For tweeters:
As tweeters are always the most revealing part of any speaker system, they are the most common place where high-end capacitors are used.
Depending on preference in sonic profile, we recommend our Superior, Silver, Alumen or Amber Z-Caps, as the best choice for tweeter capacitors.
For mid-range (mostly upper mid-range):
Using higher grade capacitors like our Superior, Silver or Alumen Z-Caps can add better performance/sound, but it will to a higher degree depend on driver model, crossover design and filter order, compared to tweeter capacitors.
For woofers (separate bass section) / lower mid-range:
We recommend choosing good quality, but lower cost capacitors, e.g., our Cross Caps, Standard Z-Caps, Compact MKT caps or electrolytic “eleCaps”.
Specifically for electrolytic capacitors, we recommend avoiding capacitors with less than a 35VAC rating and no more than a 10% tolerance on capacity.
From a technical perspective it would generally be complete overkill to use expensive high-end capacitors for the low frequency area (bass), as the improvements in performance / sound of higher-grade capacitors, would not be audible at such low frequencies.
For amplifiers:
The most common upgrades for amplifiers relates to upgrading coupling capacitors for tube amplifiers and/or to upgrade the power supply capacitors.
How much of a gain in sound quality and performance is gained from upgrading capacitors will depend on the amplifier itself and the speaker system used with the amplifier.
Just as with upgrading capacitors on passive speaker crossovers any improvements derived from upgrading coupling or power supply capacitors can to some listeners be profound where for others they may be subtle or even negatable.
Voltage Rating:
How much voltage a capacitor is rated for in volts DC / volts AC is determined by the capacitor type and by the strength / thickness of the dielectric insulation film used.
For most passive crossover applications is does not matter if the capacitor is rated at 100, 200, 250, 400, 630, 800 or 1200 volts DC.
When exchanging capacitors on passive speaker crossovers it is therefore not needed to exchange with capacitors that have the same voltage rating as the ones you are replacing.
It is more important to choose the right capacitor type, depending on wanting to exchange the capacitor type one to one or if the goal is to upgrade the capacitors.
However, for certain higher-end capacitor types used for crossover positions that are used in direct line with the tweeters or the upper mid-range, it is an advantage to use a capacitor with a thinner dielectric insulation film as it will allow for a faster reacting capacitor with less unwanted “memory” effect.
This is why we use a thinner dielectric insulation film for our pure aluminum foil “Alumen Z-Caps” and pure copper foil “Amber Z-Caps” as these are meant specially for crossover positions in direct line with the tweeters and upper mid-range.
All the audio grade capacitors offered by Jantzen Audio will have sufficient voltage rating for application on passive loudspeaker crossovers (for home use).
When using capacitors in amplifiers it is far more important to be mindful of the voltage load of the amplifier and choosing a capacitor with a sufficiently high voltage rating.
This is usually most important in relation to valve/tube amplifiers.
Series filters:
For series filters, we generally advise using the same grade of capacitors for all positions, as all capacitors are in direct line with the tweeters.
Capacitor comparisons:
In this section we will skip electrolytic and MKT capacitors and only look at our Cross Caps and all our Z-Cap series capacitors.
Describing how a capacitor sounds and more specifically how it sounds compared to a different capacitor is an illusive thing and is not as straight forward as comparing how lemons taste compared to limes. Sometimes
How different capacitors sound, both in general, but also when compared to other capacitors will be affected by the speaker units and crossover design / filter order of the specific speakers in question, as well as something as illusive as ttheir sound profile or sound “flavor” ears perceived by the ears that are listening.
As a disclaimer it is important to emphasize that the comparisons below are our general opinion and based on our findings as well as the majority of the feedback we have received from our customers.
The below list is done in order based on capacitor model hierarchy and also price point:
1. Cross Caps.
These are our entry level audiophile capacitors and are a standard type metalized polypropylene foil capacitors, made with zinc and aluminum based metallization.
They offer more transparency and detail richness versus electrolytic and polyester film (MKT) capacitors.
2.Standard Z-Caps:
These are also standard type metalized polypropylene foil capacitors, but they use a higher grade of metalized polypropylene foil which is purely aluminum based.
The construction is also improved in terms of the capacitor body (tune) being fully resin filled, where the Cross Caps only have resin end “discs” sealing off the capacitor tube.
This reduces the risk of any unwanted vibration and also secures the lead-wires stronger than in the Cross Caps.
The sound profile is similar to the Cross Caps, but they they offer a slightly more refined sound and higher level of transparency and detail richness than the Cross Caps, due to the higher quality capacitor foil used.
3. Superior Z-Caps and Silver Z-Caps:
The Superior Z-Caps and Silver Z-Caps use the same aluminum based metalized polypropylene foil as the Standard Z-Caps, but are very different due to how they are constructed.
Essentially two capacitors are wound in series within one capacitor housing, which means that 4 times the foil is needed to get to same capacitance as a Standard Z-Cap and is a unique construction that makes these capacitors go from entry level audiophile capacitors to high-end capacitors.
When compared to the Standard Z-Caps we get a pronounced increase in transparency, detail richness and a subtle increase in “crispness” and top end “brightness”.
The difference between the Superior Z-Caps and the Silver Z-Caps is that the Superior Z-Caps have pure copper lead-wires and the Silver Z-Caps have pure silver lead-wires.
If the sound profile of of silver based audio components is to your liking, the Silver Z-Caps would likely be they way to go.
It is difficult to put in words the difference in sound profile between the Silver Z-Caps and he Superior Z-Caps, but if the listener has experience with silver based audio components and cables versus copper based ones, some of the traits will be recognizable between the two capacitor models respectively.
4. Alumen Z-Caps, pure aluminum foil capacitors:
With the Alumen Z-Caps we move into super-high end territory as we are now dealing with pure metal foil capacitors and not metalized polypropylene foil capacitors.
Mr. Troels Gravesen has written an in-depth article (review) of the Alumen Z-Caps and what they offer compared to our Superior and Silver Z-Caps which prefectly descirbes what to expect.
That article can be read HERE
5. Amber Z-Caps, pure copper foil capacitors:
With the Amber Z-Caps we move even further into super-high end territory compared to the Alumen Z-Caps.
Mr. Troels Gravesen has written an in-depth article (review) of the Amber Z-Caps and what they offer compared to our Alumen Z-Caps which prefectly descirbes what to expect.
That article can be read HERE
General thoughts on upgrading to a higher grade of capacitors/components:
As a rule of thumb, when talking specifically about passive speakers, we only recommend using higher end and more expensive capacitors for crossover positions that are in direct line with the tweeters / mid-range.
There will of always be noticeable improvements in areas like transparency and detail richness, when going for the higher-grade capacitors or other components, but they can be subtle in their nature and for some the difference will be more profound than for others.
As most audiophiles will know, we are working with diminishing returns when it comes to the cost of better components versus the improvement / upgrade we get for that investment.
It will always be relatively costly to get those last bits of performance squeezed out of audio equipment, but for many audiophiles those subtle improvements are the pinnacle of the passion that is high-end audio and makes it worth the extra cost.
At the end of the day all it simply comes down to something as subjective as budget and what you are willing to invest and how valuable it is for you to gain even subtle improvements.
There is also such a thing as just enjoying the knowledge that we have upgraded to something that looks better and have a feel of quality to it, even if the actual improvement is subtle.
When we buy expensive audio equipment we can often find justification to spend even more to get that final feeling of satisfaction.