ELAC Debut 3 : DB5.3 Bookshelf Tear Down / Upgraded Xover

[RandomEar]

It seems odd to me that some consider the tollerance of capacitors a quality feature. It is only a question of selection.
With my crossovers I measure each component and match them as close as possible. You do not need an expensive instrument, in fact a 10$ component tester from China will do. Even as the absolute values may not be spot on, you can match caps, coils and resistors to be within a very close, like 1% window. Coils can be adjusted by simply removing a winding or a half, from the one with the largest value.

Definitely a reasonable approach.

If you use high quality drivers, such a low tollerance x-over will help with soundstage. At least this is what I noticed.

It really doesn't make sense that lower tolerance would always improve one specific characteristic.

Capacitors are a highly controversal component, my very personal experience is that anything yellow, from a certain Asian country, can be worth replacing and really improve sound, not only change it a little. The most audible results come from caps in the tweeters direct way.

It's controversial amongst audiophiles, because subjective opinions from uncontrolled listening tests are essentially a coin flip. What people like today, they might criticize tomorrow - without any actual changes to the underlying setup.

There is no measurable difference between capacitors of the same type and rating (capacitance, ESR). If you can't measure any difference, you 100% can't hear one.

This is no plea for boutique caps from the usual crooks, those are many times overpriced, a 90€ Gold-Silver-Oil-virgin blood Mumpitz special will not sound better than some 1.90€ Wima, Epcos or other quality industry part. Also be aware, different sounding doesn't automatically mean better sound. You need extensive A-B listening, measurements will not get you far with crossover components.

Agree on the good quality industrial parts recommendation. They're widely used for a reason.

 

[daniboun]

It seems odd to me that some consider the tollerance of capacitors a quality feature. It is only a question of selection.
With my crossovers I measure each component and match them as close as possible. You do not need an expensive instrument, in fact a 10$ component tester from China will do. Even as the absolute values may not be spot on, you can match caps, coils and resistors to be within a very close, like 1% window. Coils can be adjusted by simply removing a winding or a half, from the one with the largest value. If you use high quality drivers, such a low tollerance x-over will help with soundstage. At least this is what I noticed.

Capacitors are a highly controversal component, my very personal experience is that anything yellow, from a certain Asian country, can be worth replacing and really improve sound, not only change it a little. The most audible results come from caps in the tweeters direct way.
This is no plea for boutique caps from the usual crooks, those are many times overpriced, a 90€ Gold-Silver-Oil-virgin blood Mumpitz special will not sound better than some 1.90€ Wima, Epcos or other quality industry part. Also be aware, different sounding doesn't automatically mean better sound. You need extensive A-B listening, measurements will not get you far with crossover components.

Personally, I don't regret the upgrade. The more I listen to these speakers, the more I appreciate them. I'll continue to listen to my extensive playlist of various music styles and I should be able to form a proper opinion in about a week. Will let you know )