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:Yes,I have heard 35 ga (Walkers' Bio-wire) and 54 ga wire in an older OM design.There seems to be a greater coherency to phase.The ribbons go one further,until they get too thin and fragile.A law of diminishing returns.
I was surprised when speaking with the manufacturer,that their ribbons could handle over 5000W before the conductor was compromised (spkr cable/no idea about the IC-but that kind of power doesn't pass thru ICs).
Happy New Year!
Tpsonic

That sure goes against what we have been told. (thin wire)
I read lots of hostile thoughts on Maple Shade. (mostly from people who have not heard their products) A lot of what they say is for sure against the grain.

So I take it skin affect? (for the coherency)

Frank from Tempo Electric did say hearing is believing.

Volleyguy:It also has to with dialectric.As dialectric is much like a capacitor.It can change the hi-frequencies and absorb/re-release and not in phase with the incoming signal.I find the cables to be fairly "honest".Whether this flatters the system is another issue.
They revealed to me that even though an amplifier can drive a load,it may not do it in a linear fashion (IE:Lamm M1.1s and a 1.5 ohm impedance).
Extremely interesting website on speaker design from Tannoy. Frank from Tempo is very big on the large vintage Tannoy's for the $.

http://www.hilberink.nl/codehans/tannoy52.htm

What I have learned is that 3/4" Birtch plywood is thought to be one of the best for sound. I always wondered why the low freq tones sounded better from vintage Klipsch. I knew Paul Klipsch liked 3/4" Birch but did not know it to be popular with Tannoy as well. Audio Note use 3/4" Russian Birtch plywood. I also find out that drum makers go to great lengths to have a low glue to wood ratio. I guess MDF would be at the opposite end of the scale.

Vintage Tannoy lovers (as is Frank and Dr. Loesch) thought the vintage Alnico magnets special. Tannoy dropped AlNiCo at around the same time as Klipsch due to cost and supply of Colbalt.
I can say the vintage Tannoy's would be on a short list of speakers I would like to hear.

Tannoy used Auto Formers as did Klipsch and no Electrolytic's in the crossover.

As has been talked about before Tannoy says printed circuit boards are detrimental to sound quality.

So what speakers other than vintage Klipsch and Tannoy use Alnico magnets, no electrolytics, 3/4" Birch plywood, 15" woofers, foil in oil caps?

It is easy to see why cost would be incredible for large speakers right from construction to shipping to store footage space and foil caps.

My dealer always put Tannoy and vintage Klipsch people in the same group? I have only heard there cheaper models.
Tpsonic

Something has occured to me that I never thought of. The North Creek inductor that I found to be a frustrating part as it had some good qualities but sounded hard. I thought the reason was resonance, is it? I wonder if now it was the skin affect? Frank from Tempo Electric said the original Duelund inductors did not sound that great. I believe he said they were wire as well? Hmmm? I will have to check back in this thread to see what Frank said.