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...what capacitor to get?

Marko

Marko

Well-Known Member
Hi

I've got a pair of Avid 102's and it seems that it is time to replace what appears to be a 7uf 30vNP...one speaker has I think a capacitor problem.

I should do both speakers I guess. Any suggestions of brand/type, and where to find them? These are non-polar, right?

thx

Marko
 
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Sounds like an electrolytic cap. ANY film cap, even a cheap Solen, will be a major improvement.
 
Marko said:
Hi

I've got a pair of Avid 102's and it seems that it is time to replace what appears to be a 7uf 30vNP...one speaker has I think a capacitor problem.

I should do both speakers I guess. Any suggestions of brand/type, and where to find them? These are non-polar, right?

thx

Marko
Click to expand...
use a good quality non polarized electrolytic or if you can't find one you can use two with double the capacitance in series back to back of at least half the working voltage if you have two in series because when you put caps in series the capacitance devides and the working voltage adds.its ok if the working voltage is higher but not if its lower, and in a crossover you want the capacitance to remain the same value.

hope that helps
Randy kb9kxh
 
The simple and cost-effective solution is to try the 'audio grade' caps from PartsExpress:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=69

A 6.8 plus a 0.22 in parallel will get you pretty dang close to an exact replacement value (6.8's probably 'close enough'). I guess the only problem with this route is PartsExpress's minimum order (I think they might have a minimum) -- but I can always think of a few more things to buy from them!

Other cos-effective options include Solens (also available from PE), and from there, you can go to the stratospheric in terms of price.

Since NP caps are very cheap, you might want to pick up a pair of them as well, and you can directly compare the sound of NP electrolytics vs. film or other boutique caps.
And, yes, an NP cap is just two regular, polarized electrolytics "back to back".
 
if you can't find one you can use two with double the capacitance in series back to back

NEVER do this for speakers. Use NP Electrolytics, or any of the film caps made for speaker use.

To get the correct value, you can add caps in parallel. For exampe, an 4.0 and 3.3 in parallel will give 7.3 uf. A 4.7 and 2.2 will give 6.9 uf.
 
Whatever capacitor configuration you finally settle upon use the exact same configuration in the mated speaker. You would want them both to sound the same don't you?

I really doubt your ear could hear any difference between the two speakers if in one you used a 7uf cap and in the other you used a 10uf but at least this would not stick in the back of your mind wondering.....what if???

sdz
 
The first answer sometimes is - keep using an electrolytic as a film cap may upset the balance and tone. I would like to suggest you take the plunge with a film cap. Any tonal/level issues can probably be tweaked with a small change/addition of series tweeter resistance. You may be lucky not to need this.

You might try a Mundorf M-cap. These are of low/medium price, and give a good resolution/balance when used as a tweeter crossover cap.
 
thanks folks!

I appreciate everyone's participation, and grateful for it!

...so, in theory, if i use a 6.8uf instead of a 7uf, would that likely cut more highs, or allow more highs to pass? ....Just trying to understand <g>...fwiw, the 102's have a 3-way switch on the back...is it more desirable to be over the cap value or under? (if i can can't nail the 7uf, that is)

be well everyone...

Marko
 
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What's going to let more highs to pass is the use of a small paper in oil or other high quality audio film/foil cap in parallel with your 6.8uf cap. And if you think about it 6.8uf + 0.22uf film/foil will give you 7.0uf. They are considerably more expensive than the other caps at about 7 dollars a pop for the least expensive ones:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=027-714

If you aren't convinced this will make a difference then I suggest you try doing it to just one speaker, and then put on some piano music. Put your ear next to each speaker. You ought to be able to hear that the sound of the highs seems to jump out of the speaker a lot more with the film/foil cap in place.
 
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:scratch2: I wonder if any of you have compared using a single pure film/foil to cover the capacitance of the tweeter as opposed to using the more economical metalized polypropylene or NP with small film in parallel combo solution. Are the benefits gained worth the extra bucks?
 
I second the Parts Express NP electrolytic solution with a small .1 to .22 ploy cap in parallel with the elctro cap. This will get you the small size and cost of the eltrolytic and the sound of a giant poly cap. They realy had 35 volt caps in the original crossover? That is very low. Change them in both speakers..

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
Standing up....

Same experience with the Part Express brands in the JBL 4425 crossovers I re-did. I've used Solen and Auricaps in the UREIs I re-did. For any normal crossover swaps I'd do these days, the PE stuff is just fine.

Cheers,

David

ron-c said:
I second the Parts Express NP electrolytic solution with a small .1 to .22 ploy cap in parallel with the elctro cap. This will get you the small size and cost of the eltrolytic and the sound of a giant poly cap. They realy had 35 volt caps in the original crossover? That is very low. Change them in both speakers..

Thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...
 
I submit that bypassing caps can work well, but often this can set up resonances between the two (and their parasitic inductance).

If you have the time to audition, this may be fine. The thing is, 7uF is a value easily obtainable in a single high quality unit.
 
I have used and measured these exact PE NP electrolytic caps so I can only speak from experience.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
A hearty "thank you", to everyone..

This is going to be a fun little project....I'll probably do the auricaps, and go ahead and make up some pure Silver wire for the innards, just for the heck of it...

You folks have been a great help! :thmbsp:

...is this a great community here, or what?!!

I salute you all!

be well

Marko
 
same project

bringing this thread back from the dead to ask...

would this 6.8uf
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=027-424

in parallel with this .22uf
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/sho...m1010X497171X89fbb6515d3759dc4305e994c2f6f5cb

work? I'm no electrician, so though it seems clear from this thread that 6.8 + .22 in parallel is what i want, I have no idea the relationship between polypropylene and film/foil or what it means that one capacitor is 250V and one is 600.

I've had some avid 103s for a while that i love (no recap as of yet) and my friend found four 102s in his new garage the other day... that was a good day :D

Thanks all
 
Paul C said:
if you can't find one you can use two with double the capacitance in series back to back

NEVER do this for speakers. Use NP Electrolytics, or any of the film caps made for speaker use.

To get the correct value, you can add caps in parallel. For exampe, an 4.0 and 3.3 in parallel will give 7.3 uf. A 4.7 and 2.2 will give 6.9 uf.
Click to expand...

I think he is talking about putting two 14uF NP in series to make a 7uF cap.

Nothing wrong with it except larger caps are more expensive. Audyn, Mudorf and Jantzen all make high $$$ caps that are made out of two series caps internally like the Z-Superior.
 
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