[PaulHilgeman]

Just wanted to relay a positive experience that I have had with the new Jantzen Z-Cap standard line. 

Previously in my own prototyping I have extensively used and been very happy with the Jantzen Cross-Cap capacitors that have been sold at parts express for the last 2-3 years.  They are very high quality and match very well, much better than the 5% spec in my testing.  I use them in the Sentinel product as well. 

During the development of the Ronin, I did moderate capacitor testing, and have since done more.  The standard Z-cap is a true standout in price/performance.  The Cross-Cap is very good as well, but in my comparisons, the Z-Cap standard is up there with the best metalized poly caps out there.  I have had them in for 5 days now and for the price, being marginally better than the CrossCap would make them worth it, but it does go beyond this, and at a price that brings it right down with all of the rest of the budget MKP caps out there, but the performance is far better.  So far I have only tried them in speaker crossovers.  Within the coming weeks, I plan on testing and listening in small signal electronics applications.

So, bottom line, outstanding value, and truly very very good performance.

Paul Hilgeman

[Bill Baker]

Hello Phil,

 My personal findings are as follows.

 I have not heard these caps in any direct signal path speaker applications (high pass filter) but have heard them in many preamp and amplifier coupling applications. My findings in these areas was a bit of upper midrange and treble harshness which was slightly more apparent than Solen capacitors. It did not go away even after 200 or so hours. While they are a good value, they don't hold a candle to some of the better caps out there such as AuriCap or SoniCap. At least not in the applications I have heard them. They did not have the smoothness, clarity or resolution of the better caps.

 I have used their air core inductors and did find them to be very nice and always measured within 5%. (I did have to unwind a bit to match and get the custom values I needed). On par with the air core Solen inductors.

[PaulHilgeman]

Hey Bill,

Paul Here

Anyway... I haven't tried them in signal apps yet, but then again, I haven't tried many of the more budget caps (Solen, CrossCap, Dayton Etc.) in these applications.  I usually just stick with auricaps here. 

As far as speaker level goes, with just over 100 hours play time on them, they are just way too good for the price so I thought I would post my finding.  In this application, I did go out of my way to test many different high end caps and when considering price the standard Z-caps were the standout, when going on absolute terms, I still like the Auricaps or ClarityCap SA's as providing truth, and that balance of musicality, neutrality and transparency.

How did you think the Z-Caps compared to the standard Cross-Caps?

-Paul