Replace Dynaco A25 film capacitors?
- Thread starter Khoff22
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malden
Lunatic Member
If they sound good now, I doubt there will be a "noticeable improvement" if you change them
Those are film. Leave them unless you’re really bored.
They look like the originals so they are around fifty years old now and are probably getting tired. Caps aren't expensive and replacing them can vastly improve the sound coming from the speakers.
There's a good read in this older thread about cheap caps in the A-25's.
There's a good read in this older thread about cheap caps in the A-25's.
Dynaco a25 major sound improvement with cheap caps .
I replaced the capacitors in my Dynaco a25 speakers a few days ago with cheap caps . I still can't believe how good they sound now . The old caps were definitely the culprits of the poor sound I was experiencing . It went from a slightly dull , muffled sound to a nice clear sound . The bass even...
audiokarma.org
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
That cap looks like an ads cap I pulled from water damaged 710s and used em in speakers. Only issue was the two measured 4.8 and 5.18 so the latter was barely out of the spec of 10%. Worked fine.
Dayton and Bennic, which are the same along with Solen caps should be avoided in that position. Try a Clarity CSA or Jantzen Superior 4.7uF.
Thanks for the response Ivan. Is this because film capacitors don't degrade?
They do not degrade like electrolytic caps, but degrade or not, those caps are a half step above junk.
Yup
The yellow caps are MKC polycarbonate (usually made by Philips) and will likely never go bad, but are also not the best sounding film capacitors that could be in there so you'll have to decide whether that matters to you and whether you want them to sound better (or not). They're on par with MKS/MKT polyester, MPT, or just slightly above. I would only go with MKP as an upgrade to them. Just avoid Dayton/Bennic, Solen and your sound will improve. While everything sounds good as-is, you won't know it can sound better until it does.
malden
Lunatic Member
Which speakers have you used the Dayton capacitors in?
I already replaced these about a month ago. I used Dayton capacitors. The speakers definitely sound better and I plan on keeping them. After replacing the grill cloth they look like new.
But I just picked up some original version KLH model 6s that are extremely muffled. Hopefully capacitors are what they need
But I just picked up some original version KLH model 6s that are extremely muffled. Hopefully capacitors are what they need
Dynaco A25
Maxamillion
Super Member
Although I'm not a huge fan of Dayton PP caps, I've found adding a parallel 0.01uF Audiocap Theta cap helps open them up on the top end.
Govany
Super Member
I don't think that question was directed at you..Dayton capacitors worked great in my Dynaco A35 as well
RTally
Speaker addict
I have several KLH speakers. New caps brought each one back to life. Don't forget to dope the surrounds with the proper vintage-ar / RoyC butyl compound.
After I recapped and redoped my KLH Model Six I sold one pair of my Dynaco A25 and moved my second pair of A25 to my home gym. The KLH Six sounds much better than my A25s.
Genesis Physics III and Rectilinear XI, perhaps others. This was 10+ years ago when I first starting recapping crossovers exclusively using only Dayton, and only because they were my cheapest axial film option. After recapping a few pairs of speakers with them, I stopped using them because even though they were somewhat improved, I felt something was still lacking or missing, and the sound still wasn't quite there or as good as I expected it to be afterwards. After I stopped using them, I was happier with the outcomes and never looked back. It's just a lot of work to have to go back in more than once to try and get the sound you want out of a speaker, but often times I still go back in 2,3,4 times. It went something like this, first upgrading caps (only) in speakers for awhile, then resistors, then fill occasionally if it needed it, then wiring and sometimes drivers. The only thing I've never upgraded is inductors to air-core which I've heard can drastically improve performance and would probably be my next step if I wanted to further improve my outcomes. Most recently, I just finished recapping some Dynaco A-50 that someone had tinkered with. I used mkp (Q4, Standard-Z) bypassed with pio, newer SEAS tweeters and thicker gauge silver plated OFC internal wiring. I had to adjust the fiberglass fill on that pair about 4 times until I arrived at the best sound I could get from them because the person before me had removed some of it and the 'Q Factor' and bass response was "off" and not optimized. I don't have an after photo, but this was a before pic with just some of the materials I ended up using.
Daytons are fine. It will sound fine with Dayton. There is also a budget brand over at Madisound. It also sounds good. Even quality electrolytic capacitors sound just fine. I use Jantzen Superior Z on my A-25 speakers. It's hard to gauge the improvement because I did a lot of modification in the end, new tweeter etc. But what I ended up with was leagues better than what I started with. I am super pleased with the results.
I can tell you, without a doubt, that capacitors in tube amps make a huge difference. You can really upgrade or modify the voice of a tube amp with quality capacitors. I don't see why Speaker crossovers should be any different. I have compared Solen, Dayton, Sonicaps, Motor run oil caps and Auricaps in speakers. They don't sound the same.
I can tell you, without a doubt, that capacitors in tube amps make a huge difference. You can really upgrade or modify the voice of a tube amp with quality capacitors. I don't see why Speaker crossovers should be any different. I have compared Solen, Dayton, Sonicaps, Motor run oil caps and Auricaps in speakers. They don't sound the same.