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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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Oeaohoo,
Interesting observations, but different conclusion from volleyguy. In volleyguy`s experience it seems he heard'more' body,tone and subtle detail and improved resolution. Superior resonance supression in a capacitor is a good thing that should`nt affect the sound in a negative(less musical fashion)way.Most comments I`ve read regarding the Duelund CAST say truer organic tone but no addition of false warmth or weight( more complete signal preservation?)and increased sense of naturalness are consistent findings. Might there be exceptions? Volleyguy cites formerly hidden and vague noises in a recording actually being heard as clear and individual instruments as revealed by the CAST caps,this is desirable and an improvement.
Regards,
duelund_coherent_audio
110 posts
 
Oeaohoo,

If you get a more forward sound with the CAST, have you tried changing absolute polarity on the speaker? CAST makes that a lot more clear, and wrong absolute polarity would create a forward presentation.

Best regards,

Frederik
oeaohoo
4 posts
 
Charles + Frederik, thanks for your replies.

Firstly, Charles I agree with you and your interpretations of Volleyguy's findings. The Duelunds are very much highly resolving caps letting you see deeper into the recording..with them I can almost tell you what colour the sound engineer's undies were at time of the recording..

Yes the tone is there as well but body perhaps not..I may have a different interpretation of body, for me it implies resonance and reverberation..not only the reverberating wooden body of a string instrument as such but the gestalt wholeness of the music with all its interplays.

Under pure and optimally damped recording conditions you should only hear the instruments and their respective bodies..but often in most live settings, one's I'm used to, you will here all sorts of resonance and reverberation..some may also call it distortion as well.. but it's inherently and ubiquitously present and has been part of the natural way music has been experienced for decades...

As for listening purely to studio or electronically generated recordings then I agree you should only hear what's been recorded, signal preservation as you properly called it. However here again I'm more inclined to a softer less resolving sound.. I do a lot of listening a day..in access of 12 hours sometimes, and often to poorly recorded CDs and the highly compressed one's of late
as well. So I don't necessarily want to hear 'everything' put on a CD..especially if it happens to be a direct product of the 'loudness wars'..

I feel we all have slightly different takes on what may be optimal to our ears..one man's natural might be another's strident..and someone's warm might be perceived as hazyiness to another..I might not even have properly tuned and balanced hearing so all objective interpretation of what I hear would be misplaced..

Anyway all this might be taking away from the Duelunds..they are certainly unique sounding caps..the resolution and tone is by far the best in class but I'm probably missing the inaccuracy and distortion of the sound I've been acclimatised to over the years..perceived as body/fullness etc.

Frederik, if by absolute polarity you mean phase..? then the Minimax DAC has a phase switch which I have tried..it has helped on some recordings but I've generally felt it only marginally affected the sound. I haven't tried reversing the wires on the speakers.. I also have some lower efficiency ProAcs I will blow the dust off and hook up when my Tinnitus subsides..

I do want to give the Duelunds a fair chance of break-in and extended re-balancing and integration within the system or within a system that suits better..
duelund_coherent_audio
110 posts
 
Oeaohoo,

I do mean phase/polarity. I can offer no technical explanation, but I find the change to be much more profound when done at speaker level by physically switching the loudspeaker cables. You might try it, when the sound seems forward.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,506 posts
 
Thus far I have put Duelund CAST caps in my preamp, and three tube amps. Each time the improvement was absolutely revelatory. The music always maintained great tone, texture and body. I must have meat on the bones and the CAST do this in spades while being so transparent. That is a hard thing to do based on my experience.

All of this after break in of at least 100 hours, perhaps more depending on the gear it is placed in. I never used them in a source or DAC. Perhaps in that position it will take longer based on lower voltages? Just a guess.

Give it some more time.....
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