jantzen standard z cap vs claritycap ESA

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#41
Sorry, no the Aluminum Z is the most detailed and accurate and full spectrum balance followed closely by the Superior Z. The CSA is better than the ESA to me. The ESA is better than the Standard Z. to me also. I think the Sonic Cap Gen. 1 is out of production but I was just experimenting with what I could easily find. If you want low cost and you have a tweeter with an overly bright top treble, then the Audyn Q4 would help. If you have the opposite with a tweeter that sounds dull in the top treble then the Standard Z would help. The ESA has a better overall spectrum balance than either the Standard Z or the Q4. But the CSA has better resolution than the ESA while also being very well balanced. I was taking a break but now I am back; I will look for other values besides what I already tried; I will also look for other brands and other model types. I have an expensive Audyn copper foil cap. but no other type in or near the same value; it sells for over $70 US so I didn't bother trying it in this test.
 
#42
Thank you very much for your tests

oldspkrguy said:
Aluminum Z is the most detailed and accurate and full spectrum balance followed closely by the Superior Z.
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CSA is the "warmer" of the three for tweeter with an overly bright top treble?
oldspkrguy said:
The ESA is better than the Standard Z. to me also.
If you want low cost and you have a tweeter with an overly bright top treble, then the Audyn Q4 would help. If you have the opposite with a tweeter that sounds dull in the top treble then the Standard Z would help. The ESA has a better overall spectrum balance than either the Standard Z or the Q4.
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well, but the ESA is also "warmer" than the standard-z and is in the middle between q4 and standard ?
 
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#43
CSA and ESA are neutral, I would not call them warmer. The Standard Z has more treble at the top and the Q4 is the opposite. The CSA and ESA neither; very well balanced, the CSA just has more resolution and detail than the ESA. I am looking for more capacitors. So, for you, the ESA would be a better choice than the Standard Z or Audyn Q4 if you want "honest" flat without boosting or cutting any part of the usable spectrum. Some people don't stock the ESA and only stock the CSA. According to Clarity Cap themselves, the CSA is an improvement over the ESA.

CSA polypropylene audio capacitor from ClarityCap

more later...
 
#46
ESA would be better than Standard Z; ESA is more neutral so it would not add anything artificial, the Standard Z would add to the top treble and if you already have an overly bright or harsh tweeter, you wouldn't want that for sure. But, like I said the Q4 has less treble at the top than either the Standard Z or the ESA so maybe if the treble is way too harsh, the Q4 might be a good place to start? The ESA is the most natural sounding of these three choices here.
 
#47
I just compared the Mundorf EVO oil/aluminum to the Jantzen Superior Z; these are 1.0 uF; the EVO is no where near as good sounding as the Superior Z, not even close! I also compared the Cebo, a CDE 940C and Superior Z, all in 1.5 uF. Again, no contest; the Superior Z is WAY better! I love the small value CDE 940C as by pass, values 0.01 up through 0.33 uF; they add magic.

I found a Standard Z 10 uF but have nothing else in that value to compare it to. I actually think some of my parts got left at my old girlfriends house; I am missing several boxes of capacitors, resistors, inductors, clip leads, solder, etc. I'll keep looking here but she probably still has them buried in her garage and doesn't even realize it!
 
#49
oldspkrguy said:
ESA would be better than Standard Z; ESA is more neutral so it would not add anything artificial, the Standard Z would add to the top treble and if you already have an overly bright or harsh tweeter, you wouldn't want that for sure. But, like I said the Q4 has less treble at the top than either the Standard Z or the ESA so maybe if the treble is way too harsh, the Q4 might be a good place to start? The ESA is the most natural sounding of these three choices here.
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thank you very very much 😛
 
#50
I only have a Clarity Cap PX I think 6.8 uF, no CMR or MR. I might have more boxes in my basement but my arthritis is killing me with these sub-zero temps. and those steps are very steep and narrow so I'll save that for another day. I have said this many times before; in order to accurately measure these differences I so clearly hear; we would need true laboratory test and measurement equipment. For instance, a DSA or Spec. An. 10 Hz to 100 KHz with milli dB and milli Hertz precision and accuracy as well as an O'scope good to maybe 1 MHz with micro Volt resolution; anything less would most likely not have the necessary stability, precision or accuracy required. Home based tests and measurement software and equipment just is not going to work here.

So, again, I am a retired Engineer, Technician and Musician; I understand all of the science and math and I also trust my musician's training and my own two ears (less than 10 to 15 KHz anyway ha ha!)
 
#57
Sonicap Gen I, Sonic Craft

Here are some Sonic Cap Gen. 1 in stock. Pick a common value like 3.3 uF; the price is over $16 US each.

3.3 uF CC CSA (250 Volt) is just over $9 US each at Madisound; they are not showing ESA or MR.

https://www.parts-express.com/speak...ylene-crossover-capacitors/capacitance/3.3-uF

PE page showing all 3.3 uF; quite a spread in prices for sure.

I have some Audyn Cap Plus double layer MKP; not sure which values. I did A/B a long time ago vs Superior Z. The Cap Plus is good but I much preferred the Superior Z. I sometimes use small values of the Cap Plus as bypass and they really help; even the Superior Z sounds better with a Cap Plus bypass.

The only PX value I have is 6.8 uF; I could maybe parallel two Standard Z; 4.7+2.2 for 6.9 uF. I am about out of choices here for this comparison test.

If I get to the basement in a day or so and find other capacitors not already compared; I'll do more. Other than that, I can't offer much more.

For me; my usual go to choice is the Superior Z (with or without a bypass). For me; it offers very good sound quality even though it is more expensive than some.

Jantzen Audio 3.3uF Alumen Z-Cap 100 VDC Aluminum Foil Capacitor

Aluminum Z in 3.3 uF is about $45 US

Jantzen Audio 3.3uF 800V Z-Superior Capacitor

Superior Z in 3.3 uF is just over $25 US each

The Superior Z with one or two $3 bypass caps sounds as good if not better than the Aluminum Z.

I haven't found my Superior Z 2.7 uF yet; the last comparison would be between that and the CSA of the same value; other than that; I'm probably about done here.

I do encourage people to experiment; that is the only way for sure you will know what you personally prefer.
 
#60
I have these ready from post 59. I have to wait a few hours for the neighbors to be awake before I put on a CD. I have YT streaming now but at a very low volume. The PX and Std. Z both measure almost exactly 7.0 uF. Of course; I haven't tried anything bigger than 4 uF here. The curve shows 3.5 Ohms at 6500 Hz which is the calculated -3 dB for 7.0 uF. For 4.0 uF, the calculated -3 dB is at 10,500 Hz assuming 3.8 Ohms which is quite a jump in frequency re the previous comparisons. I may have to attenuate the tweeter at this much lower frequency so it matches the mid output level more closely???
 
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