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Speaker Crossover Capacitor Values

If the original capacitor for the bass driver is a 72uF Electrolitic non-polar 100 volt, when considering a replacement due to age, why does the value have to be the exact same, such as using a 22uF + 50uF ? What would happen if one used , say a 68uF or a 100uF ? Also for the woofers, does upgrading to a film Cap make sense rather than replacing with a newer electrolitic ?

jim94025
fiesta75
1,378 posts
 

If you use a smaller cap the crossover frequency will be higher. Larger, the frequency will be lower. Film caps are better if you have space .

fiesta75
1,378 posts
 

https://soundcertified.com/speaker-crossover-calculator/#:~:text=Good%203-way%20crossover%20ratio%3A%20Fh%2FFl%20%3D%208%20or,and%20divide%20by%208%20to%20get%20the%202nd.

erik_squires
15,616 posts
 

Stay as close as you can to the intended value.  You can go over the Voltage.

You can replace electrolytics with film caps but you must pay attention to measuring the ESR correctly. Especially with caps that go towards ground and are not in series.  A Dayton Audio DATS will measure this for you.

I've heard good things about replacing electrolytics with film but I wouldn't go too crazy.  Mundorf MKP or Clarity SA is about as expensive as I'd go.

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