Bill
Maybe the inductor change worked for you and not for me because your speakers have no level matching requirements.
If the inductor gauge of the Solens were both 16 gauge and the North Creeks were both 10 gauge it seems that any DCR difference would be linear and track with the drivers. Man that made my head hurt. Tom |
I read with interest the comments and opinions above. I have been using Mundorf S/I/O caps, Deuland resistors, and Goertz 12 ga. inductors in my custom Tannoy HPD's for years now.
While the purchase of Dueland Cast capacitors are beyond my budget, Cast resistors and North Creek incuctors may not be.
It's something to consider, at least, and leads to speculation on my part as to how efficacious such a change might be. There's only one way to find out, I suppose.
I too, appreciate the input and information provided on this thread, and many others, and it has had a direct and positive impact on the quality of my music listening.
Regards,
Dan |
Excellent news Grannyring! I am glad the North Creek inductors worked well with your speakers. They certainly do with mine. As I said before, I would not be shocked if the Duelund CAST inductors are even better but you have to draw the line somewhere. For my values, the two pairs of North Creeks ran about $650 total and the CAST inductors would have been $6500(!) at full retail. |
Salectric, thanks for the tip on the North Creek inductors. I have had them in the crossover for about 50 hours. They replaced the Solen stock inductors of a very thin gauge. The NC inductors I used were 10 guage and about 3-4 times the size.
I was was little concerned the Q value would change as the NC inductors have far lower DCR values. As low as .04! I knew the sound would change, but was not sure if it would be better or need more tweaking by using resistors. My crossover has no resistors in it.
Well I learned a great deal because of this upgrade. I have never changed inductors before and felt they may not be as important as caps and resistors. I was wrong. Very wrong.
No need to add resistors as the result is stellar.
The NC inductors improved the sound as much as a Duelund cap vs Solen.
I will let these inductors settle in and then upgrade the caps to Jupiter.
$435 upgrade to a $16,000 speaker turned out to be wonderful. Thanks again for the tip! |
Sal,
+1, you summed it up well. I'm glad that the Ocellia cables worked for you as well as they did for me.
Charles, |
Charles,
Thank you for a mature and thoughtful post. I agree with you completely about this being a passionate hobby. As a result, it's all too easy to get caught up in minor differences in viewpoint and lose sight of the bigger issues. Too often we emphasize differences and ignore common traits and interests. You and I (as well as most others here) love our music libraries and anything we can do to increase the enjoyment of our LPs and CDs is appreciated. Duelund capacitors have improved my speakers and yours so we are definitely in the same camp. Furthermore, it was your enthusiasm for Ocellia cables that tipped the scale for me and caused me to order a set, which have also improved the sound of all of my records. So sharing our experiences and our enthusiasm can definitely benefit us all.
What we need here is someone to post that all capacitors sound the same, all amps sound the same, and all cables sound the same. Then we can all join together and beat on the common enemy. Peace. |
Tas and John(Reynolds853),
You two clearly understand my point and frame of reference. Salectric, I've always found you comments insightful and worthwhile, but here's the difference. You and I have different missions or objectives. I want to achieve the best sound I can with my current components and system overall at a reasonable cost, that's it(just fine tune what I own).You have taken a more rigorous and analytical approach and are much more interested in comparing various parts and components. You are clearly a more intense audiophile then I am and that's perfectly fine.I simply have no interest in the constant comparision of this vs that and patiently notating the sometimes subtle points of each product.
Your Pioneer-ARC analogy is on the mark as regards to Solen vs Duelund CAST.This is why I use terms such as stark contrast and profound improvement. I never have or will I proclaim CAST the "best" capacitor, I have no way to prove that(and what would it mean anyway?). My simple reason for posting on this thread was to make others aware that very significant SQ improvement is available merely by upgrading to these wonderful capacitors. That is my only intention. I don't care that another cap is as good or worry that there's something out there that's even better.It isn't worth the constant comparision process, but for you or Grannyring it is and that's great, I enjoy reading both of you and your findings.I spent a lot of time listening to music and anything that increases the natural/organic character is what I want.The CAST did this in abundance. Could other caps do the same? Sure some others can, but it's there with the CAST now, so no motivation to experiment with another capacitor, I'm happy already.This wouldn't satisfy your quest and you'd be compelled to try other capacitors(I understand that).
