dc10audio use Duelund CAST capacitor ?

Hi Irish65

Thanks for your detailed write-up. Strange your experience with Silver is different to the maker I know. I don't really know why - maybe its the ribbon speaker wire he makes and uses internally - just a thought.

He has tried their inductor's as well - very good - but finds the inductor's he hand winds from 10 or even 8 gauge wire has the edge. Evidently he was mentored in his early speaker building days by George Short who impressed on him the need for loose hand winding from thick gauge copper wire and has found nothing better.

The much under appreciated product in the Duelund range he reckons is the Cast resistor and I have been fortunate to hear why. He had some late prototype speakers where one speaker had the Cast resistor and another a Mundorf because he was waiting on delivery of some more Cast. It was a joke - the speaker with the Mundorf sounded muffled - as if a blanket had been placed over the speaker. I asked why - he attributes it to their negative temperature coefficient. In fact I couldn't listen to the pair and asked if I could come back when they both had the Cast. When I returned a few days later it was like I was listening to an entirely different setup - it was no longer disjointed with one speaker sounding muffled.

Regarding size they are HUGE. The speaker the guy I know is building for me will have external crossovers and they are nearly as big as the speaker - in fact he has plans for an Isobaric 5.5 inch mini monitor and the external crossover will be a lot bigger than the speaker with Duelund Cast and 8 gauge loose wound inductor's - wild - can hardly wait to hear them.

Thanks
Bill

Charles1dad,

I agree. The Cast Cu are an exceptional cap. I mentioned Ag because the question was asked concerning the silver.

The question I did not answer was will Cast Cu mate well with Ag wire. That depends on the silver wire. I have never used dc10audio silver wire so I have no comment.

Mountain-high,

I went to dc10audio website and read that they design their speakers like musical instruments. To the point that they use tonewood. They believe in a resonating speaker box but choose, as their top cap choice, a Duelund Cast that has been designed to do the opposite. Staying with the theme of material used (tonewood) for musical instruments, the Duelunds uses the metal (copper and silver alloy) of musical instruments. It seems odd they did not choose a cap that resonated to go along with their speaker.

I'm not deliberately trying to be antagonistic. The two seem contrary to one another and from my experience this is where you start to throw more money into a system than what is needed.

Hi Irish65,
Actually the combination makes sense to me.It seems the speaker designer wants to voice his cabinet(similar to say Ocellia or Tonian Lab approach).The choice of various wood(spruce or cedar) and its generous use indicates this is what they want to be heard. You`d want no competing(interference) resonant signature from your capacitor to mess things up with this carfully planned cabinet construction. If that`s the case then the CAST would be ideal as it would have minimal interfering resonance and be near inert in character(remain natural).The chosen tonewood is then allowed to be 'heard' as intended.My guess anyway.I have the copper CAST capacitors in my speaker crossover and also in my Yamamoto DAC. The undeniable sonic character that improved was even a more natural-organic presentation.The sound simply became more life-like real and emotionally involving.The tonal reproduction of human voice and acoustic instruments is breathtaking.Prior to the CAST installation it was merely "very good".I imagine this designer did extensive listening to many different capacitors and realized the CAST was better than the rest.He probably did the same for wire selection(silver would be my top option also).I`d guess this speaker sounds really good.
Regards,

Easy choice for us!

Duelund makes such beautiful products we are so proud to offer them and they are such a natural fit for us...you can tell that every capacitor is hand made with incredible care and skill. The fast clean inert nature of them make them perfect for us we've tried every cap made and usually find that going up in price nets you zero to a point..Not the case with the Duelund CAST you pay they deliver!

PS: The silver though very expensive is even better provided you couple it with the very best drivers and system.

Cheers,

Q

Bhobba,

That is what makes this hobby so interesting. It is not so much what we agree upon, based on our personal experience. Instead it is the different views and experiences we have.

There are so many variables with silver and copper that effects the outcome. Most of the ribbon copper or silver I have experienced is spring temper. Using an H02 soft annealed would be a good place to start. I am not a metallurgist but having the right material to start with is essential.

I have had my own custom silver ribbon wire made to my spec's. With a little supervision of course.

I have used 8 awg North Creek (George Short) inductors on numerous occasions. I still have some laying around. However, they were noisy compared to the Duelunds. I have custom wound 8awg Cast Duelund inductors that were the same value as the North Creek 8 awg. Comparing them side by side all four of us who were evaluating chose the Duelund.
North Creek inductors are my second choice.

I agree with your comment regarding the Cast resistors and yes they are the best value. I was mentioning the inductors because they bring so much to the table and yet there is hardly any ink about them.

I love custom speaker projects. You have no limitations but your imagination and ability. When you have it build please send me some photos.

Jeffreybehr,

I will send off some audio porn when time permits.