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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
 
Tas and John(Reynolds853),
You two clearly understand my point and frame of reference. Salectric, I've always found you comments insightful and worthwhile, but here's the difference. You and I have different missions or objectives. I want to achieve the best sound I can with my current components and system overall at a reasonable cost, that's it(just fine tune what I own).You have taken a more rigorous and analytical approach and are much more interested in comparing various parts and components. You are clearly a more intense audiophile then I am and that's perfectly fine.I simply have no interest in the constant comparision of this vs that and patiently notating the sometimes subtle points of each product.

Your Pioneer-ARC analogy is on the mark as regards to Solen vs Duelund CAST.This is why I use terms such as stark contrast and profound improvement. I never have or will I proclaim CAST the "best" capacitor, I have no way to prove that(and what would it mean anyway?). My simple reason for posting on this thread was to make others aware that very significant SQ improvement is available merely by upgrading to these wonderful capacitors. That is my only intention. I don't care that another cap is as good or worry that there's something out there that's even better.It isn't worth the constant comparision process, but for you or Grannyring it is and that's great, I enjoy reading both of you and your findings.I spent a lot of time listening to music and anything that increases the natural/organic character is what I want.The CAST did this in abundance. Could other caps do the same? Sure some others can, but it's there with the CAST now, so no motivation to experiment with another capacitor, I'm happy already.This wouldn't satisfy your quest and you'd be compelled to try other capacitors(I understand that).

I won't lose sleep worrying if the Jupiter Cu foil is better than my CAST. As far as I'm concerned they're both excellent products and either would be a major upgrade for the vast majority compared to most "stock" capacitors.
Sal, you and I have different motives and goals and neither is wrong. This is a passionate hobby and there are many ways to obtain happiness with one's audio system.Sal I'll continue to read and appreciate your contributions.
Best Regards,
Charles,
salectric
751 posts
 
Charles,

Thank you for a mature and thoughtful post. I agree with you completely about this being a passionate hobby. As a result, it's all too easy to get caught up in minor differences in viewpoint and lose sight of the bigger issues. Too often we emphasize differences and ignore common traits and interests. You and I (as well as most others here) love our music libraries and anything we can do to increase the enjoyment of our LPs and CDs is appreciated. Duelund capacitors have improved my speakers and yours so we are definitely in the same camp. Furthermore, it was your enthusiasm for Ocellia cables that tipped the scale for me and caused me to order a set, which have also improved the sound of all of my records. So sharing our experiences and our enthusiasm can definitely benefit us all.

What we need here is someone to post that all capacitors sound the same, all amps sound the same, and all cables sound the same. Then we can all join together and beat on the common enemy. Peace.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Sal,
+1, you summed it up well. I'm glad that the Ocellia cables worked for you as well as they did for me.
Charles,
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Salectric, thanks for the tip on the North Creek inductors. I have had them in the crossover for about 50 hours. They replaced the Solen stock inductors of a very thin gauge. The NC inductors I used were 10 guage and about 3-4 times the size.

I was was little concerned the Q value would change as the NC inductors have far lower DCR values. As low as .04! I knew the sound would change, but was not sure if it would be better or need more tweaking by using resistors. My crossover has no resistors in it.

Well I learned a great deal because of this upgrade. I have never changed inductors before and felt they may not be as important as caps and resistors. I was wrong. Very wrong.

No need to add resistors as the result is stellar.

The NC inductors improved the sound as much as a Duelund cap vs Solen.

I will let these inductors settle in and then upgrade the caps to Jupiter.

$435 upgrade to a $16,000 speaker turned out to be wonderful. Thanks again for the tip!
salectric
751 posts
 
Excellent news Grannyring! I am glad the North Creek inductors worked well with your speakers. They certainly do with mine. As I said before, I would not be shocked if the Duelund CAST inductors are even better but you have to draw the line somewhere. For my values, the two pairs of North Creeks ran about $650 total and the CAST inductors would have been $6500(!) at full retail.
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