Jantzen / Mundorf capacitors. Comparison

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Some time ago I changed the classic PIO of my vintage JBL by Clarity Cap ESA, and today I can not say with total certainty if it was for good or bad, and where the sonic difference lies. If you decide to change your capacitors, do it first in a single cabinet and listen to the difference (a monophonic sound source should be used) Because the poor auditory memory of human beings always will make us believe that it was a good investment ... Obviously I could not advise myself at that time .....:D
 
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Many years ago a professor explained to us that the electrolytic capacitors never get charged and discharged in their entirety and that this was due to the material used in their construction (dielectric). And if you do not want it to be damaged, you must use it, which makes that we can extend its useful life far beyond ours. (in my case surely, there is not much cloth left to cut) In other words, it is advisable and highly beneficial to keep lit (for a while each time) artifacts such as amplifiers, CD players, etc., etc. This is something similar to what it happens with Lithium Ion batteries, charge them and discharge them as many times as you need and do not worry about the memory effect, but do not leave them unused for a few years because they probably will not work anymore. An analogy with medical science would be:

"all organs that are not used are atrophied"

So the next time you go to the electronics store, ask them if the electrolytic capacitor you need takes a long time in the drawer or has received it from the supplier recently. I will not be responsible if they call the men who will put to you the white vest with crossed sleeves.

Here I go again: Super-caps

Nobody mentions here that the "old" and "new" capacitors were changed in a single box first, and then the sound reproduction of different instruments was carefully evaluated. Simply moving the balance control of the amplifier from left to right . Obviously, the cabinets should be placed together for the evaluation, in the same place in the room and, again, with a monophonic sound source.

I do not deny that there are sonic differences between signal step capacitors, I simply say that we can not assure the benefits if we do not make the comparisons correctly. There is no auditory memory in human beings, and the more time passes, the more we think we remember "that glorious sound that I never heard again, those if they were excellent sound cabinets, man!" Or the other way around, "this sounds a lot better, it was not like that before" Explaining the sound with words is like wanting to catch a live hummingbird, you just have to put a pinch of salt on the tail and he stay still, and it will be at your disposal...:D
 
Some time ago I changed the classic PIO of my vintage JBL by Clarity Cap ESA

Sadly, i have once performed a similar exercise. The ESA's most distinguishing characteristic appears to be blandness, no sparkle, no life. No surprise they offered no improvement. Now the MR...wow!

Why the lack of auditory memory is so widespread in this hobby, i have no idea. It is baffling, but apparently a fact. Perhaps it is the lack of interest in training it. Perhaps it is the stupid concept of A/B switching.
 
academia50 said:
Many years ago a professor explained to us that the electrolytic capacitors never get charged and discharged in their entirety and that this was due to the material used in their construction (dielectric).
I am struggling to attach meaning to that sentence. Not sure if you misunderstood him or he was talking nonsense.

And if you do not want it to be damaged, you must use it, which makes that we can extend its useful life far beyond ours.
Unused electrolytics can degrade, but they can usually be re-formed, so rarely a problem.
 
Some time ago I changed the classic PIO of my vintage JBL by Clarity Cap ESA, and today I can not say with total certainty if it was for good or bad, and where the sonic difference lies. If you decide to change your capacitors, do it first in a single cabinet and listen to the difference (a monophonic sound source should be used) Because the poor auditory memory of human beings always will make us believe that it was a good investment ... Obviously I could not advise myself at that time .....:D

With a set of jbl 4406 clones here, I chose to use some decent sounding polyester parts in my crossovers, as those titanium tweeters can be hard sounding. The intent was to improve upon the electrolytic parts without unwanted side effects.
 
I am struggling to attach meaning to that sentence. Not sure if you misunderstood him or he was talking nonsense.
(Taken from the Spanish version)

" The capacity of the electrolytic is not as precisely specified as in the case of normal solid dielectric capacitors. Especially with aluminum electrolytics, it is quite common to see specifications that "guarantee a minimum value" without a "maximum limit" of capacity. For most purposes (such as in current feeders or signal coupling) this type of specification is acceptable."

Condensador electrolitico - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

I believe that the paragraph above is refined, if the manufacturer does not ensure a maximum value is because these capacitors will always be polarized to increase their value, (I suppose in nanofarads, or picofarads better?) This is a logarithmic curve that increases infimamente in time, and in practice are negligible values for optimal performance.

I do not think that my dear professor (whom I respected very much and had great admiration for his pleasant way of teaching) was talking stupid things, he also taught us which is the most enormous capacitor in the world and that is in mother nature, since God He created the world (assuming you are a believer, of course) in immemorial times ... do you know what it is ?

