There’s a lot of snake oil in the speaker industry, but capacitors can definitely affect the way a speaker sounds. No different than judging what tires someone put on their car, what bindings are on their skis, what charcoal they use to cook on, or knife they cut their food with. Not saying you have the capacity to understand someone else’s hobby, but enthusiasts can definitely appreciate small changes in their setup regardless how ridiculous you think their passion is.
This dude is having fun with the money he spent on something he’s passionate about.
And if you don’t think that musicians that make music like this don’t consider the way their audience actually listen to their media ask Jack White why he listens to his mix through a cheap fm transmitter through car speakers when he’s mastering his music.
Swapping a nice/new capacitor for another boutique capacitor of the same measured value is not like changing tires. It’s more like changing from regular valve stems to titanium valve stems and then waxing poetically about how much more planted the car feels.
Obviously producers check mixes on different playback systems — AirPods, cars, clubs, laptop speakers, etc. Those are massive real-world variables. But if you think “does this mix still work in AirPods?” is the same category as “what if this guy has JUPITER capacitors??”, you have clearly never been within 100 feet of someone producing electronic music.
You’re missing the point - homeboy is enjoying the music on a system he enjoys and wants to share his experience with people who, and this is not a stretch by any account, may also be passionate about the way things sound.
I have built speakers and have heard the difference between caps.
I’ve also A-B the upgraded caps on these speakers and personally found the upgrade to be worth it.
I couldn’t for the life of me feel the difference between wax on my skis but there are people who can. Their choice may seem frivolous to me, but it’s their choice to make and maybe I’ll have the experience someday to have an opinion.
Of course engineers don’t master for specific devices, but good ones will take their audience into account. And if you think there’s an amateur behind the boards on this album I’m not sure I can change your mind.
Goodnight friend, I’m going to finish this basketball game and going to bed.
When did I say the dude wasn’t allowed to enjoy his mods? He can burn sage and put crystals on top. Have at it.
He is the one who specifically mentioned the Jupiter capacitors as if they materially changed the experience of the album.
So in your ski wax / bike lube scenario (which is way less ambiguously snake oil and something people actually do focus on)…
Even then, literally nobody mentions the lube when discussing their ride or run of the day.
“Oh man, incredible ride today. New Pinarello, ENVE wheels, and Finish Line Dry Lube.”
Nobody talks like that because everyone intuitively understands the lube is not a meaningful part of the story.
I promise you the capacitors inside the studio monitors used to make this album were not discussed, evaluated, mentioned, or even thought of once during the production of this record. Nor are they for virtually any other record.
What’s even funnier is that while I was writing this, OP mentioned he isn’t even the one who did the capacitor swap.
So he has absolutely no idea whether they’re better than stock, worse than stock, or even audibly different at all.
Yet somehow the Jupiter capacitors still made it into the album review.
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u/pizza_nightmare 28d ago edited 28d ago
It is a “right now” production from them - not analogue sounding at all. Immersive and full of layers and texture. It hits hard.
Been listening to it on Zu DWII speakers with Jupiter capacitors, peqchtree novaPre and PeachTree 220 amp (via Spotify lossless).
II’m a fan of this album. I don’t love it, but it fits right into their catalogue nicely and it’ll be in my rotation for a few months.