2. tech-talk
  3. 126462-41

Best Capacitors for Crossovers

I am now in the tweaking stage of trying different caps in my crossovers for my DIY homemade 2 way. I presently have and will soon try a 5.6uf 800 vdc +/- 2% Jantzen Audio Silver Z-cap.

I see that Mundorf, V Cap get a lot of accolades, and the Dueland are quite pricey.

Does anyone have a favorite?

I am trying to cross over at about 4500HZ at 6db.

128x128ozzy
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,528 posts
 
Nice! Well that tweeter matched with that particular cap will give a very detailed sound that will certainly start off hot sounding. The Jantzen silver cap is known to be very detailed and tipped up in the highs. Even after burn in that personality will prevail. 

I have had great luck matching ribbon tweeters with copper foil caps from the likes of Jupiter. I had that combo with Raal ribbon tweeters and it was wonderful. I think burn in will be closer to at least 100-150 hours to be honest. 
ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,537 posts
 

grannyring,

Thanks for the info. I also wired the cap with the tweeters using .9999 silver cable. I know that when I had the Von Schwekert’s speakers as new they sounded pretty tight for about a month. I even ran one out of phase and moved the speakers together face to face for several weeks.

I am not too concerned at this time though. I know wire takes at least 200 hours to flesh out and what I am using is all new wiring, caps and speakers.

With my Pass Labs amp, I don’t want to play it continuously so it may take a month to fully develop. So, at that time I may experiment further with other caps.

erik_squires
16,385 posts
 
NIce. I like silver, and copper, but really not impressed by silver/copper for speakers.

Best,

Erik
ptss
1,964 posts
 
"Lustformusic" gave you great information; and that design came courtesy of  GREG TIMBERS; a very senior speaker engineer/designer at JBL. A great guy responsible for some of JBL's greatest speakers. From personal experience I can say he is a exceptional gentleman who really cares about music reproduction and customer satisfaction.My hat remains off to Mr. Timbers.
enliten
44 posts
 
NONE - go active crossover if you're a DIY guy. Because you CAN.
More to discover