I won't lose sleep worrying if the Jupiter Cu foil is better than my CAST. As far as I'm concerned they're both excellent products and either would be a major upgrade for the vast majority compared to most "stock" capacitors.
Sal, you and I have different motives and goals and neither is wrong. This is a passionate hobby and there are many ways to obtain happiness with one's audio system.Sal I'll continue to read and appreciate your contributions.
Best Regards,
Charles, |
Salectric
your comment to Charles is reasonable, and similar to what I did in my speakers (replacing Solen caps with far better ones) and the result has been profound. The thing is, as Charles has said, many of us aren't here to research - we just thank god for the ones (like you) who are and follow your lead. The point has been made that, apparently, we are all just "putzing about". Given the results that can be achieved I find that description sublimely ridiculous and inflammatory.
If I were paying more attention to the Johnk's of this world I'd now be buying a new pair of speakers (or two of three) instead of paying very close respect and attention to the efforts of people like you and trying to follow your lead.
Anyway, I've said too much. Thanks again for your efforts.
Tas |
Salectric,
Your points are well taken, and your advice always appreciated I might add. Like Charles I too originally changed from Solen capacitors. In one set of speakers the path was Solen -> Mundorf Silver/Gold/Oil -> Duelund VSF Copper. In my present speakers the path was Solen -> Clarity MR -> Duelund CAST Copper.
My decision to go to Duelund CAST was based on my experience with those earlier caps, from reading selected posts on this thread from those who expressed similar opinions of those caps, and from their subsequent opinions of the Duelund CAST. My goal was to combine the attributes of the Duelund VSF (tone, richness, harmonic structure, naturalness) with that of the Clarity MR (speed, very low noise floor, spacial retrieval). In my system I achieved those goals to my satisfaction with the Duelund CAST capacitors and am quite happy, and as I mentioned in my previous post, am therefore not inclined experiment further. I'm just enjoying listening to my system.
Thanks again for your reply to my earlier post about the capacitor values for my current crossover project. I was able to determine that the 3.3uF with 0.22uF bypass capacitor was indeed the original configuration. Just to be safe, I'm going to order the new caps in a 3.52uF value. As you mentioned the difference between the 3.3uF and 3.52uF values would likely be inconsequential in the speaker's first order crossover, I'm more comfortable staying with the designer's original values and since the CAST caps are made to order it's just as easy to order a 3.52 as it would be to order a 3.3.
Best wishes,
John |
Johnk,
I would like to add to the present conversation by saying that I have learned a lot from this thread and it is by far the one on Audiogon for which I am the most thankful. I consider this thread and those who contribute to it a tremendous asset.
As a research engineer I understand performing design of experiments to gain an understanding of the contributions and/or interactions among system components, but here I think it comes down to how one defines success. If I were a speaker designer I might be inclined to define success by achieving a cost/performance target. In that case I would follow a process such as you describe to make sure the performance of each part within the system was worth any added product cost.
As a hobbyist, however, I define success simply by the pleasure derived from my system. Like Charles and some others here with their systems, the changes I have made resulted in profound improvements that met my definition of success and I too would consider going back to the original crossover a waste of my time. I simply have no motivation to do that, whereas for you it would to make perfect sense. To me the main thing to remember is that there are many people on this forum with many different priorities and interests.
