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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
salectric
755 posts
 
The shunt components in a multi-order crossover (2d, 3rd, 4th order) are very important sonically, but not to the same degree as the series components. Put another way, the parallel components make a major difference, the series components make a hugely major difference!

In my 2-way speakers, I use a 2d order crossover so the high-pass has a series cap and shunt choke, and the high-pass has the reverse---series choke and shunt cap. Each one is very important but I would rank them (from most important to less) like this: 1. Tweeter cap, 2. Woofer choke, 3. Woofer cap, 4. Tweeter choke. It's possible that 3 and 4 might be reversed, hard to say for sure. I am more confident about the other rankings. Of course, the crossover frequency is also important. My speakers have a 1200Hz crossover so both drivers play vital roles.

Replacing a Solen with a CAST even in the shunt position should make a very worthwhile improvement.
vn101606
73 posts
 
Seletric, Thanks for your response. In this specific case, they are 1st order crossovers. I understand the parallel components are mostly to improve the impedance of the drivers as seen by the remainder of the circuit. Do you think that also in this case it would be worthwhile making the changes?
salectric
755 posts
 
That is called a "Zobel network." You probably have a resistor in the range of 8 to 20 ohms in series with the Solen, and this pair is after the woofer choke and in parallel with the woofer. This network counters the woofer's tendency to have a rising impedance above the crossover frequency. It can smooth out the frequency response above the crossover point.

I would expect the cap in the Zobel to be significant sonically but not to the same extent as a crossover shunt cap. But I haven't actually tried it so this somewhat speculative.
volleyguy1's avatar
volleyguy1
343 posts
 
Charles
I am glad you spend so such time listening to live jazz then comparing to you HiFi after all that is what this hobby is about. Nice to have opinion of someone who hears so much live music. I am in agreement with you on CAST.

My daughters friends have been over and they have commented to my daughter they just can't believe the sound. If anyone has noticed women like live music but are not into HiFi. In the time frame of this thread (start) my wife would tolerate my stereo now I will come home and it is on...

My mother used to say that's nice about my old stereo saying she did not think it really that much better than her Bose Wave Radio. (an honest jab)(she thought it a waste of money) Now she is going Holy Cow. I think she thought I had a big Bose Wave Radio before. (to her)

With women they do not care about tubes, SS, type of speaker, type of cap etc.. It either sounds like live music or it doesn't.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Volleyguy,
Interesting observations concerning you wife and daughter and I can relate to them. My wife isn't a hard core fan of jazz as I am but she does enjoy accompanying me on occasion to the clubs. She really does love the sound of live instruments and has said so ( how could one not enjoy this experience? ). She also notices and enjoys the interactions of the musicians on stage ( the clubs are small and we sit close to the stage). She used to play the piano and has a good ear. When she says the music at home sounds close to "real"(unsolicited) coming from her it's taken as a sincere compliment
Charles.
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