In addition to the thread that Charles began, I've read in other forums where people have added bypass caps to crossovers to improve sound.
What are the rules/guidelines for using them?
Do all crossovers benefit from their addition?
Can they be used in DACs? In amps?
Michael
It used to be that I could find "perfect" capacitors for very reasonable prices, which did not need bypassing. Those days are long gone thanks to "capacitor comparisons" by amateurs, that were not only worthless, but actually caused the extinction of the accurate capacitors. Now it is nearly impossible, if not impossible to find.
The new, hyped, caps one sees today are so ridiculously expensive, and I am not going to shell out for even one, to see how accurate it is via very special listening tests (not the ridiculous tests one sees in articles and on forums). Besides that, everyone will want a different ufd value to be tested. As a result, instead of moving forward, the audio industry has moved backwards.
The only suggestion I have (since the general public are not professionals) without spending thousands, is to purchase virtually every known inexpensive brand, including small bypass values (probably spending hundreds of dollars) and get a feel for each one's sonic's qualities. Over time, one hopefully will learn how to blend caps, including bypass caps, for optimum sound quality.
There is no guarantee that the expensive brands are accurate. They could "sound" thin, too full, depends upon the materials, thickness of foils/metallization, termination techniques, lead diameter etc.
If one brand of capacitor "A" has a darkish tone, lacking in highs, a small value could be placed across "A" cap to improve the highs. It could be the same brand, or another brand. 1/100th is one estimation, but the value should be determined by experimentation.
Sorry I sound so negative, wish I could be of more help mress.
Cheers
Steve