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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
 
I am going to do some more listening but at this time do not think the Duelund Silver is where to spend the money.

Yes the Silver is better but I found replacing the speaker caps much more bang for the $$$. The speaker internal wire to be as well. Each cap in the amp was very noticable as well.

I might come back to speaker wire or look at Duelund flat copper when they come out with it.

Since this thread is also about bang for the buck it really only makes sense that the caps are more bang for the $$$. Caps wear out and Duelund and Jensen were wayyy bigger than what was there so you got a dynamic improvement as well.

The Duelund wire (Silver) is faster, more coherent, smoother. Still going to do more comparison but not a jaw dropping difference like tweeter caps.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Stranded copper vs. Duelund Silver.

The Duelund wire sounds much quieter.

I have heard some think copper warmer than silver. Well it is slower so the bass more bloated. Does this give the sense of warmth?

The first thing I noticed with Silver was the speed. Bass much faster.

Stranded speaker wire is the same as stranded hook up wire favours one freq over another. (not sure why)

Spent a fair bit of time on this to see what to do but must move on soon.
irish65
170 posts
 
Volleyguy,

I think you are onto something :-) This is where I started with the silver wire from Duelund. It did just what you stated . The bottom was clean and fast which for me made it easier to to evaluate the mids and highs.
ait
480 posts
 
I believe it is the commingled strands you object to, not the copper wire itself. Try copper litz wire from Cardas, with each strand individually insulated - much better than stranded standard copper, and much cheaper than silver. I use silver wire inside my electronics but I use copper litz in my speakers - 11.5 ga for woofers, 15.5 ga for mids, and 17.5 ga for tweeters.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Irish

I agree with bottom end being very clear with tone as well. When listening to stranded copper all you think of is cloudy.

Ait

I think you are right on the stranded copper wire being the problem. For $$$ reasons I would like to hear the Duelund flat copper wire as speaker wire. I agree I do not know how much of the sound difference is Silver or stranded I suspect stranded. What is Duelund copper price compared to Litz?

Stranded wire favours a freq so you tend to listen at that freq but flat wire is solid from top to bottom. On classical music the difference is huge! You hear the orchestra and all the tones with stranded you get the instrument at the freq the stranded wire favours.

Ait
The next thing for sure I am going to do is Silver wire in the amp. I suspect (think) it will be very noticable on the phone stage and pre amp? (and at very little cost)
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