Best type of capacitors for recapping Type A Xovers?

[lynnm]

What are the best type of caps to use when recapping Type A Xovers?

I can't afford the bucks to go to really exotic units. Recommendations re: brands are welcome but I am more interested in knowing what types are best.

TIA

Lynn

[BEC]

Lynn,

I am of course fond of these GE's.

Bob Crites

[lynnm]

Bob

Those look like motor start capacitors. Are they General Electric brand ?

Are they Paper in Oil?

Could you post a pic of the labels?

Thanks

Lynn

[BEC]

Lynn,

They are GE Polypropylene in oil motor run caps. For a type A crossover, you would use a 2 uF (part number 6X650) and a 10 uF (part number 6X656) and a 3 uF (part number 6X651). You would use the 3 and 10 uF paralleled to make a 13 uF.

I can send you a set if you don't have easy access to them where you are.

Bob

[lynnm]

Hi Bob

I'll do some sniffing around locally and if I can't find them I'll likely take you up on your offer to send them to me.

Do you have a PayPal account?

I have decided to use this unexpected time off to play around with some

of the little projects that my job schedule hasn't allowed for for the

past few years.

I had thought of buying a pair of completed units from you but

ultimately decided that I would rather do the work myself,( less time

to sit/lay around obsessing about my situation )[]

Thanks again

Lynn

[BEC]

Lynn,

Just email or PM me your address and a set of the caps with mounting brackets will be on their way to you on Monday. The brackets to hold them down are a bit hard to find even if you can get the caps. No money necessary. In fact it would be nice to write "Gift for a friend" on a package like my foreign customers often ask me to do.

Bob

[NOSValves]

What are the best type of caps to use when recapping Type A Xovers?

I can't afford the bucks to go to really exotic units. Recommendations re: brands are welcome but I am more interested in knowing what types are best.

TIA

Lynn

The answer to your question is simple the best your wallet will allow you too afford.

[lynnm]

Bob

Thank you so much.

[DizRotus]

Bob,

I think I want to recap two of "Four abused La Scalas..." (See threads: Four abused Lascalas need a good home - sold and 1956 Khorn w/o drivers $150 ) to be used in the local high school band room.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Rick (Thumpslstiltskin) advises that the as yet not delivered La Scalas have AA networks. Would the answer above hold true for AA networks? Would you recommend refreshing the networks in these?

After reading ALKs paper in support of extreme slope networks, it appears that the subject La Scalas might benefit from the expanded sweet spot promised by such networks. Alas, the budget doesnt allow such extravagance.

Our options seem to range from doing nothing, through DIY refreshing, to installing your custom made networks.

Any help would be appreciated.

[BEC]

I would definately recommend replacing the caps in the AA networks. You could send the networks to me if you like, or I could make up some parts kits to send to you.

Bob Crites

bobcrites@centurytel.net

[DizRotus]

Bob,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I sent you a PM and will now send a redundant message to your email.

The whole idea is for the high school to get the most bang for the buck. The improvement over the crummy Sony boom box they're now using will be immense.

The other issue is time. As I type, Michael Colter is driving from Indy to southern Ohio to collect the La Scalas. If possible, I would like to be ready to refresh the AA networks upon arrival.

[Erik Mandaville]

Craig:

"The anewer to your question is simple the best your wallet will allow you too afford."

This implies that there is a direct correlation between performance and cost. I don't think that is necessarily true.

Another suggestion: If you can, try a few different types of the same value, and choose the one that sounds best to YOU regardless of how much it cost. I have also had very good results with the GE motor-run capacitors, and they are what I'm presently using.

Erik

[colterphoto1]

Neil, you might want to wait until you see them or contact Jay at Klipsch. These have quite a bit of dust on them and some corrosion on the transformers as well. I believe that Jay is planning on starting over and building new xovers, possibly AA or AL3 design. I think he might be rescueing a couple autoformers or diodes from the old ones, but didn't want you to get ahead on your shopping too much.

Michael

[NOSValves]

Craig:

"The anewer to your question is simple the best your wallet will allow you too afford."

This implies that there is a direct correlation between performance and cost. I don't think that is necessarily true.

Another suggestion: If you can, try a few different types of the same value, and choose the one that sounds best to YOU regardless of how much it cost. I have also had very good results with the GE motor-run capacitors, and they are what I'm presently using.

Erik

Only if your from the anal analyzer society. I hear you were elected president.

Craig

[jwc]

Just to cast a vote. I replaced a TypeA with Audiocaps. Little pricy...but good.

[Erik Mandaville]

Lynnm:

What's kind of neat about most of the original Heritage crossovers is their simplicity. The 2uf in the tweeter branch is something that can be experimented with pretty easily. It's my belief that the correct and accurate value of L C and R for a component, including passive freqeuency dividing networks, is more important than the brand or type chosen to fulfill those duties. However: Once a design has approached an acceptable level of performance, many builders will 'season to taste,' as it were, by using different types and or brands of passive parts in the design. IOW, they will experiment with different types of capacitors, resistors, etc., to achieve the sound they might be looking for.

Like BobC. I also like the sound of motor-run caps in crossovers. In the past 10 or 15 years that I have been making my own crossovers, I have also used more expensive brands such as Hovland. I guess I'm trying to encourage the idea that there isn't necessarily one right answer, in that much of this depends on what you (or anyone) wants for themselves.

I have seen oil-run capacitors used in very successful audio designs on numerous occasions, including power supply input-to-filter capacitors, cathode bias resistor bypass capacitors, etc. The same kind of capacitor is also used in the Welborne Labs DRD amplifiers.

Erik

[Deang]

I like the sound they make when they hit the bottom of my trash can.

[Erik Mandaville]

Dean:

Seems others don't feel the same way.

http://www.angela.com/catalog/capacitors/Ang_Poly_Oil.html

These are very similar to what Bob is using to replace the oil capacitors in original Heritage networks.

edit: As I also indicated earlier, these Poly/oil capacitors are what were chosen to serve as the 'Ultrapath connection' on the DRD amps, including the original design.

They can be very well-suited to audio applications. If you would rather throw them out, please send them to me first. It's your right to choose what works best for you, Dean, but I don't agree that what works best for you (or for me) is necessarily the best solution for everyone. Lynnm asked for good capacitors at a reasonable cost, and the GE or ASC capacitors are thus possible candidates.

Erik

[NOSValves]

Erik,

I think it would be much better for us to sit back with a few beers and watch you dumpster dive for them.

Craig

[BEC]

I guess this capacitor thing is something we (crossover builders and tweakers) will never agree on. My position on this is that with crossover caps, there is capacitance and there is ESR that can effect the sound. Then we can consider working voltage and durability. When we find a cap that is at the top in these qualities, the search is over.

I am still waiting for someone to prove to me that there is an audible difference between any two caps used in a crossover that are within 5 percent or so of each other in capacitance and ESR.

Bob Crites