Posted by ToFo [ 12.76.241.1 ] on April 17, 2005 at 21:48:03:

In Reply to: Can I get away with stacking capacitors like Legos? posted by Bill Epstein on April 17, 2005 at 19:46:00:

Hi Bill,
I am doing it the same way you did. I had a drawer full of high zoot caps and later learned how cool I was (lol). I believe it is referred to as "cascading". Using a spread of proportionally smaller caps that sum up to your target value. Usually done with 3 to 5 per cap stack. Some folks say large high power caps muck up the overtone range, even when bypassed, so they advocate "cap stacking" and bypassing. Some say a pile of the exact same cap can make the signature sound of that cap audible, thus "cascading" them is done to avoid either issue. I do not know if this holds water, but I happened to have what amounts to a cascaded stack for my highs and it sounds killer. I can't say if it "works" better, but I'm sure there is no harm in it. I have since read that some folks are using cascades to blend the sounds of different brands, conductors, dialectics, etc. Too much part rolling for me, but could be great fun for some. I already have enough solder and aligator clips stuck in the carpet for this lifetime
Thomas

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