Best wishes,
John |
Charles, everyone reading this thread knows you replaced a Solen with a Duelund CAST and noticed a big improvement. That's great and I am glad you're happy, but it's hardly surprising. Solens are, to put it politely, not a very high threshold to surpass. Here's an analogy: if someone replaces the Pioneer transistor amp he's been using for the past 20 years with an Audio Research preamp and amp, he will be very pleased with the improvement. That doesn't mean, however, that ARC is the best sounding amp in the world. Without hearing other high-quality amps, he may be quite happy, but if he hears VTL, VAC, Emotive Audio, CJ etc., he will realize that the ARC equipment has flaws and he may prefer another brand instead.
It's the same thing with capacitors. You need to try a lot of different caps and in various applications to gain a full appreciation of each cap's sonic qualities. A few months ago I posted something in this thread asking people to describe any negative qualities they hear in CAST caps. As I recall, Grannyring and I were the only ones who had any complaints. That's not because we have super-human hearing. It's because we have spent a lot of time comparing different caps.
And that is why I say in order to gain a more complete, a more nuanced understanding of what a cap sounds like, you have to compare it to other caps of similar quality. That hardly seems like a controversial statement. |
I believe Johnk builds speakers. If he and Salectric feel it's necessary to perform multiple A/B testing to be certain that the differences are legitimate, more power to them. Some situations may require that degree of scrutiny, I get that. In my case of changes/upgrades it'd be a waste of my time. The improvement was simply too apparent and profound. The CAST affect was a stark contrast initially and nearly 2 years later that hasn't changed. To each their own.
Charles, |
Salectric:
Actually, "bugger it" (another Australian expression lol), you rock! Thanks so much for all your free information and insights.
To the forum:
I reckon Johnk is a dealer otherwise he'd be "pissing himself with excitement" ( yet another wonderful Aussie expression.....where do we come up with them?! Lol) about at least trailing some of the things that have been determined on here.
Cheers again, Tas (who is now just being naughty, having a laugh and shouldn't be taken seriously FOR THIS POST ONLY ha) |
Johnk
I'm sorry to hear you're out but, if I may be permitted a superficial observation to your comments on here, you seemed too vehemently one sided to me.
I should add...... , you started off your messages by saying:
"Thread is 6 years old you would think the networks been sorted out by now sure looks to be a extremely costly bunch of putzing about. Might of been better to just saved up and bought better kit."
What I got out if reading this thread is that it's possible to save HUGE sums of time (and money) - the exact opposite of your view - and, what's more, I have. That doesn't appear to interest you or you're suspicious of the idea. I think you are operating on a different wavelength altogether and you'll never be interested.
Scalectric Excellent and very, very patient post. Thank you for persisting.
Cheers, Tas (who is still beaming lol)
P.S. I also like world peace and Thai food....lol |
I have to agree with a lot of what Johnk said. Too many people, including folks on this thread, get seduced by the "I modded it so it must be better" perspective. In all equipment, but especially with speaker crossovers, a "better" component may not actually result in better sound. There are too many other factors involved.
Consider another context. We all know that when we try different preamps or amps in our system, it is often easy to notice certain qualities that we think are improvements but it may take longer to notice failings. Well, the same thing occurs when swapping capacitors, chokes, resistors and wire in a speaker crossover. The new part will undoubtedly change the sound but is it really an improvement? Are there some negative qualities that go along with the positive ones? Often the negatives may seem minor at first but become major issues later on. It does indeed help to return to the unmodified version as a reality check. (I don't agree with making changes to one speaker and leaving the other stock but that was beaten to death earlier in this thread.)
Adding to the confusion is the breakin factor. Nearly all new component parts take time to reveal their true sonic character, so they can't be judged within minutes or even hours after being installed. My approach with crossover parts is to hook them up with a dummy load on another system and run them 24/7 with FM to let them break in prior to trying them in my speakers. Then, after I install them, I switch back and forth between the prior component and the new one every few days or so in order to get a real fix on how each of them sounds (in the context of my speaker). This takes a lot of time and I would not say it is always fun, but I don't know of any other way to evaluate parts objectively.
