BEST HARMLESS/SIGNATURELESS SPEAKERS CAPACITORS.

I wish I did not, but I do hear a difference between different fuses.  That said, I find the differences between capacitors a much larger effect.  My preamp has two outputs that are identical besides the output capacitor and I'd be shocked if anyone on this site didn't hear the differences when switching between the two.  Super easy to do blind a-b-a testing on something like that too.  Similarly easy to unscrew my tweeter cap and test out those differences with an external crossover.

Dear friends: Other than my first hand experiences with diferent caps for speaker crossover I was reading a lot of information about that includes diferent whole tests and capacitors evaluations.

The common way to write of the evaluations gentlemans is almost the same for all the boutique and top rated capacitors where the adjectives used tells us many glorious characteristics but in no one say the response is flat everything for them in this capacitors top range talks about colorations more than accuracy or flat response.

In the other side and at the other extreme when talk of the " poor " capacitors as Wima, Vishay, Clarity, Audience,Jantzen and the like they say:

" overall presentation is a bit flat.. """, "" you get a neutral, smooth and well balanced capacitor... """, """ Well balanced, overall coherent sounding capacitor... """ , "" Overall performance is very satisfactory and has something correct / complete about it.."", "" has high resolution in a natural way, it is without glare that you usually get with some of those "high-end" capacitors. """


And I ask my self: is it not that way as be or should be what we have to expect for any well designed capacitor?.

No one of those sentences came from " complex " design capacitors ( paper, oil beewax and the like. ) that for me alter the audio signal that pass through in a higher way against the straigth " poor " capacitors designs. Where that " alter " means fully colorations that the " poor " ones just do not have because it’s not part of the capacitor job.

Capacitor design/build is not a rocket science and as we already read it in the links I posted its job and contruction must be: straigth, the audio signal is not looking for the beewax or oil and the like.

As in one those links please think a little about: why those boutique caps that many of you " die for " are not used in medical tools/instruments or in the aircraft or military industry or in many other industry applications where what you need is : accuracy, precision, bullet proof, longevity and many other characteristics.

Or you think that to handle in the " rigth " way an audio signal we need those kind of boutique capacitors due to the audio signal " complexity "? make sense to you?

Yes, I know what you hear/listened and likes because I had experiences about and listen it all those nice colorations but what I did not listened was the MUSIC rigthness.

As I said before I own a lot of wima caps and after solve the speaker woofer crossover I will listen to wima, vishay and other " poor " caps in the tweeters and we will see then what happens down there.

For me the boutique caps are not for reproduce today MUSIC. Something similar as tube technology, both items can't really honor MUSIC today ( maybe in the past but not today where exist a lot better alternatives. ).


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Dear @cal3713  :  ""  It's a shame your cap values are so large that you can't just buy everything and try them all...""

Yes, it's a problem and that's why I have to really take care about trying to learn as much as I can from every where.

Btw, I remember the heavy touted Black Gate electrolytic caps and I'm wonder if that was only a time " fashion " and nothing else at all and after read so many information in the net I changed my mind and I will stay away from the BG or any electrolytic caps even the battery biased configuration type.

Active crossover is not for me the best solution ( even that could be the one. ) due that I have not all the driver speaker needs and prefer to stay in the passive know scenario.

R.

Dear @cal3713  : """   but I do hear a difference between different fuse..."""

of course you herad it, almost any one can listen the differences between fuses but that's not the main subject but if those fuse changes really helps for the MUSIC rigthness not only gives " colorations ".

Same for the boutique capacitors that any one can listen its diferences in between and again that's not the main subject.

I know almost for sure that those added boutique caps colorations are only that colorations/distortions that does not exist in the recording but we like it and for me those " nice colorations " are not part ofthe real MUSIC.

Tidal 200K speaker is a good example on how a speaker manufacturer use those caps as a " tone " devices " as a " tone control " when the main target in a speaker crossover capacitor certainly is not to be used as a tone devices.

Tidal use 5 diferent caps to make exactly that and at least for me or tghose accuton drivers are really bad or the overall design of the speakers is not good enough. Of course I can be wrong but I can't find out rational explanations for those " design and driver behaviors " .

I think that those boutique caps and fuses are used only in audio and in specific in the " high-end " market niche. Said I " high-end "? becaUSE RIGTH NOW COULD BE ANYTHING BUT TRUE HIGH-END. It's full of snake oil devices that we all love it but sooner or latter we can learn about if we are willing to learn, we need the rigth attitude for learn something where we thing we already learned when it's not that way as we like to think.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Dear @paulcreed  @cal3713  and friends: Temptation was to much and before I changed the woofer crossover caps I made a " little " change in my speaker tweeters and put my hands to work where my mouth/talk is and due that I have several Wima caps these are the ones I changed instead the Alumen Z that were the ones connected down there.

I'm listening and making my self test whole evaluation process and before I post the results I would like that if you can do it,  due that Wima caps are totally inexpensive ,  then do it with your speaker tweeters only with out other blending caps for that crossover filter.

IMHO and even that your tweeters are diferent from mines is a must for any one to make this simple test speaker evaluation devices.
Then you can come here to share your first hand experiences about.

Believe me, it's worth to do it and don't be worried because the wima very low price range, an entry cap condition. At the end could be a learning lesson or a confirmation of something that we think we know. Who knows?

The ones I'm using are the MKP 10 160v and 5% tolerance.

Thank's in advanceand best wishes for that kind of change.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.