Trevor79 - Clarity Caps???

[matengawhat]

Hi Trevor can you give me the low down on these - seen you mention them twice now - Googled them and had quick look at website but lots of choice there - how do these work, install ect?

 

[Anonymous]

The capacitors fitted into most speaker crossovers can be greatly improved on, transforming the sound quality of the music. You need to find out the correct values of the caps (ask the manufacturer to post you the circuit diagrams) before ordering. Replacement is a straightforward soldering in of the new ones.

www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html...........

The SA range, developed in conjunction with a renowned loudspeaker manufacturer (B&W and Kef use them I do believe), remains one of the most highly regarded axial components currently used in the audio market. Time and time again the component is specified as a benchmark for other manufacturers components to try to aspire to. Specially developed to meet the needs of the professional audio engineer in both hi-Fi and studio monitoring, these components are the result of extensive consultation between the audio industry and Clarity Cap. The capacitors are hand wound using a 10æm (630Vdc) rated polypropylene film. Following a special heat treatment cycle insulated copper terminals are hand-soldered to give the best possible connection. The inherently low dissipation and dielectric absorption factors of polypropylene allied with excellent mechanical stability results in an extremely detailed sonic performance. The construction also results in a low self-inductance and ESR and the devices are highly stable with regard to temperature and frequency."

Sound: The Clarity Cap range has an overall similarity in tonal balance, going up the range you gain clarity and spatiality. I found the SA to be neutral with a slightly warmish presentation. Compared to the Audyn Cap Plus definition and separation are better, the stereo-image is also little larger. The Audyn Cap Plus seems to focus in tonal balance a little more on the midrange, the Clarity Cap SA has a more neutral balance. I did find the top end to be slightly rolled-off, not that they lacked detailed but on some recordings I wanted a fraction more transparency - but all in all still very nice. Making a capacitor using about 90% Clarity Cap SA and about 10% Mundorf Supreme works very well, this opens up the top end just nicely without altering anything else. I find the Clarity Cap SA a nice alternative in the upper range capacitors especially when cost is an issue.