BEST HARMLESS/SIGNATURELESS SPEAKERS CAPACITORS.

Dear friends: in good shape and with wide open mind.

Can it a capacitor or resistor improves an audio recorded signal?, what do you think?

I think it can't improves nothing in the recorded signal, it's just imposible to do it not only for a passive devices but for any other audio item.

A perfect capacitor or any active or passive device can only makes its work by its inherent characteristics was designed to: a capacitor can't works as a transistor, each device has its specific job: nothing less and nothing more.


The best job any active or passive device is to makes its job adding and losting the less to the signal that pass through it: this is the best can does it.

Almost all the audio after market devices " improves " the sound or at least that's what we think and what our experiences tell us.

But if any perfect device can't improves the quality of the recorded signal how is that we always detect/detected so many improvements every time we make changes in the audio systems?

Makes sense to you that things goes normally that way? because makes no sense to me.

So what is happening in reality? what is happening is that the added " information/coloration/distortions/ " along with the losted recorded information now is what we like it: nice overall distortions and through our audio life we are accustomed to have it and we are looking always for " improvements " when it's imposible any kind of improvement could happens.

Ok, nothing wrong with that, we like those nice distortions/colorations ( nothing is perfect. ).

If every thing the same which device do you think makes more harm to the recorded signal: a tube or a bipolar transistor?

For many of you the transistor makes more harm and perhaps you think this with out a real fact/support/foundation when in the other side some people as me think that the device that makes more harm is the tube and with facts in the " hand ". No it's not for open a new " window ", just " thinking ".

Why do you like more tube electronics than SS ones? because are really better or just because its inherent higher colorations/distortions', certainly because those higher colorations/distortions. A the end it's what the AHEE already sold to all of us.

Please take in count that almost every item in audio improves/improved through the years but tubes.

Exist a parallelism between tubes arcaic technology and boutique caps using wax/oil/paper and the like that the radios of 60+ years ago designs.

Now, Wima or TDK caps comes with no wax or oil and the like and are passive devices manufactured only to make its work and nothing more.
So these kind of capacitors can't improve our electronics/speaker items in our systems because can't add colorations and does not lost recorded signal.

When we make a change of caps using Wima instead Duelund we want that the sound been improved but this never will happens because what caps like Wima does is that lest pass the signal almost " unaltered " and this says that all the existents colorations suddenly disappeared and this new system sound reality obviously that we don't like it as before and that's why we say: Wima like capacitors are not only cheap but way inferior devices.

@paulcreed  Wima can't fulfill your expectations of sound because just can't do it. What Wima gives you is the REALITY of the quality performance levels of your or any room/system.
That we like it or not is no issue here, it's only to think about: why I don't like my system with out colorations?  and instead to say: " it's that Wima like caps are wrong " why not ask our self:

maybe somewhere in my system one or more items performs with low quality?

I'm sure things are that way and devices as Wima function as a real tools to help for I can first know which links in the system are just wrong and decide the changes for the overall quality performance level true improvement.

Well all those is my sincere take on the whole subject.


R.

Dear @bdp24  : """  was after absolute transparency, tonal neutrality, zero coloration. Aren't we all? """

absolutely almost all of us.

The main subject here is what all those 3 adjectives really means for each one because we all are accustomed to everything but all those 3 together adjectives. It's the way we were and are " forced " to listen a room/system through our audio life.

Look, @paulcreed  posted this after his first hand experiences with Wima cap:

""  I let Wima run for a month or so hoping they would become the cap you say they are, that never happened. They are just as much of a tone control as the boutique caps. Wima's dull the sound which is controlling the tone. I found them to sound just what they are cheap ...""

please note : "  Wima's dull the sound ""  ( something as lifeless. )

Well, by coincidence this week in the analog forum and in a thread TT clamp experiences an audiophile with Slaw moniker posted:


" they seem to take some life out of the music.." 


  that's very similar statement to what paulcreed posted here about Wima and I gave him a response something as this: that what is taking away are just " distortions " and he ask me the why's of my post and this is my answer in that thread:


https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/orosonic-monster-cable-reflex-record-clamp/post?postid=1918692#1918692

and after that post this was the answer of the OP thread to my post:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/orosonic-monster-cable-reflex-record-clamp/post?postid=1918698#1918698


That's why I insist that Wima/TDK/Kemet or Vishay what takes out/away are those boutique heavy colorations/distortions.

Wima and the like can't improve in anyway the recorded signal quality only let pass through " untouchable " and unfortunatelly for many of us shows us the true quality performance levels of our room/system.

With other purposes but: any one already experienced the reproduction of a recording in an anechoic room/chamber?

R.

Dear @bdp24  : That false " dull/lifeless " we experienced happens not only with Wima caps, in the past I experienced several times exactly that and were when changed some IC cables for better ones and when I changed my stepped preamp attenuators for better ones using SMD resistors.

In all those ocasions in the first listening sessions I really did not like it the quality system performance because the " sparkle/transparency " just gone and even I feel that even at the same volume position the SPL gone down.

Well I was wrong because after measurements the SPL's stays the same but with MUSIC not with higher distortions as before the changes.

In the past I owned Threshold electronics and N.Pass used Wima from many years. Yes could be interesting what he has to say but D'Angostino too and several other designer/manufacturers that use  Wima devices. Gryphon is other example:

  https://gryphon-audio.dk/shop/integrated-amplifiers/gryphon-diablo-300-integrated-amplifier/

When started I this " madness " after market caps changes?


My very first time was when I owned all Classé electronics and this very well regarded Canadian manufacturer use Wima caps elsewhere.
In those old time the designer and the chief engineer and co-owner of Classé was D.Reich that latter on left the company. Well I had good relationship with him and I asked that wanted to change the Wima caps for some boutique/better  ( of those times. ) that were the Reliable Caps ones and been a gentleman of few words Dave just told me: do it a favor and don't do it.
Even that I did it and the " sparkle " CAME AND THE MADNESS STARTED TILL AFTER SO MANY YEARS FINALLY LEARNED ABOUT. Dave was rigth.

I want to tell you that's almost imposible to accept in an easy way the Wima or Kemet or TDK superior quality performance over the the all those caps inside that " audiophile madness " and it's almost imposible because we are accustom to for to many years.

For to many years we like that false " life " but as Paul said it's what we like it but the real subject here is not what we like it but what is wrong or rigth.

Btw, I still own the Threshold two way crossover that in many ways is similar to your B4.

A real question on the Wima and the like caps is what I already asked my self more that one time:

am I losting music signal information? and according my whole evaluation long proccess the answer time after time is NO.

What I have is that signal information with more detail, presence, true transparency, with music natural color and natural brigthness, better overall dynamic and music transientes and with true life that only live MUSIC has.

Gentlemans here could think that I want to convince them about but it's not that way. I'm only sharing my new discoveries about and I know that my discoveries came not exactly with this thread but through the years fine tunned room/system and was in this thread when all those audio work by my self permited that I can with certainty what I posted here. So the discovery started several years now with out knowing my self.

What made that through the thread I begin to test Wima caps? I can't say for sure other that time to time I like to " think " and take actions thinking " out of the box " in a non-orthodox way. Normally it works for me.

R.