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Speaker crossover mod. Your advice?

I'm considering modding the crossovers of my Focal 1027s. Specifically, I am thinking about replacing the capacitor associated with the tweeter. I have received some helpful advice from another A'gon member who has done a similar mod to his crossovers (on a different model speaker from the same manufacturer).

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions from folks who have experience with this sort of thing. In particular, what sort of improvements can be achieved with this kind of mod? Any thoughts on which caps to use? Any common mistakes I should avoid? Is the whole thing a bad idea?

Thanks for your input.

Bryon
bryoncunningham
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
...and trace the MR section(s) too. Caps and resistors in series with that driver(s) definitely add bad stuff to and subtract good stuff from the music.

BTW what do you think your speakers are worth, generally?

Just tonite I finished the covers for the Avanti outboarded crossover boards.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/jeffreybehr/Avanti%20IIIs/Overallfroml-rear_1280w.jpg
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bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
Don't really have much of an idea what they are worth. The original MSRP was $8k. They were heavily discounted toward the end of their production run, when I bought them (new) for around $5.5k. That was roughly a year ago.

I looked at your outboard crossovers. Nice!

Bryon
bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
I have removed the crossover from the speaker. Here is a link to the photos I took:

Focal 1027 crossover

I don't really know how to interpret what I'm seeing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bryon
magfan
1,583 posts
 
You may want to consider starting from 'scratch'.
Get a schematic even if you have to start tracing wires around.....

That board has (GASP!) 5 iron core inductors. In the Magnepan world of DIY, that is one of the first things to go.....change the iron core to an AIRcore inductor to eliminate possibilities of saturation.
Any series resistance changes can be made up using lower or higher resistor values.
Gotta have the schematic, first, though. Start tracing where the wires come TO the board from the amp.

Also, any new caps are likely larger than stock. It just seems to work out that way.
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
Bryon, help us help you by tracing a schematic diagram of all sections of the x-over. It's really easy to tell you to replace all the film caps with other expensive film caps, but that does no one except the cap seller any good. If you think that's beyond your capability, get someone else to do it. I find it easier to start with the output sections, not the inputs. Since the output wires are clearly labeled, you have a head-start on the project.
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