Cut-Throat Posted March 21, 2003 Share Posted March 21, 2003 I have completed 1 of my Type 'A' Crossovers. I started out with a piece of Paduk Wood from the Indian Ocean. Finished it with 5 coats of Tung Oil. I am most proud of the Cardas Binding Posts that I have mounted to it. I so far have the Cheapie Solen Caps in it, and may leave them. Unless someone can convince me that $200 for Hovelands are worth it. I have only tested the prototype as of yet. It works, but I cannot comment on the sound until they are both done and I've completed a listening session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 21, 2003 Author Share Posted March 21, 2003 Ok Randy - Do these look frightful? - Maybe so, but in a different sort of way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyp Posted March 22, 2003 Share Posted March 22, 2003 Beautiful x-over! If so inclined, you may want to try an Auricap capacitor. I have no experience with them but they are popular upgrades. If you try 'em, let us know here what you think. http://www.audience-av.com/auricap5.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted March 22, 2003 Share Posted March 22, 2003 NICE WORK. Try to replace the 2mf Solen with Hovland.They are worth the extra $50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 22, 2003 Author Share Posted March 22, 2003 Guy, I thought you had made a comment that said you prefer the Oil caps over the Hovelands? - I can pick up some oil caps on e-bay for a lot less money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 I did'nt find the film & foil,Hovlands to be better than the stock oils,but they were better than the stantard polypropylene Multicaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Guy, You had mentioned the 'Stock' Oils. Is there any source that you know of that I could purchase oil caps like the 'Stock Oils' Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 I don't know about a source for the stock type oils.I had used the ones that were supplied with my type AA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacs2000 Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Hi I use Jensen Oil caps instead of the stock oil ones. Got them directly from Jensen. georges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 I use Jensen Oil caps instead of the stock oil ones. Got them directly from Jensen. georges ------------------------------ Here are Al Klappenberger's comments on capacitor caps (Jensen Oil caps in Cornwall Crossover impressions, 9/12/2002) You can look it up under the search function and type in "capacitors": Hi everybody, George was good enough to send me one of the 2.2 uF Jensen paper in oil caps that he tried to use in his Cornwall crossover. I put it on my impedance bridge and measured it. These things are unquestionably a total rip-off! The thing measured 2.099 uF with a quality factor of only 200! In contrast, I have measured many Hovland MusiCaps and have never found one yet that measured below 2000. More musical, baloney! They are simply so lossey that all you highs go away as heat inside the capacitor! This is equivalant to connecting a .38 ohm resistor in sereis with a Hovland MusiCap. My advice -- DON'T USE THEM! "Quality factor" is the same as "Q". It's defined as the ratio of capacitive reactance (pure capacitor effect) and series loss as represented by a simple resistor. a 2.2 uF cap has 1 / (2 Pi F C) ohms reactance. At 1000 Hz, that is 72.34 Ohms reactance. A Q of 200 means there is .362 Ohms of loss inside the cap. That is, 72.34 / 200 = .362. A similar Hovland Musicap will have an internal loss equivalant to a .036 Ohm resistor. I think that's why Hovlands have thicker wires coming out of them. The wires become a significant part of the loss. With the Jensen, who cares about the leads. they can be small because the loss in the cap is so much. One reason the Jensen caps may be used in tube amps is becasue they are rated 400VDC. The Hovlands I use are only rated 100VDC. For crossover networks, you could use 25VDC caps and be safe. Also, in an amp you in an "active" circuit. This means losses are not a problem. You just turn the volume up a bit to compensate. In a filter, like in a crossover network, the frequency response and input impedance get loused up! Losses are usually highest at the points of maximum group dealy, That happens near the crossover itself. Specifically, about the 1 or 2 dB down point on the skirt of each filter. Al K. Go with the Hovlands, if only in the lower value cap, eg. 2.0 uF. It does not make as big a difference for the higher value cap. I noticed more soundstage and detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 The crossover networks "look marvelous". I assume they are on the outside of the speakers (Klipschorns?), otherwise it is a waste of such a beautiful piece of woodworking. Time to plug and play, enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weiming Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 I was wondering how did you secure the Solen inductor to the board? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 28, 2003 Author Share Posted March 28, 2003 No the crossovers are in my Belles. I look at them once in awhile, so it's not a total waste. The woodworking did not take the brunt of the time. A little samding, and just wiping with the tung oil. The wiring took the longest. So I figured, why not have it on a neat piece of wood. I could mount them on top of the Belles, but I don't want to push the WAF too far! As far as mounting the Solens on the board, I just used some closed loop terminal ends secured by some brass screws and soldered the leads of the caps to it. The Actual bodies of the Caps are so light, that additional securing was not necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Cut-Throat, Beautiful job! I agree with the Cardas binding posts. Very clever and neat job. Why anybody still uses the little screws in beyond me. How do you like the sound of the crossovers? And how did you get the Fly fisherman to work? Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 As far as mounting the Solens on the board, I just used some closed loop terminal ends secured by some brass screws and soldered the leads of the caps to it. ------------------------- If you want to make them stick, you can also used a dab or two from a hot glue gun. This option works better if the crossovers are not visible, ie. inside the cabinet. I understand what you mean about the WAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 28, 2003 Author Share Posted March 28, 2003 Danny, The Cardas binding posts I had left over from an amp project that I worked on. Now that they are there, it sure is a lot more convienient. Thanks for the comments! The Crossovers sound great! - As far as comparing them to my Type AB's, I'm not sure there is a 'Huge' Difference. But I like simpler and these certainly fit that bill. The flyfisherman is a .gif file that I found on the web and modified it a bit with a programming tool. It just takes a bit of HTML progtramming knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 Nice Job. Yeah, the wood is cool. Very nice. I second the Auricaps...big time. As for something like the Cardas posts versus the terminal screws -- which of the two are more like wire? The terminal strips and screws are very low mass, and more likely to pass the signal cleaner. Anyone buying that? I didn't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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