My thoughts on mixing caps

Posted by madisonears (A) on July 31, 2012 at 17:39:38

In Reply to: Thoughts on mixing caps posted by BobM on July 31, 2012 at 06:07:40:

Mixing caps in a crossover can be very rewarding when a lower quality large value cap is paralleled (sometimes called bypassing) with a better quality small value cap, typically one-tenth to one-hundredth the value of the large cap. Especially on tweeters, where the high frequency characteristics of better caps is easily heard, it is recommended in order to obtain good sound for less money. Bypassing an electrolytic cap with a film cap can also give good results, but altogether replacing 'lytics with films is probably a better strategy, especially on midrange where a large value can be obtained by using multiple caps in parallel, none of which need be high quality or could be bypassed as well.

Mixing two brands of caps at random might not be the best way to go. I would select one cheaper brand as the "base" cap such as Sonicap Gen I to obtain a value very near the original value (70uF?), then add a higher quality cap such as Mundorf silver/oil of .68uF (a readily available value) or so. Don't worry if the final total value is off by a small amount--the originals probably weren't exact either. If you have access to a meter that reads capacitance, you can try combinations of different values to get close to the original. If you don't have a meter, ask your supplier to match values for you, which they will do for a buck each. What IS very important, is having the same total value for both L+R tweeters.

Mixing caps in line level signal path applications is trickier, with no guarantee that the combination will sound better than a single cap. People do it, but it takes a lot of trial and error to find two caps that compliment each other. I have never found a good combination, even using very high quality small value caps with decent large caps.

Peace,
Tom E

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - As long as we are talking caps. - Michael Samra 00:29:09 07/27/12 (10)

What do you recomend for tweeters? - Sccholl 05:57:20 08/19/12 (0)

RE: As long as we are talking caps. - Palustris 09:44:48 08/04/12 (0)

Thoughts on mixing caps - BobM 06:07:40 07/31/12 (1)

My thoughts on mixing caps - madisonears 17:39:38 07/31/12 (0)

PIO Cap - KIS 23:01:55 07/27/12 (5)

RE: PIO Cap - Michael Samra 18:06:35 07/28/12 (4)

So the 200v is not a DC rating? - John PA 19:11:03 07/28/12 (3)

It is a rating but being its a military teflon cap - Michael Samra 19:53:11 07/29/12 (2)

RE: It is a rating but being its a military teflon cap - KIS 08:57:31 07/30/12 (1)

RE: It is a rating but being its a military teflon cap - wheezer 22:59:48 08/24/12 (0)

Follow Ups

My thoughts on mixing caps - madisonears 17:39:38 07/31/12 (0)

My thoughts on mixing caps

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