What capacitor would you use to upgrade Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary?

Hey adg101,  I agree with you wholeheartedly.  I should've noted that when I say the Lintons got "stuck" hooked to that Marantz it's only because they sounded so great together in a media room. I put the upgrade on hold because the Lintons are serving that duty too well. 

I have a dedicated listening space with Cornwall IVs so I don't need the Lintons in that space any longer.  But if I do move the Lintons to a dedicated listening space at some point, it is then that I'd upgrade them. 

By the way, I have fed the Lintons with the following other more legitimate amps: 

• Primaluna Dialogue HP
  
• Creek EVO 100
  
• NAD Masters M22
  
• Bob Carver Crimson 275
  
• Music Hall Mambo Class A
  

The Lintons sounded wonderful with each of them. I was, however, a bit taken with how great they sounded with that inexpensive Marantz receiver.  

@jbhiller,

May I request you to share the Linton crossover schematic with me and the rest, so we could benefit from your correspondence with Wharfedale?

I am in touch with Mike at HEADQuarter Audio, Cologne, Germany and there is also a thread here (https://www.hifivision.com/threads/linton-crossover-upgrade.85749/#post-961789); both of which could benefit from the circuit diagram. Thank you.

I like copper foil.

Hello everyone, this might be my first forum post but I often exchange PMs and emails with forum members...so just incase I need to introduce myself, this is me, DK, the guy behind computer typing this message and putting a period right here.

Now refer to this link for a screenshot of the elusive Linton schematic as provided by Mofi (the vinyl record people)...they are the distributor for Wharfedale in US and provide technical support (for now).  Also shown is my actual crossover with labels:

https://www.hifivision.com/threads/linton-crossover-upgrade.85749/#post-961789

The drawing I received was version 14 and I do not have any info about earlier or later versions or why any particular changes were made...WYSIWYG.

Note, there may be differences between the schematic and the values on your own crossover.

For example, my C11 is 80uf vs 68uf on schematic. There could be other differences but I would need to desolder the crossover and measure all components...I'm not ready to do that yet.

For the sake of being able to directly compare the schematic with the actual parts, I put labels that show the schematic values. I did my best to ensure nothing is mislabeled but I can't guarantee it without performing full surgery.

So what am I waiting for? I'm trying to first educate myself on how a crossover works to determine why Wharfedale designed the Linton crossover in the way they did...only then would I want to move forward.

For example, this crossover seems more complicated than it needs to be and I wonder if Wharfy is spoiling the circuit to prevent the Linton (usd$1500) from competing directly with the Elysian 2 (usd$7000), or does the crossover really need to be designed this way to produce the desired sound, or is it both???

DK

DK, 

I think what is going on with Wharfedale is much simpler than a potential strategic move to keep the Linton from competing with the Elysian.  My theory is that the speaker was built to a price point where they figured out the profit margin they needed on the units and selected parts accordingly.  

While it certainly helps to get better educated before performing a crossover surgery, I would recommend leaving the values and tolerances where they are and upgrading with capacitors and resistors of near identical values/tolerances but with much better product.  That way you stay true to the designer's work on the network.  

I sold mine and haven't been inside the Linton in a long time so I cannot recall how easy the surgery would be. But if it were me, I'd start with upgrading the cap(s) on the tweeter then midrange.  

Also, I saw the forum thread you linked to above.  I saw there was debate about bypassing caps.  I'd softly recommend not doing that and just going for a cap replacement where you think it would help.  A better cap will provide better signal and get out of the way.  Bypassing caps in parallel still leaves the allegedly inferior, inexpensive generic cap in place.  In my humble view, we are generally better off by putting in an identical value better cap than playing the bypass game.  Others believe otherwise though. 

Best of luck! Enjoy the surgery.