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Don't Neglect to check your Caps!

Lately, my system has been sounding oddly dark.

At first, I wondered whether my recently acquired VooDoo Dynasty ac cords were still settling in, then it occured to me that it might be worthwhile having my 18 year old Silverline monitors checked out. 

I found a local tech (Mike at Neal’s Speaker Service in Colfax, CA) who told me the tweeters were fine but the caps were on their way out. I gave him the go ahead to replace them and wow, what a difference!  One advantage to waiting as long as I did is that the contrast is dramatic and immediately apparent, not that I’d advocate this as a deliberate strategy.

I guess it’s like the slowly-cooking frog analogy. Our ears can adjust to slowly degrading sound and we won’t necessarily notice it until it reaches a tipping point. 

 

 

 

 

stuartk
ghdprentice
7,780 posts
 

Capacitor.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
1,235 posts
 

Chances are that you got a "twofer" here.

- replaced a cap that was approaching end of life

- upgraded the cap to something better than the OEM. 

The second statement is an assumption, but being involved in speaker service and performance upgrades, I can't imagine going thought the motions of replacing an OEM cap with a similar quality piece.  Especially when "much better performance than OEM" can be achieved at a reasonable cost.

So, what you are hearing is most likely a repair/replacement of aging part AND and upgrade simultaneously?  And, yes, the sonic improvement would be immediate and dramatic.

996turbo911
55 posts
 

Somewhat related question. Do capacitors deteriorate just with age, or does it have to do more with use? Or some combination? 

Say I have a component or speakers in storage long term, not being used but kept in a place with good conditions (no problems with heat, humidity, dust, or anything like that). Would it still have issues with caps eventually, or is that mainly caused by a signal passing through them to cause wear and tear?

mswale
236 posts
 

Yeah, if they are on the way out, it will be a drastic before/after! Done a couple sets of Vintage speakers now, the improvements have been huge! Almost like getting new speakers. Depending on the replacement quality, it can be done fairly cheaply. 

Same goes for other gear, my pre-amp was so much better after a fefeb that replaced all electrolytic caps. 

lytic caps, can wear out or dry out. They are usually good for 10-20+ years. It depends on use, cap quality, environment and so on. Some just fail outright, some just change value over time, others may test fine, but be bad. 

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,256 posts
 

"Do capacitors deteriorate just with age, or does it have to do more with use? Or some combination?"

Film caps can have an indefinite lifespan, longer than you, and I. Electrolytic caps age when used, or not used, in a speaker. 

For the most part, electrolytic caps in an amplifier age both when used or unused, but more quickly when used, as the environment is higher voltage and higher heat.

 

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