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Kinda getting back to basics here, but are the Solen PB Series Film
Capacitors that are described in Mr. Smith's SDA Compendium polarity sensitive like electrolytics? Thanks.
Solens are the most tried and true so far in this application. It also says alot that Raife recommends them. They are a bit more budget friendly. My 1C's have Solens for the low pass sections and Sonic Caps for the high pass. This is seems to be a bit more cost effective. There is a hardcore member or two who personally don't like to mix caps, but as they'll state that's their personal preference.
I have Solens in my Monitor 5b's for both high pass and low pass and in combination with the RD0's sound absolutely excellent.
Buy sthe Solens w/o hesitation as well as RD0's and you will be rewarded. Don't forget the Mills resistors as well, they are just as important.
Have fun
H9"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 USED to think I could hear differences in interconnects, until I listened blindly w/o knowing which Interconnect was in there.
They "switched" in three "different" Interconnects on Acoustat Model 8 Electrostats. I "heard" BIG differences in all "Three",, as did the rest of the Seattle Audio Society!
It was SOBERING to lean NO Interconnect had been switched at all, LOL
We were all shown the 3 different interconnects, and TOLD "this is the Audioquest, this is the stock one, and this is the Mogami" :eek:
We ALL "picked" the Mogami.
What a bunch of dumb fuks we were.
The MIND is a powerful thing ....
Of course, levels were matched, and all that, and we all listened to 1/2 hour on each one.
This TAUGHT me something, it really did.
"Placebo effect" is a well documented phenomenon. Some people have healed themselves during medical trials while taking "medicine" that had no active ingredients. The doctor told them the "medicine" would have a desired effect and their body produced it. Some manufacturers use the placebo effect to good advantage and price their goods accordingly, i.e. if it is more expensive, it must be better...right? Some people are more succeptible to it than others. Others are not succeptible to it at all.Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country! -
Ya know, I have never done a blind listening test with different caps.DarqueKnight wrote: »"Placebo effect" is a well documented phenomenon. Some people have healed themselves during medical trials while taking "medicine" that had no active ingredients. The doctor told them the "medicine" would have a desired effect and their body produced it. Some manufacturers use the placebo effect to good advantage and price their goods accordingly, i.e. if it is more expensive, it must be better...right? Some people are more succeptible to it than others. Others are not succeptible to it at all.
Of course, there are those who will tell you you must live with a cap to tell it's differences over time .....
It's ALL good, we all do our thing, have fun, and share it.
IF all "goes right" for me, my SRS 2's shall have the very BEST caps this manufacturer has to offer, for FREE.
Oh, just found out,. they made caps for Conrad Johnson AND Northcreek:eek:
Food always tastes better, when it is free, Caps always sound better when they are Free.
I almost feel guilty, so I shall use expensive solder.
Hey, speaking of caps Darqe One, what about OIL Filled caps ?
In my Horn/SET days, the guys all claimed the Oil damped vibration.
Plus, IF ya don;t like em, just change the oil:)
They say extra virgin olive oil sounds the best, and is best for the health of your Polk ?
It seems the anti oxidant qualities of the Olive Oil keep crossover cancer from occuring ?
Seriously, my old buddies on the Klipsch forum swear by motor run capacitors. -
Kinda getting back to basics here, but are the Solen PB Series Film
Capacitors that are described in Mr. Smith's SDA Compendium polarity sensitive like electrolytics? Thanks.
The Solen PB series film caps are not polarity sensitive. All electrolytics are not polarity sensitive either (e.g. bipolar electrolytics).
The Solens are good quality parts. They were used by Dunlavy Audio Labs in their speakers which ranged in price from $1500 to $35,000. The attached picture is taken from a DAL brochure and shows a picture of the Dunlavy SC-V crossover with Solen PB's. The SC-V was a $15,000 speaker. I visited DAL in 2000 and asked John Dunlavy why he didn't use better caps in his speakers, particularly the more expensive models. He said that the performance improvement was negligible and that most of the primary purchasers of their loudspeakers (professional recording studios, and other audio professionals) would not be interested in it. There was also the issue of sourcing the parts in sufficient quantities.Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country! -
Fedex delivered the Solens and Mills today for my SDA SRS's.
