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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
 
The order is being sent from Parts Connexion for the for the tweeter inductor.

Once that goes in I will have only 2 parts left that are not Duelund (in one side). One cap in the amp and the autoformer.

A friend was by that bought the same speakers etc. He hears the wire difference which I think is very big but he thought it sounded fantastic even before. He did notice more bass with the Silver wire and not as bright.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Duelund tweeter inductor is in.

It must weight 50x the original one. Not sure what that is going to mean sound wise?
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
I have been thinking on the solid silver wire.

Dynamics are greatly improved. Why?
I think the plastic coated stranded wire slows the low frequency more. Dynamics are of course affected by low frequency more than highs.

Can thin stranded wire carry a low frequency signal as well? I do not think so. I can really hear bass tone that I could not before. The stranded seems to chop it up.

For a while I have liked the solid silver wire sound better. More relaxing to
listen to.

Tomorrow I am installing the tweeter inductors. I expect to
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Sorry just learning how to use an iPad.

I expect less noise from the Duelund inductor because of better construction but am curious going from thin wire wound wax paper inductor to foil type what type of change there? After all it is a tweeter inductor not carry any low frequencies?
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
The Duelund tweeter inductor is installed.

The construction is of course very close to the vintage that was there. Both are wire wrapped around cardboard. coated in wax. The vintage is solid wire and very thin guage. The Duelund is of course foil wire and heavier guage.

The Duelund is MUCH bigger and heavier and better built. The vintage is not as tight with the wax maybe allowing some resonance? I bet the vintage though is still better than most any inductor built today as at least it is wax paper. (some way to deal with resonance)

The initial sound impression is the Duelund sounds hotter. The lower DCR? (not sure) I was thinking it would be quieter (because of better resonance control) more laid back and was not sure I wanted to go that way. It is the opposite meaning more signal to the tweeter.

This may make sense as the Duelund solid wire (used internally) cut the high freq and did not sound quite right. (to me)

This is a parallel tweeter inductor and my initial thought is these parts did not matter so much, yet the sound is very different! Not sure yet what is all means but for sure very different. So these parts DO make a difference. It sounds like more signal getting through which is what the woofer inductor change sounded like.

Was the thin vintage wire cutting back the signal? (I think so)

I was up buying connectors from the local stereo store for this job and I can not believe how far my system sounds compared to store. $10k systems sound literally like clock radios.
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