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
Sorry I did not mean to put the pics up as another thread?

Spent another afternoon at another high end store. I try and go as often as I can. As much to hear can I just buy off the shelve gear and be better off?

The speakers were Martin Logan's and Totems? ($14k I think) The Martin Logan's are interesting but as a hybrid the woofer sounds like a sub not connected to the system, to me. The spatial sound is interesting but without hearing them I think I would prefer all panels even at some bass extension?

The Martin Logan's had a $5k Dynavector on the table all expensive cabling etc.

There is NO doubt in my mind what I would do again. I would cut to a $500 cartridge like I have and use that $4,500 on caps.

All the speakers I have heard all sound black and white. There is just no contest to how mine sound in comparison. It was there the very first time I heard it. The vintage tube amp with all foil caps through my speaker with all foil caps and my eyes were like pie plates! I owned these speakers for 28 years at the time at it was the first time I "heard" them.

I have found it tough at times to focus with all the Duelund parts you get listening to just one instrument for tones.

There is one area where things are not even close.
I have the VCap installed in the phono stage. Can't say anything yet except they are fast.

What I like hearing about other systems in what weakness does it reveal in your own? Well the Martin Logans have way deeper bass. With speakers cut off at 55 or so hz Lascala's do not go that deep.

The frustrating thing in audio is dealing with the trade-offs.
Volleyguy i have seen your pictures and enjoyed them at lot. Tomorrow i will get the cuFT they will be installed asap.
I will do it in three different stereo setup including my friends Klipsch like yours.
/Michael
Volleyguy , yesterday i have installed V-Cap CuFT in three pre-amps so now
we are some persons who are "suffering" the breakin time.
Honest to say , they are quite good from the first second. I was listening to my
friends LaScala and after some smaller upgrades compared to yours , i think this speaker is way way underrated. He had suffered from the very high unpleasant top , caused by poor quality of caps , mainly in this tube-amps.
But we need to go through the breakin time before we can say anymore.
/Michael
a few years back I replaced the 3,3 uF mundorf silver/gold in my omega duos tweeter xo with the v-caps. this is one of the best upgrades I ever did and literally transformed my speakers. chris put them on the cable cooker for 4 days before sending them to me. still it took them another few hundred hours to fully blossom. be patient and you will be rewarded!
mundorf caps are good for the money and they don't even come close to the v-caps.