As an example, I have been trying Duelund CAST resistors in my speaker crossovers. These took a long time to reveal their true character. If I had only listened for a few hours, I would have said they were unacceptable---detailed and dynamic, but too wispy in the highs and lightweight in the bass. Yet after putting a lot more hours on them, I am now very pleased with how they sound. (Incidentally, the CAST resistor sounds nothing at like the regular Duelund resistor.)
So the bottom line is that you do have to go back and forth between parts to assess their true sonic qualities. Some people may be happy after installing a new capacitor and never look back. That's fine for them, and I am not critical of their experience if they are happy with the end result. But this approach won't work for all applications especially where the part being replaced is already of high quality. I would also add that swapping in a brand new component like a Duelund cap that takes a very long time to break in means that it will be difficult to state with any precision how it changed the sound since you are relying on memories from weeks or months earlier.
It should also be obvious that you can't change lots of parts all at one time and then try to say what changes were due to what part. This is one of the things that frustrates me so much about Jeff Day's long blog about his Tannoy Westminsters, but that is for another day. |
Johnk,
With all due respect, your recent posts make little sense. Of course the process is subjective, you hear something and judge it's quality of sound. Either it's an improvement or it isn't. People contributing to this thread have had sucess and failures with various components and modifications. I don't get the sense that we're here just to pat each other and ourselves on the back. Many of us aren't qualified to make radical or extensive modifications to our speakers. The fact that by changing a capacitor (relatively simple) can yield significant improvement in sound is noteworthy. I am happy to let others know of my pleasing outcome and that they can achieve similarly good results in their systems as well. That's a positive occurrence IMO.
Charles, |
If you note I was one of the 1st in this thread. And I do find it a bit strange that a trained scientist would ignore the most basic tests and just trust subjective results. I still think if those who mod would approach it with more knowledge and and bit of skepticism. And maybe even compare results not rely on flawed acoustic memory and confirmation bias. This thread focuses on only one aspect of a loudspeaker and a loudspeaker is a whole and should be designed as such. Tossing crazy money at inferior transducers to me makes no sense at all. but I do know that it's futile to discuss this. People who post to these threads tend to seek agreement and ignore those who don't just say great job well done you rock. So I end my replies to this thread. |
Johnk
This discussion is all a bit academic. Are you looking for reassurance? If so, it's all in the previous pages of this blog.
For my own part, the kind of mods I've performed produced results that were night and day different. In terms of difference, I'd say my speakers sound like speakers worth three times the price. I have heard 30K speakers and I'm now very much in that territory. FAR less grain. FAR more natural. FAR more revealing. Bass that is by far better controlled than before.
I've had my speakers for 10 years. I just don't need to do an A/B to know what effect my mods have made. I could itemise the changes from memory with numerous reference tracks I have. There are some pieces of music I've listened to more than 80 times over the years on my setup.
I'll repeat what I said in an earlier post. Read this blog, learn what others have tried and do your own A/B comparisons if you want. There are some very bright and enquiring people who post on here. I, and I'm tipping most others on here, are way past the point of having to make sure we are making a positive differences and, yes, some people here have done their own A/B comparisons along the way. People here have been in touch with their equipment manufactures, technicians, their own guile and a huge amount of trial and error. I found this out by reading this, yes? Some stuff they tried worked brilliantly, some not so much. But the determinations are clear, for much less money than the cost of upgrading, you may be able to make significant gains in the performance of your system because of the work done by many people on here.
The differences that can be made are just too obvious. Too radical. Often, too much better to require "scientific" certainty.
For me, this experience has been like a badly asthmatic person using a, desperately required, inhaler. For me, it's been THAT obvious. So satisfying and good I wouldn't dream of undoing anything.
I am now in a position where my speakers are now so revealing that just about any change I make to my setup is highly perceptible. Almost radically so. Resonance control has now become incredibly important. I am in absolutely no doubt about whether a change to my setup/room is making a positive/negative/nil difference because the clarity and resolution I now have is streets ahead of what it ever was before. Ever.
