Cap test for my own curiousity

[kevinp.]

So I'm thinking of doing a cap listening test to see if I can hear any difference between them. I know there are two camps here, but I'm keeping an open mind. It's my belief that if there are audible differences between any inert components in the signal path, I'll have the greatest chance of discovering this with capacitors. Since my ears are not attuned to critical listening (I'm not really sure what I should be listening for), I thought going for absolute simplicity would be the best course of action. Here's my idea:

Nearfield listening tests using a single "midrange" (or fullrange) driver with a single cap only. Something like the TB w4-1337, RS-100, Accuton C50 (since I have them in hand already). I know the Accuton might be difficult with no bass at all, but couldn't hurt to try, right?
Flaws in my plan? Suggested listening?

thanks for listening!

[ThomasW]

IMO the best place to compare caps is with tweeters.

What to listen for? The ones that sound the most like 'live' music.

Use test tracks with chimes, bells, or cymbals and the like... Pay attention to the 'overtones'. Listen to the 'attack' (plucked sounds) from acoustic guitar.

[Face]

Differences will be more much more apparent on the HF circuit. The difference between a cheap film and a high dollar film will be very subtle on the MP.

What caps do you plan on comparing?

EDIT: Thomas beat me to it.

Also, listen for differences in soundstage and imaging.

[kevinp.]

thanks for replies. So I should definately skip the 4" drivers... I'm still going to try the C50 since it's easily good well up into the high frequencies

[---k---]

I'm also curious about this. I'm pretty skeptical, however knowing JonMarsh is a believer gives me great pause. I recently purchased enough Janzen Z-Standard caps to replace the Dayton caps in my tweeter for the Khans. These are still very reasonable price caps, $5.49 vs $9.34 for a 15uf. I would also like to test some of the Clarity SA at $17 for a 15uf (my tweeter needs 3 of these), and that is starting to get rich for my blood.

I'm honestly not sure if I'll hear a difference. Not because there isn't one, but because I'm using a mid-range Pioneer receiver with the internal DAC fed Flac from a squeeze. I probably shouldn't worry about caps until I have more impressive front end gear. But, I'll probably never get there. I guess I'm just out to prove that with my gear I can't hear it.

And am not sure how much separation there is between a $5 cap and a $9 cap and a $50 cap. Maybe I could hear the difference between a $5 and a $50, but $5 and $9? Don't know. I'm open minded. One of these day's I'll get around to unsoldering my tweets and listening.

But, for your testing purposes, I would think you would need a full speaker. Also, get a couple of the Chesky CD's that have really good recordings.

[benchtester]

I inherited a bunch of 20 uF Solens. To test the effects of capacitors, I connected nine of them together in series and compared them to one 2.2 uF Solen and some other 2.2 uF caps. (If one had 4 or 16 pcs. of the same cap, you could connected them in series and parallel to maintain the same value.) By comparing the nine cap configuration to the one cap configuration, I could hear how significant the cap contribution was. I think it wasn't big, but it was identifiable with critical listening.

Here is a posting with a little more description.

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?p=1573920#post1573920

[Amphiprion]

If Linkwitz can get by with the following...

...even for a quick and dirty test setup, then I think Solen's are good enough for little old me

[Face]

If Linkwitz can get by with the following...

...even for a quick and dirty test setup, then I think Solen's are good enough for little old me

Just think how much better they could sound though. :

[Curly Woods]

Just think how much better they could sound though. :

I think many people just don't care. I do think that for me the differences are evident, but that's just me