Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in Oil


I wished I could find a log with information on caps. I have found many saying tremendous improvement etc. but not a detailed account of what the changes have been. I have had the same speakers for many years so am very familiar with them. (25+ years) The speakers are a set of Klipsch Lascala's. They have Alnico magnets in the mids and ceramic woofers and tweeters. The front end is Linn LP12 and Linn pre amp and amp. The speaker wire is 12 gauge and new wire.

I LOVE these speakers around 1 year ago they started to sound like garbage. As many have said they are VERY sensitive to the components before them. They are also showing what I think is the effect of worn out caps.

There are many out here on these boards I know of that are using the Klipsch (heritage) with cheaper Japanese electronics because the speakers are cheap! (for what they can do) One thing I would recommend is give these speakers the best quality musical sources you can afford. There is a LOT to get out of these speakers. My other speakers are Linn speakers at around 4k new with Linn tri-wire (I think about 1k for that) and the Klipsch DESTROY them in my mind. If you like "live feel" there is nothing like them. In fact it shocks me how little speakers have improved in 30 years (or 60 years in the Khorns instance)

In fact I question Linn's theory (that they have proved many times) that the source is the most important in the Hi-Fi chain. Linn's theory is top notch source with lessor rest of gear including speakers trumps expensive speakers with lessor source. I think is right if all things are equal but Klipsch heritage are NOT equal! They make a sound and feel that most either LOVE or hate. (I am in the LOVE camp and other speakers are boring to me)

So here goes and I hope this helps guys looking at caps in the future. Keep in mind Klipsch (heritage Khorns Belle's and Lascala's especially) are likely to show the effects of crossover changes more then most.

1 The caps are 30 years old and
2 the speakers being horn driven make changes 10x times more apparent.

Someone once told me find speakers and components you like THEN start to tweak if needed. Don't tweak something you not in love with. Makes sense to me.

So sound
Record is Let it Be (Beatles)
The voices are hard almost sounds like a worn out stylus.
Treble is very hard. I Me Mine has hard sounding guitars. Symbals sound awful. Everything has a digital vs. analog comparison x50! Paul's voice not as bad as John's and George's. Voices will crack.

different lp
Trumpets sound awful. Tambourine terrible. Bass is not great seems shy (compared to normal) but the bad caps draw soooooo much attention to the broken up mid range and hard highs that are not bright if anything it seems the highs are not working up to snuff. I have went many times to speaker to make sure tweeters are even working.

All in all they sound like crap except these Klipsch have such fantastic dynamics that even when not right they are exciting!

Makes me wonder about the people who do not like them if they are hearing worn out caps and cheap electronics? Then I can see why they do not like them! If I did not know better from 25+ years of ownership that would make sense.

For the new crossover I have chosen Mundorf Silver in Oil from what I have read and can afford. I want a warm not overly detailed sound as Klipsch already has lots of detail and does not need to be "livened up" they need lush smooth sounding caps. Hope I have made the right choice?

When the crossover is in I will do a initial impression on same lp's. Right now it goes from really bad (on what may be worn vinyl) to not as bad but NOT great on great vinyl. (I know the quality of the vinyl because tested on other speakers Linn)

The new caps are Mundorf Silver in Oil and new copper foil inductors are coming. I will at the same time be rewiring the speakers to 12 guage from the lamp cord that PWK put in. PWK was a master at getting very good sound often with crap by today's standards components.

The choice of speakers would be a toss up now depending on what I am listening to. Klipsch vastly more dynamic but if the breaking up of the sound becomes to much to effect enjoyment the Linn would be a better choice on that Lp. If I could I would switch a button back and forth between speakers depending on song and how bad the break-up sound was bothering me.

volleyguy
Yes the crossover is excessively weak for a 20 k speaker was my point... Klipsch making anything in that range might be way out of their element in my opinion :-)
Klipsch used to be a high end company though Undertow. 30 years ago a set of Khorns was almost 4k. Klipch went down market since then.

Which is another question I have can a corporation advance audio? It seems like to me whenever a corporation takes over a audio company they ALWAYS lower costs. I think pride goes out the window. It seems in audio the pioneers are always guys like Steen who want better sound and don't care so much about money. They are obsessed about sound but not so much about money. Corporations by there nature want to cut costs.

Undertow I was looking at a set of Khorns from a guy who was buying the Palladium's and I see he is back looking for Khorns?
I believe the guy you speak of is on this site, and on another thread saw the new pricing of 20 k vs. 15 k originally projected for the palladiums and said thats way to much now and I assume maybe went back to the more realistic priced speaker.. I could be wrong, might be a different guy I don't know.
Realistic priced for the Khorns? Dirt cheap might be another word. For sure for the vintage ones.

I think B&W's top speaker is 70k. I think Linn's is around 50k but that comes with amplification built in and no crossovers.

The reason I was told by the Linn dealer on the importantance of the passive speaker crossover is the crossover is powered by the signal. So it does only make sense that it would be of extreme importantance and like you said shows up again and again.

I have heard the Klipsch guys say A or AA are the best networks. Are they the best because they are the simplest therefore have the least amount of components so suck up the least energy?
I agree the less passive components the better, and also the less parts, the more expensive ones can take over the spot and have better effect. Your linns have some very large values, and too many components for sure, especially in 3 way speakers the midrange circuits get complex and costly for the most part. I would not take on a design like that unless your made of time, money, and space to really maximize your passive crossover upgrade.