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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
ait
480 posts
 
I just finished listening for 4 hours or so, a large part of it Tom Waits. I really think I like the CAST in the preamp and Supreme/Audiocap Theta in the equalizer better than the CAST in the preamp alone. Tom's unmistakeable voice just has a little more life to it, maybe it is from the Mundorf/Audiocap or maybe from the active components in the equalizer, but the equalizer was a negative influence until I added the bypass caps to the Supremes.

Based on these results, I think I'll be adding Theta bypasses to the Supremes in my Infinity crossovers as well.
duelund_coherent_audio
110 posts
 
Volleyguy,

Steen did sign of on the CAST. They were the only caps he thought to be devoid of what he termed "False detail". Meaning details not present on the recording but added by the system/components, especially in the high frequencies.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Duelund

I can not argue with that (devoid of false detail) at all on the CAST. The caps are fantastic in design, no doubt. When I installed the CAST tweeter caps I put my ear to the tweeter astonished how pure the sound was. They made your own VSF caps sound noisy.

On the other side that noise made by most caps we have become accustomed too. It can even be thought of as "life" to the recording. So is Ait missing the "false detail"? I have to admit to this myself having a VSF after the CAST and liking it and knowing that the VSF adds false detail. (through resonance)

In fact you got me thinking again I am going to put the two CAST tweeter caps back in again. It was something I was considering anyway (buying two more CAST tweeter caps) as CAST cuts noise by a shocking amount.

Please do not take this as criticism as I do not find other caps even close to yours in making super natural sounds.
duelund_coherent_audio
110 posts
 
Volleguy,

If I understand Ait correctly, it's a question if the equalizer should be used or not, more than a discussion regarding caps. So I really can't comment there.

I certainly, do not take your remarks as critical.
ait
480 posts
 
Well, Duelund, I'd like to skip the equalizer, but the speakers were designed to use it, so I'm working to make the equalizer the best it can be. The output caps are 220uF aluminum electrolytic bypassed with 3.3uF metallized PP, bypassed with 0.01uF PP film and tin foil. They actually sound pretty good now that I put the .01uF bypass on there.
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