For the record, in my speakers, I replaced, internal wiring, all capacitors, all resistors and all terminals.
By the way, I'm a trained scientist and opera singer. I know about scientific process and I have a deep love of music. (Just thought I'd throw that in here for added colour...lol)
Cheers, Tas
P.S ...I also love tennis, Australian rules football, Italian food, walking......lolol |
Johnk,
I 've made changes in my audio system that weren't always better but just different or a bit worse. I simply report what's heard and accept it for the reality it represents. Duelund CAST in my speaker and DAC were "significant" improvements on what was already very good sound.For me it's as clear cut as going from my former class AB SS amplifier to a class A SET amplifier. Unmistakable upgrade for me and no need to go back and forth(I knew the sound of both very well and the contrast was too profound to deny).
Charles, |
Every single mod I have done was only after living with the original for a long time. Not sure who your question was for John? As for me, I just completed another speaker mod that turned my good speaker Into something great for $700. Easily 40 % better to my ears which is all that matters. |
Not debunking the fact that different parts have different sound quality just the way the mods are done. I feel many posting could of saved time $ and ended up with better results if they approached the modifications with a objective skeptical mind.So easy to test end result with stereo speakers just mod one at a time compare result how hard is that? |
How do you really know? Since you didn't compare the unaltered to altered? You spent quite a bit of $ took time and did mod how could it be anything but better after? Maybe you should read up on confirmation bias. Its very easy to keep one speaker stock listen in mono to compare. How do you know if the dueland just has different level of resistance than solen this alone would alter sound quality. And may cause slight increase or decrease in SPL of driver. |
Johnk,
Others here are capable of speaking for themselves, so I'll state my experience. My Coincident speaker has a Solen capacitor at the tweeter position. The sound of this stock speaker is very good. Replacing the Solen with the Duelund CAST was such an obvious improvement that there's no need to debate this, it's better!I don't need to reinsert the Solen to be "sure".
Charles, |
My issue is that as far as I've read not one has compared the original unaltered network to modified one and many have modded network than modded again over and over. I have yet to read that the gents experimenting so have tested results at all just modded and it sounds great so modded again, and again it sounds better. This is a very unscientific way of getting results and enables the many flaws of human perception to rule instead of facts. Most don't seem to understand the different levels of insertion lose. Or magnetic interaction between crossover parts. And again many who are throwing crazy money at average loudspeakers with run of the mill transducers.Confirmation bias is mostly what I read about in this thread. Not trying to be a jerk etc just trying to help. I design loudspeakers networks etc. Only real way to tell if crossover part is better than stock is to compare the 2 test objectively and subjectively not to mod both and just listen falling prey to biases and other human faults. |
This has been one of the better threads I have participated in when considering information, truly good attitude and shared experiences. |
|
Whoops!
Fair dinkum is what I meant to type. Lol |
:-)
We've all said it to one another. We've all made our own discoveries one at a time or together. Doing what we've all done here, modifying, carefully and using high end parts, has blown our expectations of what is possible through the stratosphere.
For my own part, I have bought and bought and bought better equipment for the last 30 years and now "I'm free". I'm in control. Me, not the salesperson. Finally.
Thanks you all for being here and for contributing to this extremely valuable blog.
John, if you are "fair d'inkum" (Australian expression) about bang for buck and astonishing results read this blog thoroughly. I did, I'm beaming and I'm not the only one.
