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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
 
Grannyring,
I`m not familiar with Clear Day.

Grannyring, If I 'tin' the capacitor lead copper wire,will this simple step prevent copper oxidation?
If so, that means no cutting the CAST wire and eliminating additional solder joints(an advantage it seems).
Option two, cut the CAST copper wire and replace with silver(which means additional joints but no concern about oxidation).My gut feeling is the fewer solder joints the better. Would you agree?
Charles,
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,507 posts
 
Yes the tining will prevent corrosion if applied well. I would still heat shrink over it. If you plan to simply solder into the existing speaker wire, then adding a short piece of silver wire to each end of the cap and then soldering to the existing speaker wire would not be worth the effort and not a good idea. Just use the copper leads to the internal speaker wire.

If you want to use the silver wire to connect directly to the tweeter, then it makes sense. Not sure if you are planing to rewire the tweeter crossover parts with your silver wire?
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Grannyring,
I like to keep things simple, there`s no need for me to rewire anything in the speaker.There`s high quality copper(6N) and it sounds very good as is(the speaker,amp and linestage use the same wiring).The silver option was just for the CAST lead wire.

I`m going to tin the lead copper wire and heat shrink it and leave it at that.The CAST wire looks very good to me.Hope to get this done tomorrow.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
The Duelund CAST are in my speakers finally. A big thank you to my good buddy Jwm(jeff) for his major help and experience. Jeff will post some installation pictures later on this site for those interested.

Out of the box with only 1 hour of listening a few things are apparent.
1) Tonality and naturalness are honest and real, instruments and voices seem dead on righ.!Tone,tone,tone!
2)There`s a noticable improvement in clarity,seperation and articulation of the music.
3)Very nice dynamic energy and presence,power and speed. Instruments have increased vitality and verve.

This is a surprisingly good 'early stage' result as I realize there`s much burn-in that needs to be done.
If the performance makes significant improvement from here, well this will be truly special.
It`s quite good already.
Regards,
jwm
918 posts
 
Pictures are now posted on charles1dad web page under tweaks. The job was actually easier than we thought. Just look at the difference in size be the Duelund and the old Solen Cap. The new capacitors were sealed into place with silicone cement. The changes in his system are profound. He has a cleaner picture of the soundstage from top to bottom. Imaging of single instruments have improved. System appears more dynamic, faster and tonality seems better fleshed out. Very interesting to see what happens once solder joints and crossover have more time. Right out of the gate sound is better in all parameters compared to the old Solen Caps.
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