Capacitor and resistor quality for hifi

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Rattle beginning.

Has anyone experimented with different brands of NP capacitors as used in speaker crossovers?

It sure would be nice to read about your opinion in this matter.

We have read of discrepancies between written ratings and the measured values after years in the field.

Capacitors are, I believe +/- 20% tolerance, makes for a little variance in crossover frequencies.

Are the higher quality replacement capacitors worth the extra expense of just buying them and doing the changes ourselves?

Are the improvements worth paying a shop to upgrade?

Some crossovers have resistors, are they worth replacing?

Have you ever done a little electronics servicing, or assembled a Dynakit or Heathkit or ? kit?

Have you found that the resistor leads are tinned steel?

Is there an improvement changing these to Halco/Dale or some other high end brand?

Was the improvement audible and at what cost?

Rattle ended.

[rrcrain]

Are you referring to replacing caps in electronic equipment or in speaker crossovers?

COncerning caps in amps/preamps, my reading suggests changing capacitor type from electrolytic to poly will yield little to no change in sound quality provided both caps are equal value and both are good. Replacing a bad for good cap will always have an effect mind you.

In crossovers, I've only experience with the Solen caps. They make a massive difference but also are rather harsh for quite a while until they "break in". Their initial sound had me covering my ears for the first five minutes because the high frequency (tweeter) was so intense. (The old caps had drifted out so horribly the upper mid no longer functioned) A year later, they have really smothed out and sound very nice.

And yes, I've a lot of experience assembling Heathkit equipment ranging from their pro series stereo equipment, several automotive products and other various things.

Add to that, a fair number of years as a bench tech long ago repairing anything the company built and the customer managed to break (or failed) ranging from pure analog to microprocessor based stuff. It doesn't seem possible, but it was around 15 years ago when I gave that up.

Recently, I decided to procure a Marchand tube crossover and chose to save a cool grand and acquired it in kit form. Absolutely excellent unit; fantastic quality, components and sound. The instructions required a bit of study but it was all there and took about 4 part time days (roughly 16 hours).