SDA 2B.TL XO with all Caps Onboard
dcmeigs
Posts: 708
It was an ugly rainy day today so I got busy with the XOs.
When I did my first set of SDA-2Bs, I ended up leaving the big caps from the dimensional XO hanging off the end of the card. Nobody thinks that's a good idea, but I couldn't see any other way other than to mount them off the card. I'll probably make that change some day.
This time I decided to use Sonicaps on the high pass and Daytons for the low pass parallel caps. I have read enough suggestions that Sonicaps are overkill out of the signal path that I wanted to give it a try.
The slightly smaller size of the Dayton caps made it possible to mount them all on the board. Like Bens last post on the subject, I mounted the resistor under the board. There really is a 12 uf Sonicap under the dogpile.
Right now, I'm using SL3000 tweeters with that 5.8uf cap. I've not heard the SL3000 before. They sound quite restricted now, but that is to be expected with just a few hours on the caps.
Likewise, it's too soon to say if there is an audible difference in the bass between these and the 100% sonicap speakers.
When I did my first set of SDA-2Bs, I ended up leaving the big caps from the dimensional XO hanging off the end of the card. Nobody thinks that's a good idea, but I couldn't see any other way other than to mount them off the card. I'll probably make that change some day.
This time I decided to use Sonicaps on the high pass and Daytons for the low pass parallel caps. I have read enough suggestions that Sonicaps are overkill out of the signal path that I wanted to give it a try.
The slightly smaller size of the Dayton caps made it possible to mount them all on the board. Like Bens last post on the subject, I mounted the resistor under the board. There really is a 12 uf Sonicap under the dogpile.
Right now, I'm using SL3000 tweeters with that 5.8uf cap. I've not heard the SL3000 before. They sound quite restricted now, but that is to be expected with just a few hours on the caps.
Likewise, it's too soon to say if there is an audible difference in the bass between these and the 100% sonicap speakers.
The world is full of answers, some are right and some are wrong. - Neil Young
Post edited by dcmeigs on
Comments
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10 hours will give you a idea of what you're dealing with, there'll be hardly any change after 100 hours IMO. As always, YMMV.
I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions.
EDIT: isn't it fun trying to fill a 5lbs bag with 10lbs of....
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
Tip: Mount the 30uF Sonicap vertically on the top side and mount the 10uF horizontally under the board.
I know I've got some pics posted on here showing that. You can do the searching, if you'd like.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Tip: Mount the 30uF Sonicap vertically on the top side and mount the 10uF horizontally under the board.
I know I've got some pics posted on here showing that. You can do the searching, if you'd like.
Precisely the advice you gave me, and it worked perfectly. Once you mount the board back onto the inductor, there's plenty of clearance for the cap underneath:
(yes I cleaned the hot glue
) Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
I have pictures in my thread, the board will not let me upload the pictures again and I do not know how to link a thread.
ScottI like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D -
In the buttons above the box you type your reply into, there's a button (along with the bold, ital, underline buttons...) to insert a link. It looks like a little globe with a sideways 8 in the bottom right corner. When you float your mouse over it, it will say Insert Link. Copy the link into the box that pops up. Make sure you don't end up with a double "http:\\" at the beginning.
What's wrong, you don't like my picture??? My camera not good enough for you or something??? You telling me I'm a bad photographer???Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Break in will take much longer than 10 hours. Hang in there and thank god no one can see the x-over since it's inside the cabinet.
. Nice job, it just doesn't look that "good" "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
I think it looks great! But like I said on my XO thread, don't try bringing it on a plane....Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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Last month I upgraded my second set of SDA 2Bs electing to use Jentens in the low pass. I was putting off comment on my results, hoping for a different outcome.
I attended the Vacuum Tube conference in Vancouver WA last month and talked to a lot of passionate speaker builders who were using cheaper metalized polypropylene caps and even electrolytics with results that they tened to describe as indistinguishable from high end caps when used in typical low pass applications where the cap is in their words "out of the signal path" (read in parallel with the driver). I didn't exactly drink the cool-aide but I did want to know if it was true, so I upgraded my second set of 2Bs with Sonicaps on the high pass and Jentzen on the low pass.
I am now passing 240 hours and I believe that I must conclude that the bass is noticably slower and has less kick than the set with the 100% Sonicap mod. The breakeven point was at about 48 hours which came much sooner than I recall with the Sonicaps but the improvement seemed to fizzle after that.
The Sonicaps are a huge bang for the buck and I intend to stick with them in the future, or at least until something better comes along.
I do want to make the point that the Jentzens are very very inexpensive. If you happen to have a hot soldering iron, a few hours of time and a low budget, then the Jentzens might be for you as there was some improvement over the electrolytic caps. I'd say the difference is a bit south of midway between stock and Sonicaps, if you will allow that such a statement is very subjective, depending on source material among other variables.The world is full of answers, some are right and some are wrong. - Neil Young -
Posts like that give me a warm, fuzzy feeling...
Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
