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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
bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
Hi Jeffrey - Your advice is greatly appreciated.

RE: SoniCaps Gen 1 caps. They have a 3.6uF cap and a 6.8uF cap, but both are only 200V, whereas the stock Focal caps are 250V. So I assume that's not going to work.

RE: SoniCap Platinum caps. They don't come in the correct uF values, nor do I see any combination of 2 caps that sum to the correct values. Not to mention, they are, to use your phrase, more than I choose to afford. :-) I was hoping to do the whole project for $300-$500, so I need to find caps in the $100 range or so.

RE: MultiCaps RTX caps. Again, I don't see the correct values, nor do I see any combinations of 2 caps that sum to the correct values. Also, they tend to be 200V like the SoniCaps.

Hence the search for caps continues...

RE: Mills MRA-12 resistors. This is a stupid question, but I assume that replacing the stock 7 watt resistor with a 12 watt resistor is fine, provided that they have the same ohms rating (of 5.6). Is that correct?

Bryon
face
516 posts
 
Jeffreybehr, have you tried Clarity's MR caps? The rest of Clarity's lines are mediocre in comparison. And as much as I like Sonic Caps, there is absolutely no comparison between Sonic Cap Gen I's and MR's.

Bryon, floating caps is fine as long as the leads are protected with shrink wrap, etc... The leads on MR's are generally pretty long.
poloman's avatar
poloman
96 posts
 
See my thread on B&W 802 Xover mods. Just changed all the caps
magfan
1,583 posts
 
More capacitor tests than you'd have thought possible.....
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

conclusion? Try for yourself.

Eld is correct. L6 is a roadblock inductor.
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
Byron, the approximate voltage-rating minimum for x-over caps is about FIFTY. 250VDC caps are used by manufacturers because they're available. 100s and 200s will work perfectly.

One can always use higher-power-rated resistors to replace lower-rated ones.

In paralleling caps, one uses the SoniCap Gen.1 for most of the value and the RTX or Platinum as the 'filler'. The higher proportion of higher-quality cap, the better-overall the sound is. And remember, ending up within c. 5% of the rated values is JUST FINE.

You're making this project WAY too difficult. :-)
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