[mosawdust]

Please bear with me here if I'm asking some basic questions. This is the first crossover upgrade I've done and this is all pretty greek to me.

Is it important to keep the same number of capacitors to reach a specific value or does it matter as long as the value ends the same?

Does the voltage matter as long as its the same or greater?

My midrange XO for example which is 5.34uf:
(I know this doesn't add up but the speakers are VMPS which all XO are trimmed to exact values)

The make up is:

3.1uf 200v
.85uf 250v
.85uf 250v
.022 k (what is this)
.47 J 250v (what is this)

My next question is what is the .47 J because its flat and doesn't look like the rest of the capacitors and neither does the .022 K.

Thanks,
Brian

[HAL]

They are 0.022uF and 0.47uF film capacitors, probably polypropylene dielectric.  Anything 200VDC or above rated voltage should work well.  If you add the values you posted they add up to close to 5.34uF.  They were all measured and put in parallel to make the correct value.

[mosawdust]

Thanks for the help. I want to be sure about all this before I start spending money on parts.

[mosawdust]

If you add these all up it comes up to 5.292. Is the difference between this, and 5.34 as trimmed to, going to be noticable. I mean, will you hear a difference?

[HAL]

If you measure the value of the paralled caps it will probably be very close to 5.34uF.  If not add a 0.047uF cap to make up the difference from 5.292uF.

Depends on the circuit tolerances if it will be audible or not.  VMPS must believe it would be to specifiy it that accuratly. 

[S Clark]

If you could shoot a photo and post it, we could get a better idea what each component was doing.  Then suggestions concerning upgrades would be more meaningful.

[markC]

Capacitors are built to a tolerance. Good quality film caps should be close to the stated value. Almost always they are slightly higher than stated. You could, in your case use high quality 5.2 uf and .1uf. It should be real close and less expensive. Not sure what Brian is trying to achieve with the cap bundle.

[S Clark]

Not sure what Brian is trying to achieve with the cap bundle.

I agree with MarkC.  I don't see any reason to bundle all those caps in parallel.  Are you sure that some aren't in series?  It would help immensely if you could draw a schematic or post some good pictures.

[mosawdust]

I'll see if I can get a picture up later this evening. They are all definately bundled together in parallel. All the ends are twisted together and soldered.

[NagysAudio]

It's very easy to get 5.34uF value using standard capacitors. It's important to use standard values as it opens up the possibility to more options on which caps to use. For example, you can use a 4.7uF capacitor in parallel to 0.68uF capacitor. This will give you 5.38uF which is MORE than close enough. Some very good capacitors are made by ERO MKT1822, Solen, Jantzen Z-Silver, Mundorf Silver/Oil...

[face]

Or use a single 5.6uf capacitor, which is well within 10%.
http://madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=356_5_351_352&products_id=8122

I've never been a fan of paralleling capacitors in series with a driver, in my experience it's caused image smearing, YMMV. 

[markC]

I kinda feel the same way. But, when I switched from Sonicaps with .1 platinum bypass to Jantzen Z superior in my DAc, I had these .1's left over. I put them on the final cap in front of my tweets and really liked what they did. A more open and spacious sound, (I know, I know), it's been said a million times without merit, but for me, it works. I tried the Vishay MKP 1837 .01 in the same place and I took them out soon after. Gave a really strange, non realistic sound. The Jantzens and Platinums have been in place for almost a year now. No plans to change.