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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
 
Hi Bigkidz and Regismc,
Thanks for sharing your extensive observations. I don't doubt for a moment that one capacitor may be preferable to another depending on needs and application. There's no perfect product that satisfies everyone under any and all circumstances.
Charles,
bigkidz
3,381 posts
 
Regismc, thank you. Much better than my experience. You probably wore out a soldering iron doing this! Even with my limited experience, if you don't have the other cap to compare, you will be fine as long as you are enjoying what you are hearing, that is really all that matters. I really don't hear big improvements with specific parts, just different takes on what each does. You have to select what you prefer. Your filtering is way past what I have done in my system. I mostly focus on the power supply section for each component most pre and power components using choke and caps to filter the AC with great results. I also use tube regulation that has really reduced to noise to unmeasurable readings. I am now building separate power supply sections for the preamp and DAC. I want to try using Plitron transformers but the cost has held me up. I like to hear something before I try it out. Getting the noise level out is the key to a blacker background, space, air, separation, reducing hardness and adding dimension from my experience.

Anyway, no one in the NYC area?

Happy Listening.

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Has anyone compared Path brand resistors to Duelund CAST in crossovers? I need two 1 ohm resistors on my tweeter and want the most natural sounding of the two. The one with no hint of brightness, hardness, or glare. Yes....needs to be resolving.

I have always used Mills MRA in past mods, but want to try one of these two.
bigkidz
3,381 posts
 
No Bill, I have always used Mills also. Let me know if you ever get the chance to compare.
salectric
751 posts
 
Grannyring, I have compared PathAudio and CAST resistors in my high-pass crossover. They both sound good but quite different. I only have one value of PathAudio which means I have only tried it in one spot but it's a critical place---the shunt side of the attenuation network which follows the crossover cap and choke. In this spot, I prefer the PathAudio. It is very clean and detailed and it has excellent bass (yes, the tweeter components affect the bass). At least initially the PathAudio is dark and recessed in the mids, but both of those colorations seem to fade away with more use. The CAST also has excellent detail and it may be even more dynamic, but the CAST resistor has several tonal irregularities---a projection in the upper mids and a serious rolloff in the bass. The treble on the CAST is also rather wispy. Be aware that both of these resistors take a very long time to settle in. The PathAudio supposedly requires several hundred hours. I don't have that many yet so it may get even better.

I use a total of 4 resistors in my high-pass crossover, and I have tried Mills, CAST, regular Duelunds and AudioNote tantalums in most of these spots. As of today I prefer a mix of Mills wirewound for the two series resistors, and one CAST and one PathAudio for the two shunt resistors.

By the way, regular Duelunds do not sound at all like CAST. They have excessive warmth and a severe rolloff in the highs, virtually the opposite of CAST resistors.
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