Hi i was wandering if i could get peoples opinions about Jantzen Inductors and Caps. I am currently building some 2.5 way towers and i am leaning towards the Jantzen stuff. Any type of info would be grat as i am well and truely confused about all the different brands out there.
Regards
Bowdown
Regards
Bowdown
When I started building DIY speakers I used Solen caps for a simple reason: most of my dream ultra high-end speakers used them in their own crossovers so I thought they were high quality, and they certainly are. Another factor was availability, Solens can be found at most DIY supplier.
However, Solen leads are brittle when heated which makes them newbie-unfriendly so I switched to a sturdie make (can't remember the brand but they were all yellow with etched value scribblings) until I had gained enough soldering and design experience to be able to handle Solen caps with confidence. It's the kind of caps that you better solder only once you have determined that the value you are using will be the definitive one. I also use Solen air-core inductors most of the time even though their design is not always the most practical to work with. I especially appreciate Solen low-DCR Hepta-Litz coils that allow the use of high mH values without having to resort to cored inductors. Pricey but worth it for me.
As for fancier caps I only use them in minimalist first-order Xover designs where one can actually hear a single component, I don't think it's worth spending top dollar for expensive caps that will be relegated to obscure parallel phase correction and impedance comp circuits where any decent capacitor will do just as good a job.
However, Solen leads are brittle when heated which makes them newbie-unfriendly so I switched to a sturdie make (can't remember the brand but they were all yellow with etched value scribblings) until I had gained enough soldering and design experience to be able to handle Solen caps with confidence. It's the kind of caps that you better solder only once you have determined that the value you are using will be the definitive one. I also use Solen air-core inductors most of the time even though their design is not always the most practical to work with. I especially appreciate Solen low-DCR Hepta-Litz coils that allow the use of high mH values without having to resort to cored inductors. Pricey but worth it for me.
As for fancier caps I only use them in minimalist first-order Xover designs where one can actually hear a single component, I don't think it's worth spending top dollar for expensive caps that will be relegated to obscure parallel phase correction and impedance comp circuits where any decent capacitor will do just as good a job.
salas said:
hm.. strange foundations. I myself found mundorf silver oil absolutely diferent sounding than mundorf supreme. more analogue and without any harshness. supreme was somewhat transparent and clearler and even more dynamic. gold oil is not worth money thought. its nearly silver oil. I must say that in speakers passive xover with tweeters soft dome is used there is no need to use silver oil. just you will not hear any significant change, and even more- probbaly supreme will sound better than silver oil. but with hard dome tweeters results with supreme silver oil and gold is amazing. after few weeks burn in supreme sound like "harsh electrolitic digital cap" which screams "look how good I sound!" and silver oil sounds like my dac changed to my analog turnable.
Hi
We did some test with different caps and found that we really liked the mundorf silver oil. Very transparent and open sound stage we then later bypass them with the silver and gold but ended up taking them out sound better without then. I never used the Jantzen but might have to give them a try.
Dave
We did some test with different caps and found that we really liked the mundorf silver oil. Very transparent and open sound stage we then later bypass them with the silver and gold but ended up taking them out sound better without then. I never used the Jantzen but might have to give them a try.
Dave
Not much discussion of inductors
The Jantzen inductors seem pretty nice, especially the perfect lay aircores- about 30-40% less money than equivalent solens, and seem to be of (at least close to) equivalent quality. I'm fond of the solen hepa-litz inductors, but they cost out the wazoo.
I'll be trying the Jantzen 15 awg aircores soonish, got a number of projects that could use them, so I ordered up a dozen or so in various sizes. For larger (read: woofer) coils, I have a bunch of 10 awg perfect lay solen aircores. Sadly, they just sit, as I use an active bass XO, but will fortunately be doing some more passive designs soon.
The Jantzen inductors seem pretty nice, especially the perfect lay aircores- about 30-40% less money than equivalent solens, and seem to be of (at least close to) equivalent quality. I'm fond of the solen hepa-litz inductors, but they cost out the wazoo.
I'll be trying the Jantzen 15 awg aircores soonish, got a number of projects that could use them, so I ordered up a dozen or so in various sizes. For larger (read: woofer) coils, I have a bunch of 10 awg perfect lay solen aircores. Sadly, they just sit, as I use an active bass XO, but will fortunately be doing some more passive designs soon.
i compare a zn Mundorf with a Superior-z Jantzen in a tube buffer right now.
The jantzen is really smooth and more natural sound.
Mundorf love highs and edges, dynamics and resolution.
I prefer jantzen for sure. but maybe in system with need of detail Mundorf maybe be a choice.
Silver jantzen is like superior-z (red) but little more open highs and detail.
I never try better Mundorfs. I will stay with jantzens.
The jantzen is really smooth and more natural sound.
Mundorf love highs and edges, dynamics and resolution.
I prefer jantzen for sure. but maybe in system with need of detail Mundorf maybe be a choice.
Silver jantzen is like superior-z (red) but little more open highs and detail.
I never try better Mundorfs. I will stay with jantzens.
Six years later and I have used the Janztens in quite a few crossovers. I still like them a lot. I have a lot of other caps, but when it comes time to buy new, it's always Jantzen.
My two cents:
Value for money: Obbligato Film Oil MKP 630VDC around $7 for 4.7uF
Absolute Quality (CNO): Mundorf M-Cap Supreme Silver/Gold $155 for 4.7uF
In my last few projects I used the Mundorf Supreme Cap MKP 800VDC for critical and Mundorf M-Cap MKP 400VDC for less critical applications. That combination works very well for me with regards to presentation and detail. They're both available at many suppliers.
With regards to Jantzen (the original question):
Despite the added 30% cost I do prefer Silver-Z above the Superior-Z. The Silver-Z is more detailed which complements the rest of my system. With regards to presentation they are in line with the Superiors in the same system. The more expensive Silver Gold proved little improvent to me and is 4X the price of a Silver-Z. I stay away from the Jantzen Standard and Crosscap for critical crossover applications. Of course this is all relative to the price/quality of the loudspeaker units, the rest of your system and so on.
The above is very subjective, related to and "tested" in my particular set-up. I tested Obbligato, Audyn, Clarity Cap, Jantzen, Mundorf and Solens. All 4.7uF Caps, switched in an exterior crossover, with Soraya Amp, Philips CD Transport, Audio Note DAC, Peerless 2-way Loudspeaker.
Hope this helps.
Value for money: Obbligato Film Oil MKP 630VDC around $7 for 4.7uF
Absolute Quality (CNO): Mundorf M-Cap Supreme Silver/Gold $155 for 4.7uF
In my last few projects I used the Mundorf Supreme Cap MKP 800VDC for critical and Mundorf M-Cap MKP 400VDC for less critical applications. That combination works very well for me with regards to presentation and detail. They're both available at many suppliers.
With regards to Jantzen (the original question):
Despite the added 30% cost I do prefer Silver-Z above the Superior-Z. The Silver-Z is more detailed which complements the rest of my system. With regards to presentation they are in line with the Superiors in the same system. The more expensive Silver Gold proved little improvent to me and is 4X the price of a Silver-Z. I stay away from the Jantzen Standard and Crosscap for critical crossover applications. Of course this is all relative to the price/quality of the loudspeaker units, the rest of your system and so on.
The above is very subjective, related to and "tested" in my particular set-up. I tested Obbligato, Audyn, Clarity Cap, Jantzen, Mundorf and Solens. All 4.7uF Caps, switched in an exterior crossover, with Soraya Amp, Philips CD Transport, Audio Note DAC, Peerless 2-way Loudspeaker.
Hope this helps.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.