Absolutely not. Many times I was just disappointed with sound no matter price.

Absolutely I do not think you understand the point, I imagine that I listen better now than when I was twenty years old, but that is because I have acquired training and experience to be able to know what to evaluate in a sound system. But I am referring to that you can not objectively say that A is better than B but you do the simultaneous test. You can remember a sum or subtraction, a memory poem, that is documented on paper and is irrefutable. Now, give me an example of how the evaluation of the acoustic cabinets is documented on paper.
What are the terms / words with which we can communicate our auditory sensations?

Bass "round" "solid", "fat" " rumbling " ?
Treble " sharp "," hard " " strident" "soft"

All that says nothing, you have to make your own experience, and listen. Would you buy a couple of acoustic cabinets without listening to them because the advertiser or a friend describes you wonders only with words? Not me, but I see that you maybe. .
 
academia50 said:
" The capacity of the electrolytic is not as precisely specified as in the case of normal solid dielectric capacitors. Especially with aluminum electrolytics, it is quite common to see specifications that "guarantee a minimum value" without a "maximum limit" of capacity. For most purposes (such as in current feeders or signal coupling) this type of specification is acceptable."

Condensador electrolitico - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
I have never seen an electrolytic with a spec allowing unlimited capacitance. Even in the old days it would be something like -20% +50%.

I believe that the paragraph above is refined, if the manufacturer does not ensure a maximum value is because these capacitors will always be polarized to increase their value, (I suppose in nanofarads, or picofarads better?) This is a logarithmic curve that increases infimamente in time, and in practice are negligible values for optimal performance.
Polarising (i.e. forming) an electrolytic is likely to reduce its capacitance, because it make the dielectric thicker.

I do not think that my dear professor (whom I respected very much and had great admiration for his pleasant way of teaching) was talking stupid things, he also taught us which is the most enormous capacitor in the world and that is in mother nature, since God He created the world (assuming you are a believer, of course) in immemorial times ... do you know what it is ?
Unfortunately the discussion of religion is not permitted on this forum.

It is conceivable that your dear professor was speaking of dielectric absorption, but that does not only affect electrolytics. It is quite a separate subject from the need to maintain polarisation of an electrolytic, yet you seemed to conflate them.

asuslover said:
What is wrong with them?
Polyester is slightly nonlinear as a dielectric. This can introduce small amounts of distortion, especially in high signal level filters such as speaker crossovers. Some people like a little distortion, and I suppose it could be argued that the capacitor will be introducing less distortion than the speaker drive units.
 
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Nigel, not to confuse Jensen the classic capacitor manufacturer with Jentzen the recent crossover startup with popular friends.

Not that it matters that much. Sure, it matters a little but whether you can hear it is more important. Even more important is your acoustical design, then your crossover and its values.
 
I have never seen an electrolytic with a spec allowing unlimited capacitance. Even in the old days it would be something like -20% +50%.

Polarising (i.e. forming) an electrolytic is likely to reduce its capacitance, because it make the dielectric thicker.

Unfortunately the discussion of religion is not permitted on this forum.

It is conceivable that your dear professor was speaking of dielectric absorption, but that does not only affect electrolytics. It is quite a separate subject from the need to maintain polarisation of an electrolytic, yet you seemed to conflate them.

Polyester is slightly nonlinear as a dielectric. This can introduce small amounts of distortion, especially in high signal level filters such as speaker crossovers. Some people like a little distortion, and I suppose it could be argued that the capacitor will be introducing less distortion than the speaker drive units.

I guess the phrase:

"Go for the tangent" is universal but I'm not sure what will happen with Google translation.

You (DF96) have not answered my question :

What is the greatest capacitor present in "Mother Nature"? ( I hope that the expression "Mother Nature" does not affect your strict attachment to not missing the rules of the forum), or I can also make it more understandable for you :

What is the greatest capacitor in the world not created by man?

Do you know it or not ?

PS: The rules of the forum also say that when quoting phrases should not be altered, you have intentionally avoided the underscore of this part:

without a "maximum limit" of capacity.
 
diyAudio Moderator
Joined 2008
Paid Member
Many years ago a professor explained to us that the electrolytic capacitors never get charged and discharged in their entirety and that this was due to the material used in their construction (dielectric).
Is this the demonstration where he begins by charging and then apparently discharging with a short, then measuring residual Voltage?

What is the greatest capacitor present in "Mother Nature"?
The universe may be riddled with electrostatic gradients intertwined in varying fields of attraction and conduction. What can I take from that?
 
