Should I use capacitors for tweeters powered by Hypex Fa123 ?

[maxime.levesque]

I am about to connect a pair of satori-tw29txn-b-8 https://solen.ca/products/speakers/...m-textreme-dome-neodymium-tweeter-black-8ohm/

To a pair of Hypex Fa123, for 3way speaker enclosures, and I'm wondering about the pros and cons of using capacitors to protect the tweeters.

I have two capacitors (15uF +- 5%@400V) ready to be connected, but I'm wondering if it's necessary, and in the case where it's not, if it could add distortion.

If it does, I'm thinking I could use them only while I configure the plate amps (DSPs etc) and then remove them.

Any thoughts ?

 

[sigbergaudio]

It's an extra security, but not necessary if you are careful and reasonably familiar with the HFD software.

 

[gene_stl]

I don't know about the failure modes on a class D amp and I think they have various topologies some with dual supplies and some with single supplies. For expensive tweeters I would recommend using blocking capacitors. They won't introduce distortion that you probably would be able to hear. See dualazmak s long series of posts about his Yamaha beryllium based system wherein he uses blocking caps and fuses.
For my be based speakers I used to use one quarter amp fuses and they never blew. As I am setting them up again, I will use two caps and a fuse. One cap of double the calculated value on either side of the voice coil.

 

[Doodski]

I did not use blocking caps on my tri amp'd home system and I blew a tweeter. It was during power up. I heard a peep sound and bam blown tweet. That was after about 2.5 years of use. I recommend you use proper interconnects to ensure you have good connections. At the price of those tweets you are using it might be best to use blocking caps.

 

[DVDdoug]

I would keep the capacitors.... Things can "go wrong".

 

[Vince2]

Or enable the software limiter.

 

[bigjacko]

I am wondering can we use electrolyte capacitor for tweeter protecting? How much distortion does capacitor make and at what frequency?

 

[headshake]

Do you need a cap if the tweeter can take more power than the amp can give?

I skipped the cap for my tweeter + fa123.

 

[maxime.levesque]

Do you need a cap if the tweeter can take more power than the amp can give?

I skipped the cap for my tweeter + fa123.

Great question, that was exactly my thought, then I read stories about how frequencies lower than the tweeter's working range could kill it even with wattage not exceeding the tweeter's capacity.

And then there is the potential for a bug in the amp. There is code running in these amps after all, and as a programmer I know that rarely occuring and intermitent bugs can never be ruled out of existence.

My plan is to add the cap, at least for the configuring process, and if I learn more about it and find out it is overkill, I'll remove them.

But the question that remains (and for which I'm not even sure if there is a definite answer) is: does it (can it) add audible distortion ?

 

[Doodski]

But the question that remains (and for which I'm not even sure if there is a definite answer) is: does it (can it) add audible distortion ?

Everything in the signal path can possibly add some sort of distortion of the waveform but the question is how much like you asked. In your case a properly selected cap will not add audible distortion. I've used coupling caps for audio signals/DC blocking when connecting high level outputs from car audio head units to RCA connectors and I couldn't hear a difference. There are caps alll over inside circuitry and they don't add audible distortion if properly selected.

 

[DWPress]

I've blown a ribbon tweeter before because of a miniDSP device failure and have used caps on them ever since. It didn't affect any measured performance in my system after implementation and nothing audible either. Fortunately I was able to repair the ribbon.

 

[DHT 845]

I am wondering can we use electrolyte capacitor for tweeter protecting? How much distortion does capacitor make and at what frequency?

Use MKP or sililar foil cap for tweeter.

 

[headshake]

Sounds like the minidsp has more potential to kill a tweeter due to its flexibility. The fa123's tweeter amp has a 500hz limit if I recall. Plus, on the fa123 you can set a voltage limit for the amp if you want that (not a bad idea when first setting things up). So there are some built-in protections/limits.

Be sure to load filters to all of your fusion amp presets. This way you can't accidentally load something that has no eq.

I would think hypex would say "put a cap on it" if it needed it. An ounce of prevention though... but at what cost?

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

A cap will still let a DC transient get through till its charged up. A lower value cap will make this a briefer occurrence.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I like to do when am designing, but usually remove after.

I always buy at least one spare driver anyway.

 

[DWPress]

Sounds like the minidsp has more potential to kill a tweeter due to its flexibility

Or poor design. Occasionally when switching configurations I would get a blast of white noise/distortion at full volume through all drivers. This behavior occurred on 2 separate boards purchased 8 years apart. I learned the hard way to turn off amps when switching configs. I no longer use the 4x10 at all.

 

[617]

There is no audible downside to using a capacitor, but you will need to do all your measuring and simulation with the cap in place. That's a very expensive tweeter and it would be a shame if you fried it.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong between your source and your tweeter, and it doesn't take much to damage something. Cheap insurance.

 

[mga2009]

Can anyone show a picture of how the CAP is connected to the tweeter.

Along the + connector? Between the + and - on the tweeter?

 

[Chris M]

https://www.hypex.nl/product/fusionamp-fa123/154

From the overview and the other PDF documents, you can see which security technologies are used to protect the loudspeakers and the amplifier Hypex.

I operated the Fa 123 in a 3-way system and in the high pressure range with Eton Er4. I never had technical problems in terms of distortion, background noise, power-on noise. It goes without saying that it is important to ensure that the high-pass filter that limits the lower range is adequately dimensioned and correctly transferred to the plate amps, especially in the high-frequency range. The soft clipping function, which intervenes sensitively and at the right time, offers additional protection.

With this in mind, I have rejected the use of any passive components within this concept.
I proceeded in such a way that I initially followed the Hypex instructions or specifications and, if in doubt, looked in the relevant forums. Nevertheless, Hypex's specifications have always been decisive for me.

 

[restorer-john]

Yes. Use capacitors. There is absolutely no good reason not to. An amplifier failure on a direct connected tweeter will vaporize the VC faster than any protection or so-called shutdown.