7B re-cap parts comparo

Jonesy

I know I've been putting this off but I'm really going to do this....honest. I now have a decent pair of replacement speaks to fill in while the 7B's are out of commission and I'm ready to tackle this job.

Hats off to TomB and guptonr to feeding a great thread on this subject. The only reason I separated this topic is I thought there might be some discussion on the qualities of the different parts used for this project.

Here's guptonr's parts list from PE...

027-430 Dayton DMPC-12 12uF 250V Polypropylene Capacitor
005-2.5 Mills 2.5 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive Resistor
005-4.5 Mills 4.5 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive Resistor
027-441 Dayton DMPC-33 33uF 250V Polypropylene Capacitor

I am curious about more experienced and knowledgable folks opinion on these components from Madisound.....

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=748
http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=734
http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8414
http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8418

I can save about $5 picking up the Madisound parts. Is it worth it?

ben62670

Solen's suck IMHO. Better than stock, but... I did a shoot out between Dayton, Solen, and Jantzen's. Dayton are way better than Solen's, and Jantzen's were in between. Sonicaps are well loved here, but I like the Dayton's just as much. I don't push Dayton's on XO's I do for people because of the rep Sonicaps has, but for me I will use the Dayton's. Also the Dayton's sound real nice out the package where Sonicaps need a long burnin period before they show their glory. To me the Dayton's are more forgiving to bad recordings, or mediocre equipment without losing detail kinda like the Vifa ring tweeters used in the LSI's.
Ben

Polksaladanni

Ditto on that.

Bennic makes the Dayton brand name exclusive to PE.

Madisound offers different values that PE doesn't have under Bennic MP's.

On the RT55 mod I had to get the 16uf Bennic and 9uf Clarity PX from Madisound.

Good Luck!

Paul

heiney9

Madisound carries Clarity Caps and those would be an excellent choice. The PX series is comparable in price to Solens and would be better on the high pass circuit.

Have fun

H9

TomB

Jonesy, I'm obviously not more "experienced and knowledgable", and am ill-qualified to give advice, BUT...

I presume you removed your crossovers to confirm that they are like Randall's (guptonr) and mine, and these:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59876&highlight=monitor

which differ from the schematics that are posted in the Vintage Speaker area.

I have my parts, but I haven't worked up the nerve to start cutting out the old stuff and soldering in the new.

Jonesy

Polksaladanni wrote: »

Ditto on that.

Bennic makes the Dayton brand name exclusive to PE.

Madisound offers different values that PE doesn't have under Bennic MP's.

On the RT55 mod I had to get the 16uf Bennic and 9uf Clarity PX from Madisound.

Good Luck!

Paul

I understand it's possible to combine caps to get the needed values (I'm not sure how it's done). So could I combine two of these for the mid? Would it be worth the cost to put this in for the tweeter?

Jonesy

TomB wrote: »

Jonesy, I'm obviously not more "experienced and knowledgable", and am ill-qualified to give advice, BUT...

I presume you removed your crossovers to confirm that they are like Randall's (guptonr) and mine, and these:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59876&highlight=monitor

which differ from the schematics that are posted in the Vintage Speaker area.

I have my parts, but I haven't worked up the nerve to start cutting out the old stuff and soldering in the new.

Good point Tom. I just finished pulling them and the parts are identical. BTW, if I can solder anyone can do it. Really. I've only done two other recaps and nothing has blown up yet. Granted they were very simple one cap jobs (EPI 150 & Infinity RSe) but you gotta start somehere, right?

heiney9

Jonesy wrote: »

I understand it's possible to combine caps to get the needed values (I'm not sure how it's done). So could I combine two of these for the mid? Would it be worth the cost to put this in for the tweeter?

You can combine caps to get the desired value but I would use (2) caps that are close in value to each other. Example: 15 uF. Use (2) 7 uF's rather than a 12 and a 3 uF.

Also you have to consider whether you can fit bothparts on your board.

H9

Jonesy

As I lost out on the big lottery (ala ben) I've been crunching some numbers. I understand the Solens are not favored here but let me propose the following...

The 'standard' parts list quoted above from PE comes in at $51.90 shipped. At $52.10 I can pick up the Madisound parts listed above with the following exception. The 12u Solens is swapped for this 12u Clarity PX. Understanding that I'm not proficient with this stuff let me surmise my thinking....

Put the money on the top end. It seems the Clarity cap may realize a better result than the Dayton. The quality of the Solens may not be as evident in the midrange as the Dayton but it was charcterized as 'better than stock'. Just for those wondering I have nothing against PE. I've ordered from them in past and will continue to do so, I just like to take advantage of local resources when I can.

Now I don't know if it's a good idea to mix brands. That's why I'm floating this here. I haven't listened to caps per se and aren't really sure if I'd notice the difference if I did. Opinions?

ben62670

Mixing brands is fine. I have never used the clarity caps, but I think someone may chime in:)
Ben

HB27

ben62670 wrote: »

Mixing brands is fine. I have never used the clarity caps, but I think someone may chime in:)
Ben

The Clarity are ok but I prefer the Sonicaps. That has a lot to do with my tube gear though.
Stay away from the Solens. I do a lot of cap replacments and the last bag of 100 Solens were a big disappointment. I always test new caps before installation and many of the solens were very high on ESR on my B&K 881 meter. Eleven to be exact. It's not the first time either. I'm done with them. Pic of the 11 Solen I'm sending back today, Sonicaps I prefer, and as a good money saver I'll use the NTE. Very diverse selection in sizes and they sound about as good as any budget cap around. Good quality control on the NTE. One of my suppliers locally has many old Mallory and Sprague caps still in stock also. Good caps still testing out great.
They all have their own qualities in sound.
Harry