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
I just go by typical customer feedback, and my own experience. I usually get a "What the ... happened!" mail on day 5.

Which is always nice, and makes my day everytime. :)
I have about 70 hours on the Duelund CAST capacitors.
This is a fantastic upgrade in my speaker crossovers and I would recommend them to 'anyone' who wants to improve the sound of their system.I`ve noticed no negatives, it improves my speaker across all sonic parameters.
1) Superb tone, texture and harmonic reproduction,instruments are simply more realistic.

2)This is a natural-organic sounding capacitor,there`s none of that 'Hifi' artificial character to be heard.

3)The sense of live presence is improved,the sound is more alive and colorful with emotion and expression.

4)The overall scale and presentation is believable(but no exaggerations of size of stage or images) while somehow maintaining an ever present ease and effortless feel, this is hard to do IMO.

5) The CAST is expensive but I can honestly say you`d be hard pressed to beat its 'value'- performance result ratio with most other upgrades.You could spend more and get less in return.

I can`t imagine someone actually trying these CAST in their system and being disappointed with the performance.This is a first tier product.
Regards,
Charles 1 Dad, glad you are enjoying the new sound from your speakers. You may want to hear what happens when you upgrade some of 89 cent caps
in your Frankensteins. The coupling cap and the bypass cap is where you need to start. I still have a few more caps to test but a Duelund Cast in the coupling position and a Clarity MR in the by-pass spot gives a dramatic improvement.
Hi Vetterone,
The Coincident Frankenstein does`nt have any signal coupling capacitors. It instead uses an interstage(double C core type) transformer. The only bypass capacitor is a V-cap for the power supply capacitors(polypropylene in place of electrolytics).

Dick Olsher will review this amplifier in the december issue of TAS. He will likely cover some of the technical and circuit features.This 8 watt amp is one of the very best I`ve ever heard in the sense of getting to the emotional core of music and realism.

Vetterone, I`m giving some serious thought to placing CAST caps in my wonderful Yamamto DAC(CAST would take it to an even higher level I believe).
I`m also considering the Duelund WPIO inductors. As happy as I am with my system`s music reproduction, I`m convinced the Duelunds would take it further yet again.Since my post a few days ago the sound 'continues to improve! Coincident,Takatsuki(300b tube),Yamamoto and Duelund,I like.
Regards
Vetterone,
Very nice system you`ve put together,it must sound exceptionally good.Are you putting your Duelund caps in the Berning or the Allnic components?
Your Allnic linestage uses an interstage transformer correct?
Regards