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Finally got the oil caps; 10 uF with an 8.2 and a 4.2 to make the 22 uF it replaced. I think maybe the treble is a little smoother but maybe the screaming-yellow-zonker cap was a littl edgy? How's that for an equivo-co-babble! They look cool, tho'
Super groovy cool! I wonder how it would sound with the other HF cap upgraded too.
Interesting. The can is the same type of cap that I've used in the past to control ballast output current for high powered UV lamps. Usually those were 600V-2000V caps at anywhere from 12.5uF to 50uF, but its interesting that they would work in for audio applications. Cool.
Cool! And do try the other cap as well! ...and I am enjoying the Royal Cable 'though I've not been able to listen much the past month or so. It's definitely different than the magnet wire I have been using, mostly in a fuller bass responce. G.
Garland, Did you replace all 3 caps on the Xover board with oil/motor run? Did you do them one at a time, or alll at once? I already have Auricap/Mills in the attenuator, wanna do something with the other caps. thanks, Matts
Lot's of good info from Fred and at the North Creek site. I may plunge pretty soon. FredT buys Caps
It was curious to me that one poster had commented that Auricaps made his system sound OK with SETs due to their "inherent brightness" augmenting the high freq. roll-off of SETs, but sounded bad with "high end" equipment. I bet it was the Auricaps showing the "high end" stuff for what it really is, ie. bright and harsh. Other caps may just be "smoothing out these problems. My SET system is not lacking in any audible freq range and can sound either very smooth or god awful harsh. It plays what's on the disk. G.
Hi Bill, I have been buying from North Creek since 1996. I have piles of Crescendos, Zens and Ohmites at enough values where I can cascade and comp almost anything. I also play with mixing in Kimbers and Musicaps to see how the stacks character changes. I see FredT's post is getting old so I may do a new write-up specifically on Theater Fours with North Creek cascaded HF sections. I have also tried them with Acoustat, Dynaudio, SkanSpeak, Maggie and JBL consumer stuff. I must admit I didn't know exactly what I was doing on the first couple of tries, but I have voicing down pat now. I can make almost all of those speakers sound alike(at the sweet spot) to the casual listener. I haven't said much about it up to now because it is so subjective. I do think I can responsibly comment without launching into tweak huckster land though. Feel free to question. Thomas
Thomas, what is the scoop on these? How do you formulate the caps on the Xover boards?
The scoop is that while I always find things on audio product websites that make me roll my eyes, I must say that I agree with all of the subjective descriptions in their promo materials. The Crescendo caps are the most obvious. They really are sweet yet detailed. North Creek also says they are laid back, which I agree with on my Acoustats, but they do not sound laid back with the PSD 2002 on a CH3. Very neutral with the 2002 plus a surprise. The surprise is you better use a meter the first few time you listen loud. The horns do not hurt at all, even at +115 dB at 10 feet or so (DJ duty). I am lucky to have a friend with an almost Identical speaker and the same crossover (except all Solen and Dayton parts) so I can compare whenever I like. I can't quite tell from my photos, but I believe I'm running a Kimber 5.6uF, North Creek Zen 2.0uF and North Creek Crescendo 1.0uF bypass on the 8uF stack and as best I can tell there are Zen's in 10uF & 4.7uF a Kimber 5.6uF and a Crescendo 1.0uF bypass on the 22uF stack. Not so much a formulation, more like what came out of deconstructed projects. The spacing of sizes is pretty good for a luck shot though. I also have some Crescendo 6uF that have been in the circuit for evaluation. They are overkill in a mixed stack IMHO, and more useful in other speakers to me. The kimbers seem to bring the snare ribbon, sax bite and vocal edge up a little, which my ears need at this point. Thomas
Thanks a lot Thomas. Nothing like the voice of experience. I did roll my eyes at the claims on the wwwsite about the Crescendos, but I'll go ahead and give them a try. I also wouldn't have tried these stacks, but I'll get a bunch and start experimenting!
While I find them lovely, this is subjective turf. I can say for sure you will get a true measure of the "North Creek sound" if you just order enough Crescendos to bypass all of your caps and use the 1uF where you can. I feel comfortable with anyone doing that on my recommendation. If you want the whole enchilada thats great, but you will know if you like them with just a bypass. It is true that whatever they are paired with can alter the sound, but you will hear the North Creekness either way. Even if you like something else better, the quality and experience would be worth it. You can also use them like seasonings if, say for instance you were more of a paper oil, or motor run kind of guy. One thing that is loads of fun is to run one of more of the Crescendos backwards. They used to suggest this practice to puff up the mids and smooth out the highs with certain tweeters. It softens the image, but it takes away metal dome sound like crazy to my ears. The point (if there really is one) for using the spread of values is suposedly to avoid the stacking of sonic signature that might occur if one combined a group of the same value and brand of cap. Say a cap had a little sheen in the top octave, another was dark and rolled off sounding. groups or singles of either might sound either in your face or far away. Stacked they might be neutral sounding. While I hear, or believe that I hear this occuring, I wrote it hypothetical for objectivities sake. Enjoy, Thomas
Don't worry about me being disappointed if they're not to my taste. I just appreciate your sharing your experiences- that's what's good about a board like this. I'm going to try some out in the 10 and 20 spots, bypassed- we'll see what happens. I have Auricap in the attenuator already and that helped. Trying to get these tuned out & I expect it to be a process. With the price of these sizes though, anything that can narrow down the selection process is a big help!
Be sure to keep us posted, It will be great to see what you come up with and what you like about it. This really is a great forum.