Planar Speaker Asylum

Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

Return to Planar Speaker Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

mg1.6 xo caps?

173.18.213.236
Posted on November 24, 2016 at 10:46:48
tripwr1964@yahoo.com
Audiophile

Posts: 13
Joined: November 16, 2013
 looking to "tweak" my xo's (new hardwood board, isolation and connectors, etc...). while i am at it, are there any good recommendation for caps that may be more interesting than what i am running. what i have sounds pretty damn good and i am not willing to spend stupid money on them. just wondering what experience others have had with moderately priced caps.

current xo:
tweeter 22uf +/- 5% 630v obbligato film oil caps
mid/bass 22uf and 2uf +/- 5% 630v obbligato film oil caps
inductor 3.3mH 12gage .268dcr Goertz
wired with 12gage vintage western electric

thks for input.

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 24, 2016 at 17:34:08
neolith
Audiophile

Posts: 4842
Location: Virginia
Joined: February 21, 2002
Contributor
  Since: December 2, 2004
 IMO, Obbligatos are the best bang for the buck. If you want to make improvements from where you are, it would be time to think about bi-amping either with a PLLXO or active crossover.



"Our head is round in order to allow our thoughts to change direction." Francis Picabia

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 25, 2016 at 05:42:39
tripwr1964@yahoo.com
Audiophile

Posts: 13
Joined: November 16, 2013
 thanks neolith
i was guessing they aren't too bad... they sound nice.

i'll leave them alone and focus on my other elements, isolation mainly.
cheers

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 25, 2016 at 09:58:31
Satie
Audiophile

Posts: 5426
Joined: July 6, 2002
 As Neo pointed out the Obbligatos are very good already and the next step up is very costly. You can tune the caps a bit with foil cap bypasses at about 0.5% of total value on each cap. The Dayton foil caps from parts express will do the job at a low cost. Much more worthwhile on the high pass cap than on the low pass.

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 26, 2016 at 06:55:56
scruffy_
Audiophile

Posts: 1665
Location: Los Angeles
Joined: August 5, 2005
 I found that the caps on the low pass to be just as critical as on the high pass, especially in the mid-range when it comes to vocals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Humility is the true mark of genius. Just get used to it."
-Anonymous

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 26, 2016 at 10:14:58
Satie
Audiophile

Posts: 5426
Joined: July 6, 2002
 Yes, it does make a difference, but much less so than the top end - of course that depends on where you cross over and whether you are at line level or speaker level. I did very little with mid low pass caps as I was doing line level and used foil caps for most of the setups.
At speaker level I did a bit of help with two ribbon speakers where bypasses on the mids were used, Made more of a difference on the VMPS RM30 than on MG3A or MG3.3R. The VMPS crosses over at the top octave. Noticeable but nothing like how it works for the tweeters. For my own setup the mids are not low passed at all, the ribbons are high passed at the top octave with bypass foils on the film cap.

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 26, 2016 at 21:24:14
RickeyM
Audiophile

Posts: 2208
Location: East Coast
Joined: March 15, 2003
 A few years ago it seemed like Sonicaps were getting a lot of recommendations. Are they still a popular Maggie upgrade?

 

Stay away from the Sonicaps!, posted on November 28, 2016 at 03:43:19
scruffy_
Audiophile

Posts: 1665
Location: Los Angeles
Joined: August 5, 2005
 Just from my own experience, they're crap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Humility is the true mark of genius. Just get used to it."
-Anonymous

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 28, 2016 at 12:42:15
Barry
Audiophile

Posts: 1003
Location: PA
Joined: November 24, 1999
Contributor
  Since: January 18, 2009
 The bypass idea is a good recommendation and focusing on the high pass tweets is where you'll gain most sonic advantage.

As someone who's done many hundreds of parts swaps - one warning to the OP. Upgrading parts in one place can reveal flaws elsewhere in your system and upset some of the overall balance you may have already achieved if you're not careful. Know what sonic deficiencies you're try to improve and research the parts you're substituting to assure they will actually do that and that there are minimal downsides before you start swapping things out.

If the OP's into experimenting, the Humble Homemade HiFi Cap Test is pretty accurate in describing sound character of various caps.

Happy listening!

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 28, 2016 at 20:46:35
Satie
Audiophile

Posts: 5426
Joined: July 6, 2002
 There are better caps, If you use sonicaps they tend to a degree of loss of dynamics. But are clear and tonally balanced. They are a bit dry. The Gen 1 and Gen 2 are at least cheap, the Platinum are significantly better than the others but not worth the far greater cost.

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 29, 2016 at 10:32:15
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Crossover appears to be 'stock' as far as frequency. or so close?

And yes, the next step 'up' in caps will be both experimental AND $$$.

The lower DCR of the inductor actually makes the lows SLIGHTLY louder. Stock inductor DCR is 0.4ohms and is iron core.
Frequency balance of panel is thus effected.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 30, 2016 at 17:52:41
tripwr1964@yahoo.com
Audiophile

Posts: 13
Joined: November 16, 2013
 yeah it was meant to be a stock cross over point with better components, minimizing connections (removed fuse, etc), and dcr is bit lower.

they've been in my 2ch rig for over a year now and that is unheard of for me! so there is much i like about them. i am all for upgrades but dont want to drop stupid $$ on them. i have a set of mye stands coming this week. that will probably be the best bang for the buck from where i am at currently.

think i'll put the mye's on and put all my xo components on a nice piece of hardwood and enjoy them.

i appreciate input! also, can someone explain the bypass thing a bit more? where do they get soldered in and what is the theory behind doing this?

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on November 30, 2016 at 18:33:07
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Bypass cap is a Very Small value cap in parallel with the other cap(s) so it 'adds'.
I've usually heard about it on the hi-pass side.

Better HF response? Clarity?

2 schools. One says to use as close to same value caps as possible. Skip the bypass cap.
OTHER school says to add the bypass cap.

Give it a try and 'see' for yourself.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: mg1.6 xo caps?, posted on December 1, 2016 at 07:42:13
Satie
Audiophile

Posts: 5426
Joined: July 6, 2002
 Generally you get smoother highs and better fine detail. It improves the balance of detail vs "etch".

You generally aim for appx. 0.5% of the cap value for the foil bypass.

 

Page processed in 0.036 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]