I’ve been reading and watching Paul’s videos about polyester capacitors and how their performance in audio quality is significant. I’m considering upgrading/improving my main speakers, which are BIC America Venturi V62. My idea is to replace the current electrolytic capacitors with polyester capacitors of a certain quality level, but this has raised a new question. If I place a polyester capacitor with a very low farad rating in parallel with an electrolytic capacitor similar to the one currently in my speakers, could this give me the benefits of the polyester capacitor? The reason for doing this is primarily the availability/price of these components in my country.
Thank you very much in advance for your responses.
Hello, I’ve built quite a few speakers, and different capacitors, resistors and coils have their own sound signature. When it comes to capacitors, MKP types have proven to be the better choice in terms of cost and performance. The best capacitors are those that use real foil, for example the Duelund capacitors. A small, high-quality capacitor in parallel increases the performance even further. Here the Duelund JDM Silver is excellent as 0.01 µF. However, I would always prefer a high-quality film capacitor to an electrolytic capacitor for tweeters or midrange drivers. In addition to sonic benefits, film capacitors also offer long-term stability compared to electrolytic capacitors, which can change their value over time. Here is a good summary about individual capacitors and their sonic characteristics. Mundorf offers good resistors, coils and capacitors. Jantzen capacitors and coils are also highly recommended. Before you start using a bypass capacitor for an electrolytic capacitor, replace the electrolytic capacitor with a film capacitor (MKP or pure film).
Check which capacitors are available in your country. A MKP capacitor for the high frequency range of the same value. A small additional capacitor as a bypass can help.
But don’t lose sight of the cost-benefit factor. I get lost quickly.
some speaker designers work with electrolytic caps rather than against them - in which case a small resistor in series with the film cap can more accurately replace the electrolytic (say half an ohm).
not always the case but one to be aware of