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
You are on top of it for sure! Love to know more about the speakers and what amp drives them.  
I asked my sellers of the used capacitors and they said that they never heard of Cocking machine like Audiodharma. So I hope I will have some good results with cocking. It will Thake like 1 month to do them all :-/

In the meantime I`m asking myself if the result will blown me away , maybe I should also burn the capacitors of my new Preamplifier the Audio Research Reference 6 ? Thake them out and burn properly on the Cable Cocker ;-) Just a thought. And I like soldering and make some test ;-)


Audio Research Reference 6 capacitors

My all XO - boards

XO-big-Midds




Thanks for the pictures. I was going to suggest you use NOS Western electric stranded wire and the new Duelund match. It seems you already knew that! 
The retest.

Years ago I tried in my tweeter caps CAST and VSF and played around and found that I like in series CAST followed by VSF.

After this test I will be ordering either another set of CAST on sale or RS series. The now used caps go into bedroom speakers. (of same value)

I was quite surprised at the time I choose the CAST followed by VSF over two CAST.
At the time I thought two CAST's were too quiet. There was no doubt which cap was technically the best. Yet...

Years ago I thought two VSF although nice tone were dynamically flat in comparison to CAST.

Tests went best in series.
1. CAST followed by VSF
2. CAST followed by CAST
3. VSF followed by VSF

The test had no consideration for cost.

At the time I wondered if in time tastes would go more toward CAST strengths and re-rank. I know people then thought I might not even hear the difference but they sounded a LOT different.

Thoughts at the time were about resonance. Yes the VSF resonate more but this can add life at a cost.

Test material is The Last Waltz Bluray

i use the hair stand up on my arms test. Might not sound sophisticated but as a hobbyist I am in this for the thrills!

Separation of the band as back up singers is a big difference. Much better with CAST

Female voices better for sure with CAST, well all voices. 

This test is as tough as it was 7 years ago?...

The resonance adds life in the VSF. Metallic instruments sound more metallic.

Still tough today, if two CAST's are better than CAST/VSF and in this case I don't think so. Maybe CAST followed by RS betters the VSF and the VSF goes to second system?

In series I find the two separate styles compliment each other. 

I have run into a bit of a road block for improvement on main system. Grannyring has sent pics of maybe my last area of significant improvement my lousy connectors.

I have VSF midrange cap and VSF woofer inductor, both I am sure would be bettered by CAST but out of my budget and I do not have a second home for them to go to like the tweeter caps.

I wish I bought both in CAST, still.

Well holiday project is now second system internals to be wired with Duelund tinned covered copper 16ga (WE 16ga as speaker cables) plus a Duelund VSF or RS cap added. Plus elimination of crappy connectors.