ALARM! ALARM!! Inevitable last resort of invoking private knowledge of [insert deep, hushed voice here]
classified [no doubt government / military] research
on... the behaviour of capacitors.
Aye, and I'm Sheena the Queen of the Jungle. Plenty of work done on components by a lot of people. I don't think much of the work covering their behaviour in the audio band got classified though...
Good grief, I may have my vapours...
Except so far, you haven't got 'really deep into it'. You've stated without evidence, and invoked [hushed tone again please] classified research on rather well-known and established components, while refusing to even mention what 1/2 million $ test gear you might wish to use to prove these 'significant differences' between components of equivalent sub-type in the audio band, or even what form these alleged differences take.
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This is actually very entertaining for me! Is there a significant difference between crossover components as pertaining to perceived sound quality? Yes, obviously sometimes!
I will now temporarily be leaving you as I wish to concentrate on JS Bach and leave you non-believers behind. Trust me; you have a great many things yet to experience and learn. I have incredible experience way beyond your wildest imagination; I will now wait for you all to try to play catch up. I make zero excuses...enjoy your travels; I have already been there and way beyond!
I will now temporarily be leaving you as I wish to concentrate on JS Bach and leave you non-believers behind. Trust me; you have a great many things yet to experience and learn. I have incredible experience way beyond your wildest imagination; I will now wait for you all to try to play catch up. I make zero excuses...enjoy your travels; I have already been there and way beyond!
Sorry, I'm enjoying the audio food fight and weigh in with my rain pancho and goggles.
In all fairness to nipper are we to assume that Clarity cap and Mundorf are just hucksters trying to have us part with our hard earned money? They must have access to some measurement equipment and sound tests that allow them to perceive differences. The question is are those differences worth paying for unless you have the very best drivers. Maybe instead of paying top dollar it pays to just match the best sounding cap to the drivers your using in the loudspeaker regardless of cost. It seems to me that the higher voltage rating of a particular cap when concerning poly caps has an improvement in overall transparency and sound quality. But...is it worth paying 5-6 times more for an 800v cap vs. a 400v cap? Why so much for a 5% perceived sound improvement? What's the deal with $150 copper and beeswax caps? Are they offering some kind of retro tone that's pleasing to the ears? I'm having a hard time understanding the physics of power cords that people are trying to sell for $4000. Ok...back to arguing...;>)
In all fairness to nipper are we to assume that Clarity cap and Mundorf are just hucksters trying to have us part with our hard earned money? They must have access to some measurement equipment and sound tests that allow them to perceive differences. The question is are those differences worth paying for unless you have the very best drivers. Maybe instead of paying top dollar it pays to just match the best sounding cap to the drivers your using in the loudspeaker regardless of cost. It seems to me that the higher voltage rating of a particular cap when concerning poly caps has an improvement in overall transparency and sound quality. But...is it worth paying 5-6 times more for an 800v cap vs. a 400v cap? Why so much for a 5% perceived sound improvement? What's the deal with $150 copper and beeswax caps? Are they offering some kind of retro tone that's pleasing to the ears? I'm having a hard time understanding the physics of power cords that people are trying to sell for $4000. Ok...back to arguing...;>)
Maybe your question answers itself. In addition, the process is a practical synthetic method. It does not necessarily lend itself to a linear cost/value relationship.
We need to know for ourselves. I bought some clarity caps a few years ago. Was intrigued at the 800V rating and the chatter at the time about this being better. Found that I couldn't fault the result..
but then busted myself falling toward a conclusion that I couldn't prove. Used the opportunity to find a small selection of other capacitors that sounded the same. Some were electrolytic.
Let me answer with another question? Is it worth to pay 200x more for a bottled mineral water than a tap water? According to how many people acctually buy water, it is worth it. What people buy is the sensation that they will stay healthier if they did that, they are actually hoping someone else will take care of making this bought water safer to consume than the one so much cheaper as tap water is. Plus there is the thing with lead plumbing pipes in older buildings and we know that lead is poisonuos. People are paying to feel better, is the bottom line.
I happened to watch a documentary show on why people would rather buy mineral water and they said because of the taste, the belief it would be healthier etc. And when they were subjected to a blind test they all failed to recognize different brands and they thought the tap water was bottled. One lady concluded that she might as well stop buying water for the obvious reasons. The water company made sure every single parameter of the standard quality is within limits and safe for consumtion, but the "problem" is that 1 cubic meter costs 4€ and that is somehow "bad". The water wells for two of the mineral water producers was within 6 km of the well where the tap water was sourced from and from the same depth of about 130m.
