Experimental evidence has been found for a filtering effect on the soft electron component in electromagnetic showers when combinations of low-Z and high-Z materials are used as absorbers. The filtering effect can be fully exploited to reduce the electromagnetic calorimeter response, making it possible to achieve the compensation condition in a Si/Fe+Pb calorimeter with an effective interaction length almost equal to that of Fe. The action of Fe on Pb, by modifying the critical energy during the electromagnetic shower development, leads to a yield of soft electrons (and very few photons) that are stopped in subsequent absorber layers and/or absorbed by the G10 plates. Recent measurements performed with an enlarged Si/Fe+Pb calorimeter support the idea; the authors have shown that an electromagnetic energy smaller than the hadronic energy is possible once particular FePb configurations are used.< >