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
On Jeff's Place and the WE16ga wire I still can not say which I like better the WE or Duelund 2.0 Silver? (It has been months!)

Each sounds different. 

Duelund richer warmer and WE livelier in the midrange possilbly a more "real" sound midrange.

So far I would say Duelund overall. (Richer more complex)

In in my bedroom system I really liked WE. Smaller system and having a great midrange in a small system is critical. Have not even tried Duelund there.

Am I going to spend the vastly larger amount of money on Duelund Silver in the bedroom? No.

I will rewire speakers internally to WE in the bedroom system as well.

WE is a great low cost tip from Jeff's place!


The fact that the W.E. wire is competitive with the Duelund silver wire is highly impressive and commendable. If you find the W.E. more "-real" sounding then that is the one I would select ."Real" and "natural " -are my objectives when choosing any audio product. 
Charles 
Charles nice to hear from you!

One of the main ideas on this thread was to put in perspective the improvement for the $ each of us spends.

Before this thread I would hear how great something was or was not. But no "great" per $ factor. (Which is key for most of us)

Duelund caps I would recommend them all the time. 

Is Duelund Silver 2.0 (version 2) better than WE16ga? I suspect that depends on each system.

At $27 a foot and $32 a foot for 3.0. That is over $1k for 10ft of speaker cables.

i could not recomend someone spend that if they are like me and $1k is quite a bit of money...

I was never in the mega $ speaker cable camp in the first place. 

At at the start of this thread I had tried bi-amp'ing (SS) with 2 $5k amps. Total waste of money to me!

When I realised I had a $5k amp running through a $1 tweeter cap, I knew this needed to be thought through.

replacing those $1 caps with even $50 of Mundorf Supreme's in the tweeters would have been VASTLY better money spent. (Then bi-amp'ing)

my guess changing the caps is 10x+ (Maybe 100x) the improvement for 1/100 the cost!

Is Duelund wire worth 20x as much? (As WE16ga) It is not where one should put their money first IMHO. 

I would replace every cap and inductor first. Some tubes are Big Bang for the $ as well.


I am so glad Jeff has an open mind! He is not solely in the vintage or new camp? I imagine his blog is of great value to many of us?!

i have to get caught back up! Feel behind. Duelund Silver bypass and this hybrid cap.

Those silver bypass caps are in the values I could use... Hmmmm?



Charles if I remember correct you are in the triode camp? 300b?

triode amps have always intrigued me.

i know sometime I will have to try one!
Hi,
Yes, 300b SET for the past six and a half years.  I'm very happy with its sound and it will be my last amplifier. It brings the music to life which is all I  want.
Charles,