I bought these SRS's off CL and found one xover had the two 130uf caps
replaced with black plastic caps labeled TSI-8608. They measure
1/2" x 1-1/2" with a lead on each end. It was the correct value but
has + or - 20% printed on it. The other xover had the original blue caps. Some other mixing of caps too. All this made me decide to try to give these SDA's another chance at life. They are in great shape otherwise. Also have
the RDO's on B/O with Polk.
Does anyone know when Polk will get the RDO's in?
Thanks for your help.
Oh. I ordered the Solens and Mills from www.partsconnexion.com as referenced in Mr Smith's Compendium and received great service.
Nice people up there in Canada.SDA 2.3/RDO's... xovers by Ben
SDA 2.3TL/Stock..
SDA 1C/Solens/RDO's [gave to my Uncle]
SDA 2B RDO's
Snell Type CV
SDA 1.2TL's
GFA7700 Adcom
GFP750 Adcom
TFM55X Carver
M90 Pioneer/C90 Pre
M91 x 2 Pioneers/C91 Pre
Yaqin MC10l
DCD-1520/1560/2560 Denon
Marantz DVD-8400
Carver m1.5T
DV-79avi Pioneer
TFM35X x 2 -
Fedex delivered the Solens and Mills today for my SDA SRS's.
I bought these SRS's off CL and found one xover had the two 130uf caps
replaced with black plastic caps labeled TSI-8608. They measure
1/2" x 1-1/2" with a lead on each end. It was the correct value but
has + or - 20% printed on it. The other xover had the original blue caps. Some other mixing of caps too. All this made me decide to try to give these SDA's another chance at life. They are in great shape otherwise. Also have
the RDO's on B/O with Polk.
Does anyone know when Polk will get the RDO's in?
Thanks for your help.
Oh. I ordered the Solens and Mills from www.partsconnexion.com as referenced in Mr Smith's Compendium and received great service.
Nice people up there in Canada.
Sounds like you are set. PartsExpress is stateside and probably would have saved you a bit of $$$, but Partsconnexion is top notch. Good luck you will be a very happy camper.
H9"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 TRIED to get their catalog downloaded .....Fedex delivered the Solens and Mills today for my SDA SRS's.
I bought these SRS's off CL and found one xover had the two 130uf caps
replaced with black plastic caps labeled TSI-8608. They measure
1/2" x 1-1/2" with a lead on each end. It was the correct value but
has + or - 20% printed on it. The other xover had the original blue caps. Some other mixing of caps too. All this made me decide to try to give these SDA's another chance at life. They are in great shape otherwise. Also have
the RDO's on B/O with Polk.
Does anyone know when Polk will get the RDO's in?
Thanks for your help.
Oh. I ordered the Solens and Mills from www.partsconnexion.com as referenced in Mr Smith's Compendium and received great service.
Nice people up there in Canada.
Let's compare prices ?
Madisound has the 12 uf Solens for 5 bucks, the 20 uf for 6.40 each.
Prices similar ? -
Parts Express didn't have near the parts I needed without having to order a couple and wiring them together which I didn't want to do. They (PE) also didn't have ANY of the 12W Mills resistors I needed either. I do like Parts Connexion and my 3rd order is on the way. When I did price comparisons, PE was a little cheaper by a little bit...maybe 10% if that. But, since they didn't have the ALL the parts needed to do a job, I went with who had them all. PC.
But I do use PE for other things. Terminals, etc.Richard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner. -
You can buy directly from Solen but Im not sure about pricing in comparison to other sellers.I usually find the values I need on the On Sale page. http://www.solen.ca/Testing
Testing
Testing -
I TRIED to get their catalog downloaded .....
Let's compare prices ?
Madisound has the 12 uf Solens for 5 bucks, the 20 uf for 6.40 each.
Prices similar ?
Madisound doesn't carry Mills resistors."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! -
Yes, the Dunlavy's were used in Monitoring and recording.Dark knight wrote: »The Solen PB series film caps are not polarity sensitive. All electrolytics are not polarity sensitive either (e.g. bipolar electrolytics).
The Solens are good quality parts. They were used by Dunlavy Audio Labs in their speakers which ranged in price from $1500 to $35,000. The attached picture is taken from a DAL brochure and shows a picture of the Dunlavy SC-V crossover with Solen Pb's. The SC-V was a $15,000 speaker. I visited DAL in 2000 and asked John Dunlavy why he didn't use better caps in his speakers, particularly the more expensive models. He said that the performance improvement was negligible and that most of the primary purchasers of their loudspeakers (professional recording studios, and other audio professionals) would not be interested in it. There was also the issue of sourcing the parts in sufficient quantities.
