Best capacitors for crossover - DLK 4 speakers

Does it matter if I use caps rated at 250V instead of the original 200V?
And also, is it ok to order 47uF instead of 50uF? And 3.9uF instead of 4uF? All 250V.

The general consensus has always been that if you are within 5% of the original, you are fine, since they usually have a 5% tolerance anyways.
 
I do not know anything about your speakers, and there ability to reproduce the difference with the Clarity Caps, but I would pass on them. They have speaker wire for $800 for two ten foot lengths, and I don't have that either. All of these things may change your output but the cost is prohibitive.
 
Great. And do you have an opinion on Clarity vs Dayton brand for $150 vs $50, respectively? Thanks!
Pretty sure most would agree that unless you are dealing with very high end equipment and a purpose built room that provides the perfect room acoustics for said high end equipment, there is no benefit to using those high end caps. Not that they will cause a problem, but the benefits that they offer will not likely be noticed by even the most trained ears.

These speakers with your sony receiver and your room in that photo will not likely provide the level of performance to justify those clarity caps in my opinion.
 
z-adamson and Freddymac, thanks for your thoughtful input. I understand your points, and couldn't really argue from where I'm standing. I don't think most people could really tell the difference between $900 AudioQuest biwire jumpers and standard 12 or 14 gauge speaker wire from Amazon, but people still go there. Maybe the best compromise is to stick with the Clarity caps for the mid and tweeter, since they aren't too much more expensive in the long run compared to the 50uF caps. And I can still use ploy on all caps without it being too expensive.

Does that seem like a decent approach? Or would you not even bother with the Clarity caps at all? Bear in mind that all this is in the context of assuming the caps in there now are bad, but 40 yrs later, that's probably a safe assumption?
 
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I've used clarity caps PX (no affilation ) in my speakers with my limited budget and they sound very good, nothing to complain.
 
electrolytic caps should not be used in speakers. Find the cheapest polypropylene caps you can find instead

btw; in my world there IS some best-caps but for different purposes
 
electrolytic caps should not be used in speakers. Find the cheapest polypropylene caps you can find instead

btw; in my world there IS some best-caps but for different purposes

HI unfair,
If you could explain it to me on a dummy level, why do you recommend against electrolytic caps in speakers?
Thanks
 
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HI unfair,
If you could explain it to me on a dummy level, why do you recommend against electrolytic caps in speakers?
Thanks
To be fair to his point, electrolytics will leak after a few decades, and there is measurable distortion unlike any film type. However, they will last a long time, and whether you can hear the distortion is up for debate as the cap is a frequency shunt for the woofer no doubt, where it's literally dumping high frequencies to ground. It's not even in the signal path.

My vote is to go all Dayton for ya still, poly or electro on the 50uF. Save your bucks for better new gear down the road or something.
 
Thanks! I ordered the Dayton poly caps all the way around. I did make sure the 4uF and 10uF were the 1% tolerance version, but they didn't have a 50uF in that range, so just got the 027-443 mentioned above. I'll let you know when I get them installed, and I'll do one at a time so I can A-B them. I'd love to be able to hear the difference if the old ones are bad.

Thanks again for your patience with my dumb questions!
 
HI unfair,
If you could explain it to me on a dummy level, why do you recommend against electrolytic caps in speakers?
Thanks

Because they aren`t up to the task. First they can`t handle any power at all, and second they adds a lot of distortion even at lower levels. Higher power-levels makes them collapse, the unfiltered full range signal blows through and will damage the driver.

Btw; to get a 50uf, buy like 5x10uf polycaps and run them in parallell. Dividing the signal into several caps will reduce both the loss dynamic (there is moore or less loss in all filters, active filters too) and improve the caps powerhandling. Powerhandling is not a big issue with polycaps in a "normal" setup.

Same with resistors, buy 25watts and run them in parallell if used in a bass-filter.
 
Because they aren`t up to the task. First they can`t handle any power at all, and second they adds a lot of distortion even at lower levels. Higher power-levels makes them collapse, the unfiltered full range signal blows through and will damage the driver.

Btw; to get a 50uf, buy like 5x10uf polycaps and run them in parallell. Dividing the signal into several caps will reduce both the loss dynamic (there is moore or less loss in all filters, active filters too) and improve the caps powerhandling. Powerhandling is not a big issue with polycaps in a "normal" setup.

Same with resistors, buy 25watts and run them in parallell if used in a bass-filter.
Interesting perspective. I wonder if it really plays out like that in the real world......
 
I have a pair of DLK 2 and DLK 3 with the alnico magnets on the 3 . as Midwest speaker in only about 30 mile away . I was going to have them mail out a couple of sets of solen and 2 sets of pots. I know the pots are original and that theyare toast, but the caps are what look to be newer 50v 85c 4.7uf ,10uf and 47uf. I think these are replacement caps but the voltage is to low as the are rated @ 120 rms and 200 peak. this was according to the guys that worked at the Snelling ave production facility back in the late 70s. this are the first generation. I was friends with a few production employees back than. and I had some broches and hand written paperwork. this was back when they were changing to the new style. from your postion I get that these are very good equivalents, but not high end . I usually run 85 to 125 watt receivers or amps .mostly Marantz. in you opinion is this the way for a novice to go?
 
I have a pair of DLK 2 and DLK 3 with the alnico magnets on the 3 . as Midwest speaker in only about 30 mile away . I was going to have them mail out a couple of sets of solen and 2 sets of pots. I know the pots are original and that theyare toast, but the caps are what look to be newer 50v 85c 4.7uf ,10uf and 47uf. I think these are replacement caps but the voltage is to low as the are rated @ 120 rms and 200 peak. this was according to the guys that worked at the Snelling ave production facility back in the late 70s. this are the first generation. I was friends with a few production employees back than. and I had some broches and hand written paperwork. this was back when they were changing to the new style. from your postion I get that these are very good equivalents, but not high end . I usually run 85 to 125 watt receivers or amps .mostly Marantz. in you opinion is this the way for a novice to go?
It would for sure be a good way to go still. They not be "high end" but it's not like DLK, while being very good speakers, are high end either. You can always get them and then go from there as far as different caps.
 
Thanks! I ordered the Dayton poly caps all the way around. I did make sure the 4uF and 10uF were the 1% tolerance version, but they didn't have a 50uF in that range, so just got the 027-443 mentioned above. I'll let you know when I get them installed, and I'll do one at a time so I can A-B them. I'd love to be able to hear the difference if the old ones are bad.

Thanks again for your patience with my dumb questions!
Hi so is there an update on these after Installing the new caps ? Thanks
 
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