Speaker crossover mod. Your advice?

Listen to Al.

The advantage of multiple caps in parallel? Lower ESR.

The DIS advantage? Lots of space. And, since caps are not 'pure' capacitance, they also have an inductive AND resistive component. Careful consideration must be given such changes.

Changing the caps without addressing the inductor is only 1/2 the job. if that.

Caps are also considered microphonic, which is a good reason to get the crossover OUT of the enclosure, not to mention the increased volume taken up the the caps could conceivably change the bass tuning.

Get an integrated plan together.

I have read a large fraction of the Mundorf s/o thread, the entire humblehomemadehifi shootout, and several others threads devoted to caps and crossover mods. I now have a plan...

1. Tweeter cap C1. Replace with a single 3.6uF ClarityCap MR.
2. Tweeter cap C2. Replace with a single 6.8uf Mundorf silver/oil.
3. Tweeter resistor R1. Replace with a Duelund CAST resistor.

My reasoning, FWIW...

--I would like to begin with the tweeter only. I very well may replace other crossover components in the future, but as a beginner, I would like to approach this in steps. Hence I will not be replacing any inductors at this time.

--I wanted to avoid bypassing caps, since several people warn about possible smearing effects. Hence each cap will be replaced with a single cap of identical value.

--I want to try to make the treble smoother and more liquid. Hence the choice of the Mundorf s/o for the 6.8uF cap. But the Mundorf s/o is not available in 3.6uF. Hence the choice of the ClarityCap MR for that position. I know that some folks discourage mixing caps from different manufacturers, but others report good results with that approach. So I will give it a try. My hope is that the liquidity of the Mundorf s/o and the transparency of the Clarity MR will combine to give me a pleasing balance of both characteristics.

--I cannot afford Duelund caps at the moment.

--I cannot go external.

That's the plan.

Bryon

E-mail Jeffrey Glowacki of Sonic Craft for advice. He knows more about crossover parts than ALL of us put together.

mail@soniccraft.com
.

Will do.

Just spoke with Jeff from Sonic Craft. Very knowledgable and very helpful. Here is what he recommended:

1. Tweeter cap C1. Replace with (2) Mundorf s/o in parallel (1.8uF + 1.8uF)

2. Tweeter cap C2. Replace with (1) Mundorf s/o.

3. Tweeter Resistor R1. Replace with Mills MRA-12.

4. Midrange cap C3. Replace with Jupiter Vintage Flatstack + Black Gate AC series in parallel (exact values TBD).

5. Midrange caps C4 & C5. Replace with Sonicaps Gen 1.

6. Bass caps C6 & C7. Replace with Axon or Solen caps.