I have connected big capacitors to the speakers to increase the bass. Now, after months of using, I notice that one of the speakers sounds 2x low. I ejected those big capacitors, still the same. I don't know how to test the caps. So I'm asking theoretically, could those big caps have damaged the small ones?
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\$\begingroup\$ How? Please draw a schematic. \$\endgroup\$ – winny Aug 19 '18 at 10:36
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Unlikely, but yes.
A capacitor and the coil of the speaker form an oscillator, which will resonate to some frequencies more than at others. Resonance means you get larger voltages.
Adding resonance to a system can hence introduce voltages that you didn't design for. That can, in turn, break voltage-sensitive components such as capacitors.
Why it's unlikely: The smaller capacitor you used is probably sufficiently robust against overvoltage; also, speaker capacitors tend to be of the self-healing film type, so only a reduction in capacity would be noticable, with should shift the frequency response, but not lead to a reduction in output power with a sensible test signal (I assume that's what you mean with "2x low", whatever that exactly means).
More likely are cabling problems or a damaged speaker.
answered Aug 19 '18 at 6:48
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\$\begingroup\$ @GregoryKornblum lost me there, sorry? \$\endgroup\$ – Marcus Müller Aug 19 '18 at 7:01
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\$\begingroup\$ Unless he uses very old equipment, the amplifier should be Class D- switching stage. So no obvious oscillation. \$\endgroup\$ – Gregory Kornblum Aug 19 '18 at 7:03
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1\$\begingroup\$ @GregoryKornblum huh, there's a lot of real-world audio amplifiers that aren't class D, I thought. \$\endgroup\$ – Marcus Müller Aug 19 '18 at 7:14
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\$\begingroup\$ (this wouldn't be about class-X at all, by the way, but about the amplifier having a voltage feedback loop with a bandwidth >> audio bandwidth, right?) \$\endgroup\$ – Marcus Müller Aug 19 '18 at 7:15
