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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
k2_nl
13 posts
 
Hi Face,

A few posts earlier I wrote:

"The system in which the Cast Duelunds, tinfoil V-caps, Jensen Alu tube and Jensen paper tube were tested consists of a heavy modified CEC transport coupled to the Audiomagic DAC (same league as the AN 5.1 Signature) and a very fine all tubed preamp and all tubed poweramps, both created by Peter, driving AN speakers (not sure about the model). Though it can't produce very high SPL's, is limitated in the low domain and is way less revealing than my modified Apogee Scintilla's, it is quite a good system (without any plastic cap in the signal path). More important for me was to have the caps tested by a guy I know that is very experienced, has very good ears and puts most interest in tonality (!) in his designs and modifications."

The "tubed" preamp and mono poweramps are designed by Peter van Willenswaard himself. He also designed the Audiomagic DAC. The preamp can't held up with my modified Silvaweld SWC1000 but it is still a very good preamp. The poweramps I find harder to rate. Further the system was connected to a Pure Power powerregenerator. btw: this powerregenerator I can recommend very well, it is much, much better than the PS Audio Premier Plant.

However.... more important IMO than the system and the room in which the test was done, is the fact that this system was able to reveal differences between alu tube and paper tube PIO copperfoil Jensens and the tinfoil VCap very well. And the difference in this system between the Cast Duelund and the alu tube Jensen was relatively small... And with this in mind that tonality is the most important parameter to Peter.

So therefore my question to Frederik: is it possible that the fact that the cast caps that we had on loan, were the first produced, is reponsible for our results or is this not a likely explanation? If not, I still would like to try out the Duelunds in my passive speaker xover one day (that is in front of the tweeter as the cap in front of the mids is 240 uF), but the coupling caps in my poweramp and the DAC will stay Jensen paper tube.

Cheers,

Kees
duelund_coherent_audio
110 posts
 
Hi Kees,

I would need to have the caps here, to answer that question.
k2_nl
13 posts
 
Hi Frederik,

The caps were returned after the test to "De Audiofabriek". This company unfortunately no longer exists anymore so I don't know what has become of the two caps involved.

The tests were done in between the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008. The caps were very likely manufactured by Duelund somewhere close to the summer of 2007. I must have contacted you for the first time somewhere close to the spring of that year. In these days only the 200 V cast copperfoil caps were available. When I contacted you, you told me that you were working on a 630 V version. From that moment it took a few months before the first 630 V cast caps were finished.

The cast caps that were manufactured for me were 2 x 2,0 uF copperfoils. They were put into the typical circular paper casing and measured in my memory something like 10 cm diameter and 5 cm height. They were huge and very heavy.

Kees
regismc
112 posts
 
Looking for some advice. Run a full tube rig w/6c33 monos, tube pre,
modwright transporter, audio magic liquid cables, hot rodded da-1s.
Rolled the clarity mr caps into the pre, very nice upgrade, lots of air, great
extension & spaciousness. I am considering either the MR or the dueland
Alexandria for the tube monos. Someone mentioned that duelands don't
mix well with other caps so I am hesitant...... any experience/suggestions?

Thanx.
undertow
1,033 posts
 
Regismc,
Never heard the Duelund Alexandria's. I have heard the Duelund VSF, and the Clarity MR. Both are great, both can't go wrong. And the only comment on Mixing was directed toward trying to combine another type of cap either bypassing a duelund or in a circuit like a crossover using more than one type or several positions of capacitors, then your better off with all Duelund 100% or all Clarity MR 100%, not a mix of the 2.

As for your amps I am sure both are great, but Clarity MR's I have used in an all Tube preamp with stellar results, and I have used a Duelund VSF in a tube PHONO amp with also zero compromise results.

The VSF may be slightly more natural, the Clarity MR might have a little more detail which doubles as "Airy". Depends on the tubes, if they are very soft or warm it might be a nice contrast using the Clarity MR's as you have already had first hand experience. Also Size consideration physically comes very important in play. If a Duelund or Clarity MR' depending on the Value you need is just too big to fit.

If one of these caps has a smaller body for the comparable value (Alexandria vs. MR) than you might be better off with the physically smaller cap depending on the space you have available as both are winners. The VSF is a bigger flat body almost guaranteed to take more space and may not fit at all, then again depending on the setup might fit better with a big flat cap opposed to a big round body cap.
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