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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
 
Nyaudio98,
It's refreshing that a builder/designer is so encouraging and supportive of upgrading their product. Some builders downplay or don't believe their products can be improved very much. Better parts(not necessarily the most expensive) do "matter" and can improve sound quality, no question. In my system carefully improving part quality(which was already good) is well worth the additional cost.It wasn't a case of bad to good parts, but rather good to excellent parts.Good luck.
Charles,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Volleyguy,
I can understand your conclusion regarding the Duelund CAST, it's a very special product my friend.
nyaudio98
420 posts
 
I wanted to clarify my posting. I had spoken to John Tucker who was very honest and straightforward in regards to his lsa monitors. He did give me the values of the crossover. The subsequent posting from me was from someone who mods speakers and gave his recommendations for upgrading.
nyaudio98
420 posts
 
Based on postings in this thread, the value in upgrading is definately there and worthwhile. Now, it's a matter of spending money in a speaker for better listening or selling as is and finding another speaker.
junker
6 posts
 
Getting further along on the RS break-in...and they seemed to really open. At some point with my Mazda chrome plate gain tubes etc I was feeling too much top end emphasis.

And then in my tube amp I replaced some cheap 0.1uF MKP coupling caps with 0.22uF Supremes that I had and around this same time I regained just about all of the spatiality that I felt lacking upon initial install of the RS. Now, a couple days later I feel I have a great deal of tone, neutrality, detail, and spatiality. Not sure if the RS are still coming in and to what extent the coupling upgrade cap had but right now I'm very happy with the RS's and I don't feel they are doing anything wrong. I'll still run this is for a bit longer and give some final impressions.

Also, I wanted to mention that Chris Johnson put together a massive bulk buy of 0.01uF Duelund Cast Silver caps for use as by-pass caps and told us that he will have very good pricing on them because of the quantity order, and that the use of these will go a long way toward bringing the best of both worlds with CAST silver.
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