Acoustic Zen Crescendo speaker crossover capacitors ... who makes them?

I recently emailed Robert Lee, owner of Acoustic Zen, telling him that I was following a thread on Audiogon where certain people had upgraded the crossovers in their Crescendo speakers with superior boutique parts with excellent results. I didn't mention any names. I asked him if he would give me a list of cap and resistor values of the Adagio so that I could experiment with upgrading parts in my speaker crossovers. His response was basically, " Please don't mess with my crossovers. They are perfect the way I have designed them. I don't know why they want to change it. I would recommend that you experiment with speaker placement and room acoustics. Please call me for recommendations. Email me photos of your system and room." I thanked him for his response, but haven't followed up with him at this time. 

Sherod, I have sent him my before and after pics and asked some questions, but no answers or responses since his first initial response.

You can do it yourself easily. Your speaker is not as complex. Several great on line pictures and examples of others upgrading the speaker. The values are printed right on the caps and resistors. Easy to see and order! Don’t change out the inductors and order the parts matched within 1%. The Mills MRA resistors are already within a 1% tolerance. They are only $4 each at Sonic Craft.

I just finished my bass board today. They sound so much better after the upgrades! All owners would be so pleased and impressed with the NEW speaker!

Be sure to use two MRA12 resistors in parallel when replacing 20 watt sand cast resistors. For example you need to replace one 8 ohm sand cast 20 watt resistor with two 16 ohm Mills resistors in parallel. You can replace the 10 watt sand cast with one Mills MRA12 as they are rated for 12 watts. The sand cast resistors are clearly marked. Get those sand cast out! All of them must go.

I can tell you the speaker is so much better sounding after the upgrade. I thought they were wonderful before, but now I know what I had no idea I didn’t know:)

I now think the tweeter and mid board is fully burned in and the end result is spectacular to be sure. I plan on upgrading the binding posts in the future as the final step in the transformation of this great speaker. A great design that is begging for top end crossover parts. The drivers are very high quality as well as the speaker cab. The crossover design is first rate. Robert should be proud of his effort with this speaker and the crossover upgrades I performed just helped his fine design be all it could be! I changed no part of his design or schematic. I did not mess with values. 

I think Robert should offer this speaker with upgraded crossover components as the speaker responds so well. The Super Crescendo option would cost more, but there is a market for the upgraded speaker I have in my home. 

Sherod,
I’ve met Mr. Lee on several occasions and he is very gracious, friendly and accommodating. He’s proud of his speakers and deservedly so. They are the result of much time, effort and talent he has put forth.

I believe that he takes the position of "hey I’ve put everything I could into making this a sucessful speaker ". He may feel a sense of resentment that someone would come along and "tamper " with a speaker he’s put so much thought and energy into building. I can appreciate how he and other builders could adapt this attitude. Some may even feel insulted.

Yet I have to agree with Bill that clearly acknowledged excellent products "can" be improved further with carefully selected higher quality parts . Better quality parts will upgrade performance compared to lesser quality parts. In fact some manufacturers do recognize this and enthusiastically offer upgrade packages.

Just as someone can resort to tube rolling to improve sound quality, one can "roll" capacitors, resistors and wire using the same rationale. 
Charles

I am a firm believer in upgrading with better quality capacitors. I have improved my Reference 3a Dulcet and MMC crossovers with Audyn True Copper Max with spectacular improvements. I also have refurbished at least six vintage tuners by replacing all electrolytic caps with Elna Silmic II and Black gate caps with amazing results. I have no doubt that just replacing all the sand cast resistors in the AZ Adagio crossover would make for an improvement.