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 think this has reached the point that Frederik should shed some light. My original CAST caps had this organic smell the last bunch did not? Or at least I remember the smell of the originals VSF and CAST.

I can assure everyone they for sure are oil as be of mine is leaking. I just have it out and am replacing it today with a brand new one sitting here that I have. I can take pics of the leaking one if someone needs this?

I am sure there is something in the CAST caps for rigidity (helping with the extremely low loss of energy) I was under the understanding they were all natural as well?
Hi Volley,

The organic smell may be due to us changing the outer coating of the paper tube.

I appreciate Frederik's candor but I wish there had been some sort of acknowledgement prior to this that the CAST caps do not all sound the same. At least this would help explain different reactions to them. For example, I have stated in this thread before that my two 630v CAST caps----the .47 and 1.0---sound different. The only visible difference in their construction is the different type of leads: the .47 has solid wire that is silver in color and the 1.0 has stranded or pleated copper. I had always assumed the differences in sound between these two are due to the different leads. Now I have to wonder if the caps may be different inside as well.

I have never compared the 630v caps to my 100v caps in my speaker crossover, but given Frederik's statement above that they use different construction, I suspect that may explain why I am much more happy with the 100v caps in speakers than I am with the 630v caps in my electronics. In my totally arbitrary ranking, I would give my 7.5uf, 100v CAST cap a 9, the 1.0uf, 630v CAST an 8, and the .47uf, 630v CAST a 6.
Salectric,

Unless your 1.0 uF 630v is of the older flat variety - there is no difference except leadout and capacity.
Thanks Frederik. I guess the leadouts make a worthwhile difference.

I noticed that the leads on your Silver CAST caps are your silver ribbon wiring (which I like very much for internal wiring in my amps and preamps). The next time I try the .47 CAST caps, I will attach some extra 0.5 wiring I have, soldering the wires close to the body of the capacitor, to use as connecting leads.