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
Wow..Thanks for all the responses guys..

First off, Frederik I reversed the absolute polarity at the speaker terminals and though it did recess the soundstage a tad, it was at the expense of a smearing in the mids and a wrong sounding bass. So I reverted back to normal phase..

Grannyring thanks for your input as well..have followed your postings in other threads..much appreciated..Yes meat on the bones is what I'm on about and I believe the Duelunds are very source dependent..so your sources are probably spot on..

This follows on to what Volleyguy was saying about the Duelund caps showing up faults upstream..

Volleyguy firstly with regards to the Ampohms I was very aware of their mid-centric nature so I ended up getting higher value caps of the order of a factor of 4X or 5X..so instead of the .047uf I ended up with .22uf which shifted the sweet spot down into the lower frequencies giving a more balanced sound..I ended up with a more mellow sound with a stronger but alas flabbier base..

So this brings me to the Duelunds. As I mentioned in my opening post I had changed DACs at roughly the same time as I changed to Duelunds. Initially and after break-in, and while I still had the Ampohms in the Almarro, I sensed a reduced soundstage but better frequency extension with the new Minimax DAC..

However once the Duelunds went in the signature of the Minimax DAC became more pronounced..its mechanical nature with sharper attack and greater pace became apparent and the Duelunds presented this in the most honest fashion..

So to give the Duelunds another + different source, and one I was fairly familiar with, I reverted back to the Bel Canto DAC..the tube compliment in the Almarro was also restored to the same set I had listened to over a couple of years with the Ampohm caps (Sylvania EL84 + RCA 7025 black plates), the tube dampers and isolation went back in..everything back to the way it was..

Well guess what? well you don't have to as you probably already know..the 'body' was back. A full-bodied holographic soundstage was there in abundance..

Yes the over-sampling DAC is not the last word in resolution but it portrays emotion, gestalt, tone like few other DACs..

So there you go the Duelunds are the most honest caps I've ever heard..make sure you've got your sources sorted and the CAST will give you that in spades..

Chadeffect you were right about the CAST letting in more character but it wasn't the Amp's but the DAC's..

The Almarro SEP is a great amp in stock form but having such a short signal path it's very amenable to cap rolling and it can be voiced uniquely with a change of caps..

Jon L on Audiocircle and Head-Fi has the same amp and he has rolled and documented more caps than anyone..you can find his excellent thread here;

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=54218.0

So I'm back to the OS Bel Canto DAC..don't know if I'm game on Opamp rolling the Minimax.. I have some Burson Discretes waiting to go into it..but I'm going to put that on hold while I get more enjoyment out of the Duelunds, and clear my back-log of new + required listening CDs..
Finally! UPS will deliver my Duelund CAST capacitors on 11/19/12.Of course I`m very curious to hear how/if they change my speakers(original cap is Auricap) and the overall impact on my system.
Regards,
Oeaohoo, curious which Bel Canto DAC you are using? I used to have the DAC3, two of them in fact. Very nice sounding indeed.

I also have the A205A Mk II and love that little thing. Currently using V-Cap CuTF 0.068 uF, which transformed it into something really great. Yesterday I replaced the CuTF output coupling caps in my MHDT Havana DAC with Duelund CAST Cu and am really enjoying the sound, not even broken in. I'm considering changing up the caps in the Almarro with CAST 0.047 sometime in the future. They cost more than double the teflon V-Caps, though! How is the fit?
Eugene,

The Bel Canto is the DAC2..ancient by today's standards but extremely musical and spacious..the DAC3 was deemed better because of it's greater resolution and dynamics..I haven't heard one but I imagine it's another fantastic sounding converter..

The V-Cap CuTFs are really nice caps..I had the 0.068uf value in the Almarro for some time. They are slightly warmer/fuzzier than the Duelunds and even though they're quite linear and neutral they're nowhere near as natural or tonally correct sounding like the CAST..the CAST are the closest thing you'll get to "No Caps" or "straight wire"

The CAST currently in are 0.1uf and fit easily..the orientation is front to back rather than side to side like most caps and you don't have to worry about polarity..

How does the Havana compare to the old Bel Cantos..does it possess any of the warmth of the BC DACs??