Hello all
I got a pair of Duntech Barons recently, and in general I like them. Tremendous bass response for size. But I do find them too dark sounding, a bit closed-in, with recessed upper mids and highs. I looked at crossover, and saw that they used Solens throughout. In my electronics experience, I would always take a Solen, whenever I'd find one in a signal path, and replace it. To me they exhibit exactly the characteristics that I'm hearing. I'm not familiar with speaker crossovers though. Am I right? Should I replace these with something more neutral and open-sounding? If yes, what are recommendation? Anything rasonably priced? These Solens are definitely el-chipo. Are Dayton capacitors a better choice? I have two 10uF MIT MultiCap II 2PPMFX @ 200V, two 5.6uF Mundorf MCap Evo Aluminum Oil @ 450V, not sure if I should use them, the rest I have to buy. Any advise appreciated, thank you. Mark.
I got a pair of Duntech Barons recently, and in general I like them. Tremendous bass response for size. But I do find them too dark sounding, a bit closed-in, with recessed upper mids and highs. I looked at crossover, and saw that they used Solens throughout. In my electronics experience, I would always take a Solen, whenever I'd find one in a signal path, and replace it. To me they exhibit exactly the characteristics that I'm hearing. I'm not familiar with speaker crossovers though. Am I right? Should I replace these with something more neutral and open-sounding? If yes, what are recommendation? Anything rasonably priced? These Solens are definitely el-chipo. Are Dayton capacitors a better choice? I have two 10uF MIT MultiCap II 2PPMFX @ 200V, two 5.6uF Mundorf MCap Evo Aluminum Oil @ 450V, not sure if I should use them, the rest I have to buy. Any advise appreciated, thank you. Mark.
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A question on this topic will lead to endless, pointless debates over whether any cap is better or if the difference is even audible.
What I have experienced is that Solen are not very good caps, other than being inexpensive. Dayton caps are relabeled Solen, so zero improvement there.
Sonicap Gen I is the best sounding "inexpensive" cap among the many I've tried, and even among some of the more expensive caps.
Peace,
Tom E
What I have experienced is that Solen are not very good caps, other than being inexpensive. Dayton caps are relabeled Solen, so zero improvement there.
Sonicap Gen I is the best sounding "inexpensive" cap among the many I've tried, and even among some of the more expensive caps.
Peace,
Tom E
MIT PPFXS 4 uf with a .1uf MIT RTX bypass for the Solen 3.9 uf
My preference is film and foil in crossovers, but the 30 uf and 40 uf will be too expensive. Maybe the Sonic caps with a 10% film and foil bypass.
It'll take 100 hours use to get the full benifit, ( I burn my caps and cables in with a dummy load for a week using a receiver at high output levels as I have no patience to wait once installed in the speaker's.
My preference is film and foil in crossovers, but the 30 uf and 40 uf will be too expensive. Maybe the Sonic caps with a 10% film and foil bypass.
It'll take 100 hours use to get the full benifit, ( I burn my caps and cables in with a dummy load for a week using a receiver at high output levels as I have no patience to wait once installed in the speaker's.
A small value (10% or less of total) bypass cap might be beneficial to the Sonicap, which lacks only the ultimate clarity at highest frequencies. It could also screw it up. You're taking some chance with ANY combination of caps. It can get to be a daunting task to find the right combo. After a few trials, I ended up with a small value Mundorf SIO bypass just for the tweeter cap, which added just a bit of sparkle and air to the highs. Even without it, though, the sound was more than adequate.
Another nice aspect of the Sonicap is that it breaks-in by about 95% during the course of a single CD. The sound actually improved between the first song and the last, and I could detect very little change after that.
But there are lots of great cap choices available.
Peace,
Tom E
Another nice aspect of the Sonicap is that it breaks-in by about 95% during the course of a single CD. The sound actually improved between the first song and the last, and I could detect very little change after that.
But there are lots of great cap choices available.
Peace,
Tom E
Oh.... good chance. 
Cheap? Mundorf MKP.
Middle of the road, Clarity CSA / CMR (huge) - Most natural
Alt. Middle - Mundorf Silver/oil EVO. - Scintillating top end. Slick sounding.
Replace all R with Mills.
That's the gospel of Erik. You can spend more money but only my one truth will lead you to musical truth. The End.
Cheap? Mundorf MKP.
Middle of the road, Clarity CSA / CMR (huge) - Most natural
Alt. Middle - Mundorf Silver/oil EVO. - Scintillating top end. Slick sounding.
Replace all R with Mills.
That's the gospel of Erik. You can spend more money but only my one truth will lead you to musical truth. The End.
Hi mark, Solen caps don't exhibit any sonic characteristic other than what these do as a crossover filter. It is not clear where does this dark sound come from, the filter itself as a result of a manufacturer voicing, someone tempering with the filter, any other electronics influence maybe.
The usually professional way of improving SQ is to measure FR and confirm the listening impression, then modify values, not brand to one's own preference.
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