I remember our high school psychology teacher was explaining the term generalisation and that it was a positive thing for us humans, and because of it, people can get into being misled to believe something was true even if it were not. It is very easy to prove that a state of the art sports car is better, more desireable than an entry level cheap car, so why not use that philosophy on any other item, such as capacitors.
Smart manufacturers exploit that fact and when you know that a lot of wealthy people did not exactly work hard for a couple of hundreds of bucks, now wonder they spend without much thought.
The point is that if you are racing in F1, every single part of the car is designed to perform at best. Better than the opposing teams. To earn a fraction of a second per lap and win, nothing is left random in design.
Ever hear about Voss water?
Exclusive Norwegian water popular among hollywood stars and musicians. Costing up to $20-30 a bottle.
From bottle/homepage:
The VOSS source sits in Iveland, a sparsely populated area on the southern tip of Norway. Confined in an aquifer deep beneath the earth, VOSS water lies under layers of rock and sand, which create a natural filter, protecting it from the air and other pollutants.
Its not from Voss, its not a spring. its not from the deep or filtered by nature, and its certainly not protected by anything.
Its surface water from Ogge, a lake in Birketveit, Setesdal. The lake is also the source of the areas water supply. Its tap water.
Picture of the "Voss spring" attached.
It lets us lower our guard and feel safe, because it really doesn't matter if we as an individual don´t know the specifics of everything.. lets take physics and engineering, for example. Because within the group/neighborhood/community there are experts on the subject.
Who here does not know _at least_ one guy who always forgets that he dint go to MIT, Harvard, MED School .. or even high-school in some cases.
Their brain is convinced that it possesses all this knowledge and will put up one hell of a fight if opposed. And im not talking about narcissists presidents or other with serious mental illness.
The wealthy who also have this rather unusual ... affliction/Interest are way to few to matter. The snake oil business is targeting all who have the ability to firmly believe that which cannot be seen, touched, measured or proven. I just think of it as "religious gene".
-Lie to people who want to be lied to, and you’ll get rich.
-Tell the truth to those who want the truth, and you’ll make a living.
-Tell the truth to those who want to be lied to and you’ll go broke.
"J. Zweig"
Humans.. we want to be deceived.
On topic:
I replace bipolar alu.electrolytics since most I see are cheap ones with a low voltage rating. They tend to overheat. On my M3si´s several was missing the heat shrink.
But film caps with 250+ voltage rating are left alone. I take them out, test them and solder them back in place. I have yet to see a single one with any degradation.
Inductors with iron or solid core gets replaced with home made air cores. In my Eclipse BP the improvement was huge at high volumes. I could play a lot louder. The use of small inductors with a magnetic core has no place in linear circuits. Especially for mid/woofer where they are connected in series with the driver. Suddenly your woofers crossover point moves from 3500Hz to 6-7000Hz just because you feel like having a party and play loud. Now thats a nice response.. a peak from 3k to 6k with cone break up and everything. Thats the reason we wake up with head ace... not the alcohol
The enclosure is by far the most important factor.
You can never go over board on the enclosure. With a proper enclosure, even real cheap drivers can sound great.
I like Yo Yo Ma's famous double CD (Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello) myself. I do think it a shame though that rather than remaining and providing the evidence you have been asked for, you have decided to disable your account, and choose to misrepresent other people's statements as part of your parting contribution.
We are speaking to the void here, but in the interests of others who may happen across this thread, I have to ask (alas, in the abstract now) whom it was you were referring to, and what special knowledge you have of their antecedents.
The superiority complex (evidence supporting which remained absent) requires little comment. I hope you enjoy your retirement and wish you many years of musical pleasure.
Somehow that brings back this:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
YouTube
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What a dumb ***. Microphones (and pianos) dont all sound the same so wire should all sound different too. He may have worked with some of the worlds best electronics engineers but I bet he was stuck in acounting. The only thing this guy has is ego, and has to tell everyone how much better he is at everthing every chance he gets. As an engineer, Im embarrassed to have him call himself one to to prop up his bad ideas. I wouldnt take any of his advice. Good ridance as far as im concerned.
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