capacitors' effect on range

[b0OM23]

hi!

happy to be here. what a huge place hence sorry if this has been answered somewhere at some point.
so i'm revamping my gear a bit and came across a fairly simple question: do capacitors affect the frequency range's end?

let's say my cabinet's high frequency range starts dropping at 13khz and i would like to improve that. would replacing the capacitors of the crossover with better ones change that? or does it only depend on the tweeters? or maybe both?

thanks in advance for any insight 🙂

 

[wiseoldtech]

I would say it really depends on the tweeter units.
And that's if it is measurable by test instruments/mikes, not by human hearing losses due to age.
The "craze/worry/paranoia" over capacitor replacement is mostly unjustified babble started on the internet.

 

[JMFahey]

do capacitors affect the frequency range's end?

let's say my cabinet's high frequency range starts dropping at 13khz and i would like to improve that. would replacing the capacitors of the crossover with better ones change that? or does it only depend on the tweeters? or maybe both?

Short answer: no

What wiseoldtech said.

An old dry capacitor (we are talking electrolytics here) may definitely develop high ESR, which is equivalent to an internal series resistor, which will eventually attenuate the whole tweeter output, not just its "high end"

 

[jan.didden]

Maybe also worthwhile to note to the OP that it is the capacitor value that sets the various xover points in a xover filter, and not the capacitor brand.


Jan

 

[b0OM23]

it is the capacitor value that sets the various xover points in a xover filter

i know but what i'm interested in is how far it goes after the last crossover point.

An old dry capacitor (we are talking electrolytics here) may definitely develop high ESR, which is equivalent to an internal series resistor, which will eventually attenuate the whole tweeter output, not just its "high end"

okay so if i don't see a general decrease i'm good.


thanks guys for the quick and clear replies 🙂

 

[jan.didden]

i know but what i'm interested in is how far it goes after the last crossover point.

... that's an unanswerable question as the capacitor brand has no influence on this.

Jan

 

[b0OM23]

unanswerable question as the capacitor brand has no influence on this.

i don't care about the brand but whether a capacitor does influence that in general or not. according to the previous replies it does not (unless it's very old and degrades things in general).

 

[JMFahey]

i know but what i'm interested in is how far it goes after the last crossover point.

WAY above the Audio range, which is what matters.
At least (many) tens of kilohertz, if no hundreds.

At RF frequencies internal inductance WILL be a factor, but we don´t hear that.

 

[b0OM23]

thanks again for confirming that. so for the example in my first post, i should replace the tweeters and not worry about the crossover or its parts.

btw. sorry for not hitting the "thanks" button but it seems new members can't use that at first.

 

[russc]

You might do well to elaborate on your gear and measurements.
Seems odd you can measure the frequency response of your speakers which demands relatively elaborate equipment - measurement mics etc, yet cannot measure a capacitor for capacitance, esr etc which can be done with any £5 Ebay component tester.

 

[JMFahey]

i should replace the tweeters and not worry about the crossover or its parts.

Maybe but

* we don´t know your current tweeters

* how do you know they drop above 13 kHz?

 

[wiseoldtech]

Preamp Treble controls, along with tweeter-level pots on the speaker, were always the way to "fine tune" a system to one's personal preferences.
Somehow today, it's gotten more complicated to perform such a simple task.

 

[b0OM23]

Seems odd you can measure the frequency response of your speakers which demands relatively elaborate equipment - measurement mics etc, yet cannot measure a capacitor for capacitance, esr etc which can be done with any £5 Ebay component tester.

• we don´t know your current tweeters
• how do you know they drop above 13 kHz?

answer to both:
none of that matters because i just wanted to know about the general kind of impact capacitors have. the values i used in my first post were just examples.
thanks again for all replies. my question has been answered 🙂