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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
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Hmmm that's interesting. Face I am not surprised that the Clarity is better than the Sonicaps. Dynamics on the Sonicaps is very weak.

Face any other caps to compare too? Would be interesting compared to Mundorf? As I understand they are much more costly than Sonicaps? Now you and Undertow are very smitten with these caps.

I of course cannot comment as of course I have never heard them. I will have to wait for a Tony Gee or Tempo review as I have blown my load!



I have put one of the Russian .22uf PIO with the vintage as a bypass cap and can say so far I do NOT like that combo.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Anyone heard the buzz about Audio Note speakers? I had never heard of them. (30 years with one speaker will do that)

I keep hearing how they sound better than B&W etc for the $. I did check out what they are made of and it is interesting to see that as you move up there line they talk about the upgraded parts. They use at some point foil capacitors and Alnico magnet woofers etc. It is nice to hear companies talking about the quality of components. I read in Stereophile the other day and none of the speaker companies really talked about there crossovers? Like it did not mean everything.

Has anyone ever heard Audio Note? I may check them out for the livingroom. (Klipsch will NEVER get there or I will be divorced)
undertow
1,033 posts
 
Well I would suppose you heard of the audio note capacitors as we mentioned them a few times in this thread alone… So yes the speakers are another one of their products, but not sure if they are what you would want or need, they are about 10,000 per pair I believe and that’s with just a single 8" driver and soft dome tweeter.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Undertow I did see that price after putting in the post. Not cheap but I do keep hearing how there speakers are better than most for the $. Yes I have heard of the capacitors. I only tried Duelund as they seem to be higher rated than Audio Note. I am sure there foil caps are good though but they do have 10% tolerances which Duelund is 1 or 2% and I do not believe they make to order? I did not find anyone to go crazy over Audio Note caps and they are not cheap? I think Audio Note is the same as Jenssen??? Just rebranded??

I am going to put in an all Mundorf crossover today and put back on the SS. Linn Klout amp and LP12. I think it only fair to use modern amp with modern style (poly cap)

I just want to make sure the foil is not just a good match to vintage tube gear.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
I put back in the Mundorf caps in the midrange. What is noticable is the less noise. I remember reading McIntosh quoting higher signal to noise ratio out of there amps using poly caps. This is easy to understand the only thing that would concern me is yes the S/N ratio is higher but what happens to the signal? Is it kind of a CD thing where the noise is lowered but the signal is compromised and the "number" looks better on paper.

I do appreciate the lower Mundorf noise floor. (much lower than vintage) It does improve bass as it reduces noise. PWK had once said there is noise even in a hall to record. I often wonder if that is some of the fake sound to poly caps are they just too quiet? (but Duelund does not sound fake and is very very quiet) Is the sound of poly's unaturally quiet? The friend who liked the all vintage foil caps crossover at first likely thought the reverb sounded like what his mind was expecting things to sound. When you hear a band live it is always a noise filled affair with tons of reverb.

So I guess in a way caps would suit the type of music you listen to and what you want for sound. That is why there is vintage only guys and I suppose they like a "real" sound and lots of reverb.

If one mostly listened to classical you for sure would not want lots of rock concert reverb.

What started this thread was the speakers I always loved I was not liking anymore. Was it me? (getting into my 40's) and not wanting to hear a rock concert all the time. Listening to different music with a different desire. Or were the caps worn out? The tweeter caps for sure produced massive noise!

When the thread first started I prefered the Linn (non horn) sound. The soundstage was bigger and set back farther and was not coming at you like horn speakers.

Now with the tweeter caps and vintage tube the favorite went back to the horns. The Linn's sound very harsh and have almost no upside.

I have now put in an all Mundorf crossover. I will also put in a analog front end with SS later.
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