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
Friends Khorns have AK-3 network. I seen them tonight but have not heard them. I gave him Steen's paper on speakers link. (the best article I have ever seen on speakers)

It is very easy to understand why many prefer the older Klipsch networks. They had foil in oil caps not poly. The AK's have poly. My CAST caps for the tweeter have to be at least 50x the size of his!

Friend only heard the Khorns briefly and said they sounded horrible. Poor conditions and amp he thinks. Hmmmm? I don't think so.

I read some of the Merlin thread on the Duelund site. He talks about the different things he hears. I do often wonder about other speakers with this level of parts? I would really like to compare mine to other speakers with Duelund parts.

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=speakers&m=291879
Not sure if you are around Frederik? I have been looking for some info on Steen's interest in horn speakers.

My midrange horn is an Atlas Alnico patterned after the famous Western Electric 555W. (and it sounds FANTASTIC) The last WE sold on e-bay for $5,500 each. Klipsch at one time just used WE drivers but likely had the Atlas build it for them after WE went under?

http://www.audioanthology.com/audio1.html

Any info on how much Steen was into horns? Anyone and which types?

Anyone heard (other than in the theater) vintage Western Electric compression drivers? (originals not copies)

Just trying to figure out the difference in quality of compression drivers from the copy (I have) and the original? I just do not get it no matter how good the WE 555 is it still needs excellent parts in front of it as this guy has found out.

http://homepage3.nifty.com/western/audio/field_555_4/field_555_4_E.htm

Thanks
Steen was very much into horns. He rose to "fame" in Denmark in the 70's due to some diy horn designs published in the Danish magazine High Fidelity.

He always said, he's goal with everything he did, cross over design, parts, drive units was to take the best from single driver horns and fuse it with the bandwith of multiway speaker systems.
Has anyone considered "potting" their external crossovers in some sort of viscoelastic gel? If vibration has such a negative influence on caps and inductors, wouldn't damping be the solution? Some of you have gone to great lengths to externalize your crossovers. For these folks, there shouldn't be any debate on the merits of isolating components from vibration, yet I haven't seen or heard anyone talk about damping the external crossover using Dynamat or similar products. Any thoughts on this?
Careful consideration has to be given to heat dissipation, especially when it comes to resistors.