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upgrading speaker crossovers

I have a pair of PSB Stratus Gold'is and I am thinking of upgrading the crossovers, I am going to try this before I think about buying new speakers., which are in the area of $10000. The crossover in a speaker consists of 1-2.5mf 440vac film and 1- 6mf 440vac film by RC. then I have 4 100mf 100vac electrolytics. Why are the elecrolytics there, is this because of cost? I would much rather put in polys in their place, which will cost me $30.00 each. So my question is are the elecrolytics there because of cost issues if so can I change them to ploys?

My equipment consists of conrad johnson PV14l tubed preamp and a conrad johnson MF2500 amp. Both are right now at cj to be upgraded, the preamp is also getting teflon caps. I also have a pair of Mirage M1;s that I have upgraded with SI tweeters and Woofers. Must have gotten the last ones from them because now they will not even talk to you about the speaker when you call.

Anyway any advise on upgrading the crossovers would be greatly appreciated.
jchristilles
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Didn't mean to insult your M1s, Jchristilles. On the contrary. Discontinuing the M1 was a marketing decision, nothing more, and a sad one.

Looking forward to hearing how your crossover mod turns out, if you get a chance to post results.
jchristilles OP
9 posts
 
No worries, but the Mirage name is not what it was, thats for sure.
When I rebuild the crossovers I will post it. It could be a few weeks or so, I want to make sure I do it right and replace all of the elecrolytic caps, total of 6 per board, plus the 2 film. Christmas is coming and the upgrades on my cj amp and preamp are my Christmas gifts, so money might be a little tight until after the holidays, not to mention the wifes gift.
manitunc
795 posts
 
If there is a discount to be had by ordering more, I would be willing to join you in purchasing the caps for my Golds. I assume they are the same as the Goldi as only the cabinets and port were changed.
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
The crossover parts may have been selected not just on cost but how they effect overall sound quality. Blindly upgrading crossover networks without understanding how they function or why certain parts where chosen,just with the thinking that if I replace with more costly parts performance will increase is very wrong thinking. But all who do always hear a improvement and that alone I would question. They also rarely if ever compare stock to modified so its just they I changed it it now sounds better to me. So upgrading crossover networks is mostly a waist of time and money unless you really understand how they function and why designer chose what they did.
manitunc
795 posts
 
I would assume that a designer chooses a certain value for a crossover component and then finds a part that matches that value. Each part has a tolerance. I assume the better parts have a closer tolerance and that the specified value is closer to the actual value than a cheaper part, on the average. Of course, tolerance means variance, so it is possible that the cheaper part could be closer in value to the design value than the more expensive part.

But then, I also assume that the more expensive part will provide a better sound experience, and here is where I think we go wrong. Why should it? What is it about an electrolitic cap that makes it sound a certain way? I dont know and maybe someone can explain that.
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