electronics and right up to automobiles.
Passive crossovers allow a speaker system to FUNCTION, but not very well compared to an active system (which blows passive systems away!). Period, end of story.