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What caps do you use?

Fast_Eddie

Fast_Eddie

Upper-middle fi
Hey All,

I'm recapping a pair of Genesis 2+ speakers. I ordered Solen caps from PE along with new resistors for the level switch. But when you look at the PE crossover cap page, there are a lot of choices! Some of them are really expensive, all the way donw to cheap old electolytics.

So what do you use when restoring old crossovers? I've used the Dayton caps before with good results. This will be the first try with the Solens, but I think I've heard folks here say good things about them.

Take care,

Ed
 
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Solen is a little on the bright side.

I now use Sonic Caps, but still want to give Dayton 1%'s a try.
 
I've used Solens and Daytons and can't tell much of a difference between them. Solens are a bit brighter but not enough to make any difference to my ears. What I recently found to make a difference, thanks to AKers, is a .01 uF Theata cap bypassing a single Dayton cap. I believe the Geneses 2+ has two 10 uF caps so I don't know how or if a bypass would work. A search on the subject might help you.
 
Fast_Eddie said:
Hey All,

I'm recapping a pair of Genesis 2+ speakers. I ordered Solen caps from PE along with new resistors for the level switch. But when you look at the PE crossover cap page, there are a lot of choices! Some of them are really expensive, all the way donw to cheap old electolytics.

So what do you use when restoring old crossovers? I've used the Dayton caps before with good results. This will be the first try with the Solens, but I think I've heard folks here say good things about them.

Take care,

Ed
Click to expand...

If you haven't already, I suggest you read thru the pinned thread "WHY RECAP SPEAKERS AND WHEN". There is lots of discussion there on the myriad of cap choices available. If you visit other speaker forums like Polk's and www.Classicspeakerpages.net you will find similar threads with about as many opinions on what's best to use as there are posts.
Don't loose any sleep over what choice to make. The differences are not significant (IMO of course).
Solen bashing has gotten popular as of late.
The price difference between Solen, Bennic, Dayton and others of that ilk isn't enough to worry about either. I do not recommend going with boutique caps like Hoveland Musicap, Auricap, Mundorf and others. They are not worth the money unless you are recapping a $10,000 speaker. In which case you shouldn't have to be doing that in the first place.
 
Thanks Guys,

My Genesis 2+ only have one 10 uF cap each, but the schamatic at Human Speakers shows some have two. I'm going with the one that it had and putting binding posts in place of the spring clips. I got these speakers for free from a fellow AKer and did foam on the woofers and passives when I got them. Probably a couple of years ago at this point. The bass is outstanding, but the high end hasn't done much for me. But I know people rave about the inverted dome tweeter, so I figured caps are in order. At the end of the day I'll still only have about $30 invested in them. And that ain't bad for what I'll have!

I've given away a fair pile of grear recently. We'll see how these end up. They will either take up residence in the living room displacing the Polk Monitor 5s and Velodyne sub, or they'll go into the "out" box. I suspect they're staying.

Take care,

Ed
 
Those should be smooth sounding not dull. Could the choke across the tweeter be cooked? A simple resistance test would be a good start. Compare with a known good one.
IMHO, Dayton caps are fine. They have a nice price and seem to be good quality. Sometimes when replacing old electrolytics with modern Polyprop caps you will need to add a series resistor of small value to make up for a lower ESR. I don't worry about this unless I measure or hear a problem with the mids or highs, too bright or shrill.
They are capacitors not wine so don't get caught up in the emotions and fairy dust of some brands advertising claims.
If after fussing with those you don't want them I have an empty corner they would fit in nicely.:D
 
I've used motor run caps with nice results. Price is moderate from Grainger and they were simultaneously clearer and smoother than the Solens they replaced. The Solens had a glare as the volume was increassed that I always suspected was my ears. The moment I replaced the series tweeter cap it went away. Very happy.

John
 
I've used Daytons speakers like your Genesis, small KLH, Advent etc. Sound fine. I'm looking at doing the AR9's and wondering if spending more will matter.

I started a thread awhile back about how the descriptions on Parts Express don't give you comparable information between brands, so you have very little to base your decision on. I actually sent them a nice complaint about that.
 
Well, I can tell you guys, based on the experience I've had with them and the reports on this thread, I'll probably use the Daytons from now on. Though I'm anxious to see how the Solens do in the Genesis.

Take care,

Ed
 
Well, I got one of them done. Definately sounds much better! Can't wait to do the other, but alas, out of town guests, and my listening room is the guest bedroom!

Take care,

Ed
 
That HumanSpeakers page sometimes recommends non-original caps. Like my 201 or was it 202 - Human showed 8 OHM when original is 10. In my mind the 8 would raise the crossover freq and make any midrange hole worse.

I used Daytons and got fancy adding Dayton 0.1 crossover caps. They sound great but I don't know what dif the crossover caps made as they weren't up to snuff before I recapped.
 
I just recently did a pair of smaller advents with just the basic 5% Daytons. They transformed them from a pair that I could give or take to a very nice sounding pair of speakers. On Glassmans JBL's we used solens and it was a marked improvement, a little more subtle than the SA's but I think they were in better shape to begin with. Now I have to find a pair that is not on the chopping block to put some "better" caps and try the bypass caps as well.
 
Hey Brian,

I still have a pre amp and a pair of speakers that are yours!! We'll have to get together for a couple of drinks and break in these caps on these Genesis.

Yes! They are done. They all went to the basement to play Wii Sports and I pressed on. Didn't think I'd make it, but they're still down there playing (yes, our nearly 70 year old house guest is playing Wii Golf right now!) and I'm up here listening to some Beck with my T Amp and my iPod. Can't really do any critical listening, but I can tell you this. It's a huge improvement. I always liked these speakers, but they are much better than they were. I always suspected that would be the case.

Can't wait to a/b them with my ADS L810s!

Take care,

Ed
 
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