What capacitor values?


I have custom-made 3 way sealed box speakers with 12" Hokutone paper woofers run full range (wired directly to the speaker terminals).
The 5 1/2" Scanspeak Woofer/Mid has 1 capacitor with no coils, inductors or resistors.
The 1" silk dome Scanspeak Revelator tweeter has 1 capacitor with no coils, inductors or resistors.
What value capacitors would you suggest for the Mids and the Tweeters?
The existing capacitor values may not necessarily be ideal?
128x128halcro
The Mid starts to drop at 5K Hz as you say so I think a 5.6uF on the Tweeter would bring it in at 4740Hz.
Any risks in that?
Not at all. Just add the coil I mentioned in the previous post to roll the mid's top-end off, which will eliminate that peakiness from the reproduction and avoid a major overlap in reponses. Don't forget an inductor on the 12" to avoid the same in the woofer/mid region. It may take you a while to adjust to the new-found accuracy of the speakers and don't forget: The caps are going to take a while to sound right too(maybe 200+ hours of play-time).
Thanks Rodman,
You're the only one in 3 forums to actually help me and not disparage my speaker's lack of X-over and suggest I keep the drivers and trash the cabinets.
It's amazing how some people can so clearly ' hear' a speaker from its specifications....and they must think I've never heard speakers with properly designed X-overs?
There's not a single one I've heard, that sounds like live music.
My cabinets sound like the original Martin Logan CLS but with bass.
Those speakers (obviously without X-overs).......continue to be my reference.
I haven't had any electrostatics since my Acoustat Model III's. But- I almost bought a pair of ML Sequels a few years back. A local store was blowing their last pair out for 1/2 price(whatta temptation that was). I've been using modded Maggies for mains for a number of years now. My bi-amped transmission-line woofers just work too well to replace, and most ML's are hybrids. NOW- If I could find a pair with blown woofers for cheap.... OH- BTW: If your mid-range rolls off smoothly around 5k(and is already 3db down at that point), you could get away w/o an inductor on it. I try never to underestimate another's ears, unless they give me an obvious indication that they don't know what they're hearing(or can't hear at all, as the case may be). I hope some of this helps you out, and: Happy re-designing!
Rodman,
Just wanted to thank you again for your help.
I soldered in some cheap caps of 40uF for the mids and tried both 4.7uf and 5.6uf for the tweeters while I waited for my Duelund caps to be made and sent.
Established that the 40uF and 5.6uf were good values and when the Duelunds arrived I wired them in.
The sound is now extraordinary.
The Duelunds are just crystal clear with no audible grain at any frequency.
The overall balance of the speakers is (to me)....seamless.
There are still no inductors (coils) or resistors so just 1 cap between the Mid and 1 cap between the tweeter.
Until the so-called 'speaker designers' listen to what minimal cross-over complexity can actually achieve, they will keep dishing up boxes which may measure well but which sound little like 'real' music.
The fact that so many audiophiles seek out speakers OTHER than boxes stuffed with cross-overs, should indicate that the formulas and methodology have failed.
Can anyone name a 3 way moving-coil 'box' speaker designed 20 or 30 years ago that people still listen to?
Yet Quad Electrostatics, Klipschorn horns, Accoustat panels still cut it.