Newbie capacitor question

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T

The Nephilim

Member
2005-06-16 7:40 am
US
  • #1
    Hello,

    I have a tweeter capacitor with a value of 3uf.
    I'll like to "re-cap" with 2 X Mundorf 1.5uf in parallel.
    My question is, would there be a sonic advantage to using one cap that is supreme silver/oil and the other a regular supreme?
    Or, does the sound quality just default the poorest cap?

    Thanks, Ken
     
    H

    hunter audio

    Member
    2003-12-25 12:18 pm
    Mumbai
  • #2
    hi

    depends on how good / or accurate your tweeter is

    could you please mention its make and model

    and how good your measuring equipment is - ,

    where if you change or use a cross over with the best components available to a one with generalparts - you will find an audible difference , but if you change only one cap it may not make much of a audible improvement

    Suranjan
     
    K

    K-amps

    Member
    2003-11-30 1:40 am
    Indiana USA
  • #4
    Brand apart, the type of cap makes a huge diff. Generally (exceptions always exist) speaking, on a scale for worst to better:

    - Electrolytics
    - Tantalums
    - Polystyrene
    - Polypropylene
    - Paper in Oil.

    You will not believe the difference you can make from replacing stock eletrolytics with Polypropylenes.....
     
    Scottmoose

    Scottmoose

    Member
    2005-03-25 10:18 am
    UK
    www.wodendesign.com
  • #7
    Can I sound like a heritic here and suggest that you don't waste your money on mega-priced caps? I'm not implying that some aren't better than others (they certainly are -engineering tolerances are tighter etc), but I've rarely observed the manufacturers of some stupidly priced components (I can buy or build a perfectly good amp for the price of some of these things) displaying any proof whatsoever that their product has better performance than some much cheaper equivelants. Why? Simple: they can't.
    I look at it this way: say you have a total of £100 to spend on a tweeter and a cap. You will invariably get better results spending £95 on the tweeter and £5 (or less ) on the cap than spending £95 on the cap and £5 on the tweeter. Am I overstating? Not really, I've known people do just that, and wonder why they were disappointed. Electricity is electricity. It's the drive units shifting air that you listen to.
    Just a thought.
    Cheers
    Scott.
     
    K

    K-amps

    Member
    2003-11-30 1:40 am
    Indiana USA
  • #10
    Scottmoose said:
    Can I sound like a heritic here and suggest that you don't waste your money on mega-priced caps? I'm not implying that some aren't better than others (they certainly are -engineering tolerances are tighter etc), ....... Electricity is electricity. It's the drive units shifting air that you listen to.
    Just a thought.
    Cheers
    Scott.
    Click to expand...

    Scott agreed with the caveat that the cap is better off costing $10 than 50 cents. I have done experiments of using a 50uF non-polar electrolytic vs. a 50uF polypropylene (which was about 20 times the volume of the lytic in size) and the Poly sounded so much better or the lytic sounded so much worse that I am dumbfounded why people still use lytics... even for cost reasons... The difference is huge. (And I am tin eared not gold.. ;) )

    The driver I had this connected to was a medium quality Vifa P13WH. With the Polypropylene, the sound was open, clear and holographic. With the Lytic the sound was congested, blurred and constipated.... Had I not witnessed this myself I would not have believed it. Granted the Lytic was rated at 100v and the Poly at 250v but still the signal never crossed 40vac. P to P

    As far as $50 caps.... I don't see the benefit either.... I guess I have not played with those yet to form an opinion.

    The effect I heard had nothing to do with tolerances, just a characteristic of the cap design I guess.... Also let it be know I am not a "buy expensive cable and see the magic" type either, but when t comes to components, i know they make a difference.

    K-
     
    SY

    SY

    diyAudio Moderator Emeritus
    2002-10-24 10:19 pm
    Chicagoland
    www.SYclotron.com
  • #11
    Whatever you do, do NOT use limited-production designer caps. They are rarely as tightly wound as good commercial units and can exhibit microphonic behavior. Any supposed advantage from rhenuim electrodes or polyimaginate-impregnated papyrus dielectrics is minimal compared to the modulation of capacitance with acoustic excitation.

    If you want to demonstrate this, connect a large resistor in series with the test cap to form a series string. Ground the cap end of the string, apply 15 or 20 volts across the string, then capacitively couple the junction of the resistor and the cap to the input of a sensitive scope or (for real drama) the phono input of your preamp. Tap the cap and marvel at the amount of sound!

    Do the same thing with a plain old Wima MKP and you won't hear jack.

    Then again, some people like the colorations that microphonic components give...
     
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