Let’s talk: Capacitors

By Sean Arbow

I’ve been in the wiring world for way too long and have seen many Marketing trends come and go—fads like "matched pots" or "pot tolerances," which both don't matter in circuit design. Even the recent pot trend of "true vintage taper" has become mainstream. is it real? Nope. it is a cringe marketing term. taper is defined mainly by how you wire the filter circuit. But capacitors are one trend that has lasted 20+ years. Sure, it’s not as crazy as it once was, and in the wiring community, we have a joke phrase when referring to them—paper in snake oil. I still get asked week after week to swap one out, all in the hopes of sounding "more vintage."