Is this the demonstration where he begins by charging and then apparently discharging with a short, then measuring residual Voltage?

This is all I can do for all of you,:firefite: and believe me it has taken me a lot of my valuable time ....;)

Teóricamente la carga o descarga total de un condensador se produce tras el transcurso de un tiempo infinito, ya que la función matemática que lo define llega al límite de manera asintótica, pero en la práctica en un intervalo de 5 veces el condensador se encuentra completamente cargado o descargado.

Theoretically the total charge or discharge of a capacitor occurs after a period of time infinite, since the mathematical function that defines it reaches the limit asymptotically, but in practice in a range of 5 times the capacitor will find completely loaded or downloaded.

http://www.rtrenergia.es/downloads/condensadores_2012.pdf

The universe may be riddled with electrostatic gradients intertwined in varying fields of attraction and conduction. What can I take from that?

Finalmente hablamos de cómo Tierra se puede modelizar como un condensador. Aunque la atmósfera está compuesta principalmente por oxígeno y nitrógeno, que son gases eléctricamente aislantes, una parte de ella (la ionosfera) está permanentemente ionizada y con carga positiva, debido a su interacción con la radiación solar. Por su parte, la superficie de la Tierra, que es principalmente agua (tres cuartas partes lo son y por el resto el agua se infiltra a través de múltiples grietas y fisuras), también contiene iones disueltos y tiene una carga neta negativa. Por tanto, en la Tierra se puede considerar gran condensador, cuyas placas (esféricas) serían la ionosfera, y el suelo. Ahora bien, en condiciones de "buen clima", la capa de aire que existe entre las dos “placas” de dicho condensador terrestre es un medio dieléctrico, pero no totalmente aislante, por lo que dicho condensador se tendría que ir descargando poco a poco a través de ella. No ocurre así y ello se debe a que existe un mecanismo compensatorio que lo recarga: las tormentas. Antes de que se inicie una tormenta, en un tipo de nubes llamadas cumulonimbos se genera un movimiento de cargas que polariza a dichas nubes (el proceso que causa esta polarización es bastante complejo), haciendo que la cara de ellas que se enfrenta al suelo terrestre acumule carga negativa y la cara superior acumule carga positiva (es decir, provocando una inversión del campo eléctrico ahí). Si la nube no es muy "alta", se producen descargas (rayos) a través del aire (cuando está húmedo llega a ser conductor), entre partículas del suelo con carga positiva y las cargas negativas de la cara de las nubes que mira a dicho suelo. Además hay un efecto de ida y vuelta de los rayos, de tal modo que, después de subir las partículas del suelo a la nube, instantáneamente regresan, causando la visión del relámpago.

Finally we talk about how Earth can be modeled as a capacitor. Although the atmosphere is mainly composed of oxygen and nitrogen, which are electrically insulating gases, a part of it (the ionosphere) is permanently ionized and positively charged, due to its interaction with solar radiation. On the other hand, the surface of the Earth, which is mainly water (three quarters are water and the rest infiltrates through multiple cracks and fissures), also contains dissolved ions and has a negative net charge. Therefore, on Earth can be considered a large capacitor, whose plates (spherical) would be the ionosphere, and the ground. Now, in conditions of "good weather", the layer of air that exists between the two "plates" of said terrestrial capacitor is a dielectric medium, but not totally insulating, so that said capacitor would have to be discharged little by little through it. This is not the case and this is because there is a compensatory mechanism that recharges it: storms. Before a storm starts, in a type of cloud called cumulonimbus, a movement of charges is generated that polarizes these clouds (the process that causes this polarization is quite complex), causing the face of them that faces the terrestrial ground. accumulate negative charge and the upper face accumulates positive charge (ie, causing an inversion of the electric field there). If the cloud is not very "high", discharges (lightning) occur through the air (when wet becomes a conductor), between positively charged soil particles and the negative charges of the face of the clouds that look at said soil. In addition there is a round-trip effect of the rays, so that, after raising the particles of the ground to the cloud, they instantly return, causing the vision of the lightning.

Aplicaciones del condensador

Here, talk about this topic once and you can see a photo of a capacitor downloading its tremendous electric potential over the Buenos Aires sky. As you can see, my professor knew how to arouse great interest in explaining science. So it is that he remembers it until these days, my memory and recognition of his great didactic work. :worship:

Another Troels Gravesen's DTQWT Project Build - Page 43 - DIY Audio Projects - StereoNET

( See posted May 1 )
 
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