"Parts upgrade" on crossovers -Any experiences?


I remeber upgrading the crossovers of a pair of B&W DM12's with esoteric resistors, caps and wiring (about 10 years ago). In the end I got a different speaker. The bottom end seemed improved and the highs were more delicate and smoother, but the midrange had lost some of the magic. I could not deal with the decreased midrange quality so I re-soldered most of the parts back to the crossovers but left the upgraded wire (the wire in there looked like tined copper and was tied with a Molex connector to the board!). I changed the parts since I felt that early 80's speakers could only benefit from higher quality parts and was worried that the cap values might be out of spec. I am currently using a pair of KEF 101 and I've been thinking about upgrading crossovers with Solen Caps, maybe some Caddok Resistors and Cardas or Kimber wire. The KEFs sound great but if I can get more out of them, I might give it a try. Anyone do similar upgrades with an increase in ALL aspects of your speakers performance...or have BAD results...or find the end result a mixed bag of better here, but worse there (like me)? Also, any input on what parts / brands to use and which not to use? Are Solen caps good choices (or are there others that work much better for this application)? Resisters Brands?
I am purposely leavig out the issue of active crossovers (don't want to find 4 identical monoblocks to run my speakers).
one_audiophile
Unsound, Liquid Nails is a brand name, and implies that it holds like steel nails do, but it's simply a thick liquid glue. Reminds me a bit of Weldwood contact cement the way it sticks (and smells), but it can be applied much like GE Silicone from the pointy dispenser tube.

It comes in a "small projects" tube, about the size of a tube of toothpaste, and in large cylinders the size of painters caulk. Inexpensive and typically available at Home Depot.
Rope caulk also works well to damp driver baskets and is easily removed if you don't like the results.

I've replaced the resistors in my Dunlavy SC-III's with Mills wirewounds and the Solen capacitors with Auricaps (all but one large 62 uF). I've been very pleased with the results and haven't noticed any change in the "voicing", only a very noticable increase in clarity and detail.

I'm a big believer in crossover upgrading. If you try it and don't like the results you can always return to the factory configuration.
The most important parts in speaker crossovers are the capacitors and the best capacitors are the Audience Auricaps.
I actually have heard of and have used a similar approach to speaker basket ringing that Sean was telling about with the "Liquid Nails". Basically the only difference is to use
"non-hardening" childrens modeling clay. In 10 years time it still has been effective. One of the positive things about this is that it can be removed fairly easily. Another
positive change especially in the mid/lower bass that can be realized in some speakers is the removal of any poly-fil type dampening materials and replace with quality combed/fluffed real wool. I did quite a bit of experimenting on this, and I have nothing to back me up, except that I liked the bass/kick/thumps much better. Sounded much more "natural".
Pelv: Is this Elvis P in disguise ??? : )

Long fiber wool is the best for internal damping followed by fiberglass with everything else a distant third. Altering the quantity and density of damping material will alter tonal balance and attack characteristics. Increased quantity / density will enhance low frequency extension with a decrease in mid-bass output while a reduction will increase mid-bass output at the expense of low frequency extension. One can fine-tune the quantity to adjust for room acoustics and / or personal tastes.

As far as using modeling clay, i would be afraid of vibrating it off of the baskets over time. Sounds like a "quick & dirty" approach that may be worth checking out though. After all, if you've gotten ten years out of the clay with nary a problem, it sounds like it could offer the best of both worlds i.e. extreme mass with complete reversibility with minimal mess during application.

Capaudio: Reliable sources tell me that Audience Auricaps have been bettered by Moncrieff's latest caps, the "TRT Dynamicap's". The Audience caps are supposedly VERY good though.

For those interested in such things, a phenomenally well put together source for finding specific types / brands of caps was put together and can be found here on the Faradnet website that is free of charge. One can look up caps by dielectric material, manufacturer, etc... Very handy website if looking for "tweaky" caps, etc... Sean
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