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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
 
Face - Sorry, my last post wasn't that clear. The tweeter has 2 caps associated with it - C1 and C2 - that are 3.6uF and 6.8uF. What I was trying to say in my last post is that I'm currently leaning toward doing this:

1. Replacing the stock 3.6uF cap with a SINGLE 3.6uF ClarityCap MR.
2. Replacing the stock 6.8uF cap with a single 6.8uF Mundorf, (possibly silver/oil)

What do you think of that idea?

Bryon
reynolds853
385 posts
 
Bryon,

I just want to add that I respect Face's experience and would heed his advice.

John
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
I too wouldn't mix brands of caps between the 2 positions, and I wouldn't use Clarity caps if they were free.

Mundorf SOs are fine. If the caps are too large in diameter to reach the board, use a half-inch-square chunk of wood on the board as a spacer, cap on the wood, 3M foam tape holding all layers together, and a plastic ziptie thru the board.

But I'd still use SoniCap G1s and Platinums. :-)
.
bryoncunningham OP
890 posts
 
...use a half-inch-square chunk of wood on the board as a spacer, cap on the wood, 3M foam tape holding all layers together, and a plastic ziptie thru the board.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I was thinking of doing something like this.

Last rookie question for you: To create the holes for the zip ties to pass through the board, is it ok to drill through the board with a regular drill bit?

Bryon
magfan
1,583 posts
 
You might want to consider an all-new layout with point-2-point and terminal strip wiring.
You should change those nasty iron core inductors, too.....at least for the bass and possibly the midrange.

How many layers of conductor does the board have? IF a single layer on only 1 side, just drill and AVOID any traces. IF conductors on both sides, you'd best be REAL careful.

Did you go to the Humble Hi-Fi site? The site 'owner' DOES mix caps with claimed good results. This guy has tested multiple dozens of caps and has a fair grip on the subject matter.

Just an example, the caps in my crossovers have 4 in parallel to get the required value.
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