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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
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
For those of you interested in the new Jupiter copper caps. Thus far my listening proves out they have the same noise free personality of the Duelund CAST. They must build these like the CAST in some way as they are well damped and seem to remove noise like the Duelund CAST.

They are beautiful sounding with no weakness I can detect as yet.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Bill,
That is very good news. For those who find the Duelund CAST too expensive the Jupiter caps would be a wonderful alternative to improving their sound. The results I achieved with the CAST should be available to more music lovers.
Charles,
jwm
918 posts
 
Bill great description of the CAST caps. They remove all kinds of noise while giving you the musicality with out sounding lean or bleached.
tasouli
39 posts
 
Well, my package of Duelund VSF Black, Duelund CAST resistors and Jantzen Audio Superior Z Caps FINALLY arrived. Ordered on January 15th and arrived last week! That should give everyone some idea about how busy Duelund have become.
I'm re-wiring using Neotech 6N copper/teflon as well. I'm most of the way through rewiring and rebuilding crossovers in the first speaker and - aside from the fact that I'm really slow - all seems to be going well.

Charles1dad - I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are HUGELY fortunate you bought the Total Eclipse V2. The crossover and wiring in my speaker is all kinds of tricky to work with.Thank heavens I bought the VSF Black instead of the CAST caps for the tweeter - even they were really difficult to tuck into the Tweeter/mid compartment.

I should have my first speaker finished by tomorrow sometime. I'm re-checking everything around 20 times but still live in mortal fear that I'll reverse wire something. So far so good.

Grannyring - I just don't know how you can revisit this kind of thing when you've done it once. Once this is finished, all being well, I hope to never open these things up again!

Tas
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Tas let us know the results!

Well the Jupiter copper caps have settled in and oh my they are first rate. Solidity and refinement with no part of the music spectrum out of balance. Top to bottom pitch perfect coherency and tone. Based on my knowledge with extensive use of the Duelund CAST caps in various pieces of gear and the resulting change (electronics)......I would say the following is the one area of of main difference between these two caps.

The Duelund CAST caps emphasize the mids just a tad over the rest of the spectrum. The new Jupiter caps do not. They play music more even handed top to bottom in my estimation. Some will feel the CAST are more revealing or resolute, but it may just be the tad bit of midrange boost.

One would have to hear the Jupiter caps to understand the difference. My comments are based on electronics, not speakers. The Jupiter caps are not available in values over 1uf right now.

The CAST and Jupiter caps are two great choices for sure. I don't feel choosing one way or the other in electronics leaves much room for buyers remorse or opportunity cost.
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