bypassing caps

Posted by Ralph (M) on June 26, 2012 at 10:38:10

In Reply to: facing the loss posted by GSH on June 26, 2012 at 10:18:40:

what you just discovered has been known for a long time, although not by everyone in the audio community! If you bypass a coupling cap, you will get a smeared result. If you don't hear it then your system has resolution problems. With coupling caps, you just have to give it your best shot.

The problem has to do with the specs of the cap- series resistance and dissipation factor being two of the bigger players. Smaller caps tend to be better in these regards and can pass the signal in a 'faster' (that's how our ears hear it...) way. It is something that is measurable as well as audible- 'slow' caps will have less bandwidth although you might have to go quite high to see where the differences are.

Paper and oil caps are actually not bad in this regard and is why they are still around in audio. Teflon caps are good in this way too (but tend to be less prone to electrical leakage issues; they can be easily damaged with minor handling). The next best is polystyrene, which as some audio frequencies *can* be better than Teflon...

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - facing the loss - GSH 10:18:40 06/26/12 (16)

Measurements - Triode_Kingdom 23:34:07 07/08/12 (1)

RE: Measurements - Tre' 08:01:17 07/10/12 (0)

John Curl has publicly stated that the selective use of different caps is WHY his Vendetta Research phono was - Cleantimestream 21:16:50 06/29/12 (0)

RE: facing the over generalization - Chris O 12:47:15 06/27/12 (7)

they're fairly fresh - GSH 16:20:29 06/27/12 (6)

Yes, I use 0.22uf to 10uf caps for PS bypass, not 0.001uf - Chris O 19:52:51 06/27/12 (1)

Furthermore, a cap value ( .68 micro farad in front of a choke STILL means it is choke loaded.~nT - Cleantimestream 10:38:29 07/06/12 (0)

RE: they're fairly fresh - tube wrangler 19:06:51 06/27/12 (3)

RE: they're fairly fresh - GSH 07:09:45 06/28/12 (2)

RE: they're fairly fresh - tube wrangler 13:59:27 06/28/12 (0)

RE: they're fairly fresh - GSH 07:14:09 06/28/12 (0)

bypassing caps - Ralph 10:38:10 06/26/12 (4)

RE: bypassing caps - GSH 11:05:48 06/26/12 (3)

RE: bypassing caps - drlowmu 12:25:21 06/26/12 (2)

RE: bypassing caps - hennfarm 22:53:47 06/27/12 (1)

RE: bypassing caps - drlowmu 06:52:59 06/28/12 (0)

Follow Ups

bypassing caps - Ralph 10:38:10 06/26/12 (4)

RE: bypassing caps - GSH 11:05:48 06/26/12 (3)

RE: bypassing caps - drlowmu 12:25:21 06/26/12 (2)

RE: bypassing caps - hennfarm 22:53:47 06/27/12 (1)

RE: bypassing caps - drlowmu 06:52:59 06/28/12 (0)

bypassing caps

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