Sonicaps that much better than Solen???

After much trial and error, forget the bypass caps, they are not needed when you use high grade caps. That'll save you money right there.

Solen's are not a good HF cap, go with Sonicap there. I prefer the Sonicap's all around, but you could try Anonymouse's suggestion.

I've been trying to justify the cost of the Mundorf's myself......probably have to do it or I'll never know.

Real estate is another issue with them. I know I'd have to remote mount them.

Any one try dayton 1% caps?

HTrookie wrote:

I need some words from you....words that can convince me that the sound is going to be so much better that it will be worth the huge upcharge.

As with anything else, some idea of your performance goals, and some idea of the location of your personal point of diminishing returns helps a great deal.

In my SDA mods, I have used Solens, RelCaps, AudioCaps, ICW Clarity Caps, Sonicaps, MultiCaps, etc. I have been thrilled with the performance of all of them. The higher cost film caps provided higher performance where the application required it.

To give you some perspective, when I did the mod for my SDA SRS's, I used nothing but Solens and the improvement over the stock electrolytic and mylar caps was spectacular. Since the SRS's would be used in my home theater system with amps and source components of moderate resolution, it did not make sonic or financial sense to use higher resolution parts.

When I did the the mod for the SRS 1.2TL's used in my two-channel system, I used AudioCaps which cost 5X the cost of the Solens. This made sense as the amps and source components in the two-channel system were of higher resolution. Furthermore, I was planning an upgrade path to amps and source components of even higher resolution.

When I visited Dunlavy Audio Labs factory, I asked John Dunlavy why he used Solen capacitors in his speakers, (the most expensive of which cost over $35,000), rather than some of the higher quality film capacitors available. He said that for the vast majority of the recording studios and audio enthusiasts who purchased his speakers, the Solens were more than adequate. This was verified by Dunlavy's laboratory measurements as well as double blind listening evaluations.

From my somewhat limited perspective, the sonicaps offer a smoother high end with a more seamless transition from mid to highs.A tad more clarity if you please,somewhat airy and open. The one thing that I noticed with both brands,(especially with the solens) was the bass extension was improved to the point of erasing any notions that a sub would be needed. If you plan on keeping the 3.1's(for a looooong period) and you do alot of 2ch listening, I would use the sonicaps, if not, then go with the solens.Either way,I don't think that you'll be disappointed. Have fun.

ben62670 wrote:

Any one try dayton 1% caps?

A friend of mine build a pair of speakers from an award winning DIY design. He initially used the Daytons. After a couple of days, he ordered some Sonicaps and Mundorfs, tore out all the Daytons and rebuilt the crossovers. He said it was the best thing he did after trying to tweak the speakers with an active crossover.

I suspect for many applications the Daytons would do fine. I wouldn't put them in my SDA's or Monitor 7's

Carl

Yeah, I talked with Jeff at long length about bypass caps, he told me about the same thing. At first they seem to sound wonderful, but after awhile I removed them because what they impart are artifacts, which becomes very annoying. Try them, it's the only way you'll know. However, at some point down the road, remove them. I think you'll like the sound better without them.

I'm speaking only from my experiences with home-built speakers, but, try as I might, I can't hear any difference in Solen, Dayton, or Jantzen polyproplyene caps. I CAN hear a difference in the above capacitors versus the cheap electrolytics, but even that difference is not night and day to me, provided that the caps are all closely matched in value. That's one area where the tighter tolerence parts are advantageous, especially if you don't have a way to measure them.

I'm not saying that there IS NO difference, just that I've tried repeatedly to hear a difference (trying to make some of my DIY stuff sound better, LOL!) and I just can't hear it. Also, not to get into the whole "if you can't measure it, it ain't there" syndrome, but there ARE measureable electrical differences between cheap NP electrolytic caps and metalized film capacitors, and between metalized polypropylene or mylar capacitors and film and foil types, but very little difference between brands of caps of similar construction.

Same thing with resistors: I can hear no difference whatsoever between cheapo wirewound resistors and "non-inductive" types like Dayton, or high-end types like Mills. I generally use the "mid grade" just because they don't cost much more and they say "audio grade", but I can't hear any difference.

Perhaps it's my ears or the speakers I'm testing with, or both. I wouldn't try to talk anyone out of Solens or Sonicaps, especially for their SDA's. That's what I'll use if I do mine. At least on the highpass side..

Jason

schwarcw wrote:

My sentiments exactly. I don't think the bypass is needed. I like the sound of the Sonicaps. The knock on the Solens is that they can be a little harsh.

I would like to try the Mundorf Silver Oil Supremes or the Audio Note caps. Both are about 5 times the cost of Sonicaps. Clarity caps may also be a good choice.

I have tried for the hell of it and have for sale with a pair of 70's X-overs (in the FM) the Mundorfs you mentioned on my Rti-70 and can say that at first they were extremly bright but calmed down and went straight to detail after they started to break in. They are extremely fast.
If you or anybody is intersted let me know via PM.

Dave