Sincerely, Tas |
Grannyring,
Good points. Besides that, buying "better kit" as we all know by now, does not guarantee that all of the parts are the best that they can be. |
We are also sharing a passion and love for building and learning. We want to tinker and play and get joy out of it. The destination is not the whole ball of wax as I enjoy the process as much or more. |
John K? What? I don't follow your post at all. We are talking about projects over time, not one static piece of gear. |
Thread is 6 years old you would think the networks been sorted out by now sure looks to be a extremely costly bunch of putzing about. Might of been better to just saved up and bought better kit. |
Yes they are. Two in my preamp and 4 in my CD player. Waiting for the larger values for my crossover. I also placed 8 in some Thor amps. They are spectacular. Several of us replaced Duelund CAST in our preamps and love the improvement. The Duelund caps are wonderful in our preamps, but these are better to our ears.
I suppose I don't know for sure if the speaker value Jupiters will be as good or better than the Duelund as I have only used them in electronics. Beta testers say the speaker value Jupiter caps are just as special in crossovers. |
Grannyring,
Are these the Jupiter caps you are using?
http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_jupiter_ht_copper.html |
Tom. How does one mechanically couple away vibrations on theses flat caps? With small brass points? How are the points attached to the bottom of the cap? Glue on the flat side of the cone?
I am building an outboard crossover for my speakers as do think all the turbulence in the bass chamber is not a good thing. I would love to mechanically couple away vibrations on my outboard crossover board.
Thanks much. |
Agreed. No bypass cap needed. Get Jupiter copper foil for FAR less money and they sound every bit as good....better to several good ears. No kidding. Your value will be out this or next week I am told. They are the SOTA in caps and sound quality based on my experience and others. |
John
Granted you have more vibration in the speaker box than out. But your acoustic space is also a speaker box of sorts. A passive device in line has signal running thru it will also corrupt the signal with its own material resonance. Devices that are highly damped actually store much energy over a longer time frame so they also needed to be mechanically grounded doesn't matter if its in a cabinet or not.Tom |
Tom,
Thank you too for your reply. I posted my reply to Salectric before your note posted. Your suggestion is interesting but would it be needed with the CAST cap mounted in an outboard enclosure?
Thanks again,
John |
Salectric,
Thank you so much for your prompt and helpful reply. Your reply was spot-on for the help I needed. I'll indeed go with the single 3.3uf arrangement in the new crossover.
I didn't ask the gentleman from whom we obtained the speakers if he was the original owner. He didn't seem like the sort who would modify the crossover, but one never knows. I suspect though that you are correct that someone other than Alan Yun (Silverline designer) added that bypass cap.
There's another little oddity about the speaker: the internal wiring was been doubled, that is, two conductors have been twisted together on all of the connections. From having modified the crossover in a pair of Silverline SR17.5 monitors (I used Duelund VSF-Cu) and my Silverline Bolero speakers (Duelund CAST-Cu) I recognize the wire as what Alan used in those two speakers, but he only used single conductors for the connections. The picture of the stock crossover I found on the internet also used only single conductors. One more thing, whoever mounted the resistor, or re-mounted it as the case may be, must have lost control of the hot glue gun - what a big glob! I've never seen Alan be so sloppy before.
Thanks again for your help,
Cheers,
John |
I agree. One great cap would be better than a poor cap and a better bypass cap. You can also mechanically direct couple flat caps like the Duelund some Jupiter's and the Clarity Cap Dtac series. This method will move resonant energy off the cap and the crossover mounting surface much faster than mounting with glue or silicon and ties.. Tom |
John, with a first-order crossover the slope is so gradual that there will be little difference in sound due strictly to the 3.3 vs. 3.52 difference in value. You certainly want both speakers to be matched but either value could be used. Of course, it is hard to isolate the sonic differences due to cap value alone---any comparison is complicated because different caps sound different, even two caps of the same mfr and model.
From your description, it appears that these speakers were "improved" by some prior owner who added a bypass cap. I agree with you that this nearly always causes problems even though the bypass cap may sound more spectacular at first. If I were you, I would probably go with a single 3.3uf cap. |
I have a question for the group.