I used to hang out on a BBS that had a considerable number of engineer and mastering types.
The system of choice seemed to be a PAIR ofThreshold S 500 series 2's stereo amps, each driving either a Matrix 801 or a Dunlavy SC 4A for LOUDER monitoring applications.
Some use a little near field monitor from Finland, and some use some monitor designed by a POLISH dude called a Lapinski, or Kielbasa, oe was it a Pierogi ?
SOME have "good wire" and "good interconnects" ....:rolleyes:
Albert Von Schweikert also feels the Solens are a decent cap.
I have some in my Matrix 801's, and some Yamaha NS200M's I re did.
It seems a Lot of the Polk guys like em, so they must work well for them!
I think we can all agree on one thing for sure - Change the caps, at least get some new ones in there.
And, like John Dunlavy says, who BTW is a Ham like me, the performance improvements are minimal anyway.
John Dunlavy holds many patents in Antennas.
That is my "other love", building and testing Yagi Antennas.
John Dunlavy is like a GOD to me, ever hear a well set up Dunlavy ? -
What do they have comparable ?Madisound doesn't carry Mills resistors.
I don't have resistor prices yet, just wanted to see a price comparasion on the Solens. -
What do they have comparable ?
I don't have resistor prices yet, just wanted to see a price comparasion on the Solens.
I think the Eagle resistor's they carry are wire wound, but not for sure on that. Since I live 40 minutes form Madison I thought I could save some money in shipping but I wanted the Mills."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! -
OMG, they are DIRT cheap!You can buy directly from Solen but Im not sure about pricing in comparison to other sellers.I usually find the values I need on the On Sale page. http://www.solen.ca/
They have a 39 uf Poly for CHEAP !
These are the best prices I have seen on Solens.
The TEFLON Solens look cool as hell!
I can always fry eggs on em if they do not work out ?
I know, I know, Polk says they are bright .....
MAYBE they did not HIDE the tweeter peak as much, LOL
Maybe with the smoother RDO's they will give more "air" ??
OOPS, please excuse me, I am having a "audiophile moment"
My left brain is battling with my right.
TEFLON TEFLON TEFLON ...... -
Tom, the Madisound engineer is also a Ham like me.I think the Eagle resistor's they carry are wire wound, but not for sure on that. Since I live 40 minutes form Madison I thought I could save some money in shipping but I wanted the Mills.
He did a crossover in Leap for me.
He is a Horn/Tube Guy, knows his stuff too.
Larry Hitch, the Madisound owner and I go back 25 years to my Speaker Lab days when I lived in Seattle.
They have always treated me well, and I have always found them pretty competitive.
But IF you want Mills, you want Mills.
My friend Albert Von Schweikert LOVES the Millls resistors.
Albert is ANAL about resistors, almost more so then caps.
He claims sand cast resistors to be about THE worst thing you can have in a crossover. -
Any other names you'd like to drop? :rolleyes: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 -
LOL, here is a picture of Albert when he lived here in Florida.Any other names you'd like to drop? :rolleyes:
Albert is from St Pete, right across Tampa Bay from me.
This is his old band, who opened for Sonny and Cher, The Hollies, and Blues Mc Goos.
Albert is the tall guy on left.
http://www.teddwebb.com/garage_bands/the_ravens.html -
LOL, here is a picture of Albert when he lived here in Florida.
Albert is from St Pete, right across Tampa Bay from me.
This is his old band, who opened for Sonny and Cher, The Hollies, and Blues Mc Goos.
Albert is the tall guy on left.
http://www.teddwebb.com/garage_bands/the_ravens.html
Where's the picture of you and he? -
Never took one.hearingimpared wrote: »Where's the picture of you and he?
I talk with Albert about once a month.
Last time I spoke with him,he was THINKING about coming out with a balls to the walls Mini Monitor to go against the Magico Mini.
Albert does a LOT of business in Japan.
Space is at a premimum there, as it is in NYC.
Beleive it or not, the Magico Mini is selling WELL, even ay 30 grand!
Albert told me his dealers told him there IS a market for this kind of product.
I talk with him, his son Damien, and his wife Linda from time to time.
Here is a picture of some small Von Schweikert VR 4 JR's I JUST sold.
