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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
theaudiotweak
2,801 posts
 
Bill,

I have built power resistors using Mills 12 watts as the element. Drilled thru the center of a .875 brass rod coated and set the resistor with Cascade Audio V-Bloc and placed the Mills inside, had these cryo'd. The Vishay's sound better..of course the Vishays were cryo'd as well. Much more open and off the face and out of  box. Tom
erik_squires
16,414 posts
 
@grannyring

Resistors: I will never use Path Audio. Too far out of spec for me to fuss with. :)  It's precision or nothing for me.

DI: Well, a 4 way has a lot of potential advantages in dynamic range.

Why would you find them aggressive in the upper mids/highs? I'm not personally familiar with those tweeters, but those I respect find them very good.



Best,

E
erik_squires
16,414 posts
 
By the way, their patent is rubbish IMHO.

Best,

E
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,545 posts
 
Don’t know as I have not heard them. I just keep reading how resolving they are and that is good, but can be.....fatiguing. Those tweeters sell for $57 each at Madisound and he has 14 of them! Just tweeters. He sells the speakers for $3000 shipped, No way he paid even half that. My goodness. Never heard the tweeter. Owners say they are very easy to listen to however. 

I did not know Path Audio had spec issues? First I heard. Great sound in a two way speaker mod on a Raal tweeter. Fantastic really.


erik_squires
16,414 posts
 
@grannyring

Normally you’d be right. "High resolution" usually means bright, but not in this case. That’s the whole point about the array. :)

By making a large format tweeter they get high-resolution without requiring an uptilt in the frequency response.

Of course, this is all theory, but if you ask me "Can large format tweeters/arrays produce much high resolution and detail at the listening location without brightness compared to a simple dome or ring radiator?" My answer would be: "YES!"

Same general theory as ESL’s. Only ESL’s can have very complicated and rough frequency responses.

Best,

E


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