Background: A friend just acquired a pair of Silverline SR17 Supreme monitors. The crossover is first order and uses a Dynaudio T330D Esotar tweeter. The plan is to take the crossover outboard, replacing the tweeter capacitor with a Duelund CAST-Cu. When I looked in the speaker I was surprised to find on the tweeter circuit a 3.3uF Solen with a 0.22uF WIMA bypass cap, the parallel arrangement giving an equivalent capacitance of 3.52uF. I've never encountered this arrangement in a Silverline before. I also found a picture on the internet (supposedly) of a stock SR17 Supreme crossover and it only had a single capacitor on the tweeter circuit, which is what I would have expected. I could not read the value of the capacitor in that picture but I suspect it was a standard 3.3uF cap as the 3.52uF value is nonstandard. So, with that background, here's where I could use this group's learned council on a few questions:
1. In terms of the crossover frequency, is the difference between the 3.3uF and a 3.52uF capacitance values even audible?
2. I can install a standard 3.3uF CAST capacitor or ask Frederik to make a 3.52uF capacitor. What would the group advise?
I note that the difference between the two values in question is 6.7% This may be within any relevant capacitor or other design tolerances which may make the choice inconsequential, I just don't have enough experience to know.
I would write the manufacturer for his council but having found him to be reluctant to answer such questions in the past I don't think that is an option.
Thanks for your help,
John |
Grannyring
Too bad wrong size on the North Creek. I have a 2.5mh North Creek but did go to Duelund VSF. I wish I had even went to CAST. (one of the only regrets)
Treat inductors as every bit as important as caps if not more. Just shocking how much noise. (and VSF I would not expect to be at CAST level)
In my testing it was Duelund VSF, vintage wax paper then North Creek. North Creek might be one of the best out there not sure?
Inductors are the vastly underrated part and not understood. It is the high freq noise that gets cut... I was not expecting it. There is a lot on this thread with others who found it the same.
Of course money is always an object.
The point of this thread was improvement for the $ and Duelund inductors are right up there! |
Theaudiotweak,
Thanks, good idea. The Capacitor Shootout give a 8.5 rating to them, vs. a 6+ rating for the Solem. I have to check how much area 8x27uf would take or (10x22uf). I hoped there was a 220uf single capacitor solution for the upgrade.
Cheers,
VPN |
Vicente,
I would look at the ESA caps from Clarity Cap. http://www.claritycap.co.uk/products/esa.php
I see these as a great value and are used by several high perception electronic manufacturers.
I am sure you are going outboard with the crossover and if so you could parallel 8 27 uf caps to come really close to the value you need. If you purchased a total of 16 you could value match the sets left and right and probably hit very close to the desired 220uf value of the single Solen.
The ESA 27uf's are available in both 250 and 630 volt films.
I would not bypass these caps. I would keep all the values and characteristics of the caps the same. I made this mistake years ago with my Dunlavy re-build by mixing in some bypass caps to match values. I think I was hearing the small values and not the whole. Tom |
Hello,
Let me post my question again. The only non-Duelund capacitor left in my crossovers are a two 220uF Solen (one in each). Any option better sounding than Solen for this very high capacitance? Duelund CAST and RS are out of question given price. This is for a secondary circuit, in parallel to the 15" woofers.
Thanks for your suggestions. |
In the past I used 8 and 10 gauge inductors for bass and foils for upper mids and highs. My self and friend thought the round wire sounded best on the low end and the flat for the highs. We tried this on SC4's. The inductors were North Creek and Solo foils. For my current rebuild speaker project we wound our own from the same stock as above. When they are completed one day I will tell you how it all worked out. Tom |
Now I just need the new Jupiter copper caps in the larger crossover values! |
Grannyring, I think you will be very happy with the North Creek chokes. Among the others I tried are several other brands of air cores, several Jantzen ferrite cores, vintage Altec iron core, and several copper foils. I had complaints about each of them but not the North Creeks.
The North Creeks don't take long to break in either. I didn't notice any real changes after the first few hours. |
Salectric
I ordered some and thanks for the post. I was leaning towards them and your post helped. |
