Will I notice improvement with crossover mods?


I've finally discovered that the difference in sound between my two Hales Transcendence 5"s is due to a difference in crossover values between the two speakers. Aparently one of the speakers was at the correct values but the other speaker's crossover was off by over 10%. I've decided to repair the speakers by having both the crossovers completely redone with new caps, coils and resisters. The crossovers of both speakers will be upgraded to better parts and they will be the same correct values(evenly matched).
My question is that will I notice a big improvement with this upgrade/mod? I am having Solen foil caps replacing the old caps, Hepta- Litz coils replacing the old coils and improved resistors although I do not know exactly which ones. Opinion would be appreciated.
128x128mitchb
Congratulations!

I am glad you went for the DynamiCaps and Axon/Solen. You are getting great value there. The bigger coils are important in opening up the sound and what you noticing in the bass. The resistors remove the grain and edge from the sound, and leave a detailed, airy, silky sound.

If you are happy now, that is a great sign. Things will only continue to improve over the next couple of months. I think the first 25 hours are when a lot happens. The sound should open up and become more dynamic/exciting. You will most notice this in detail and high frequency extension. I take it you also replaced the speaker's internal cabling, and that needs a while to open up.

I think what you will hear and feel is a gradual, very subtle improvement that seems to manifest itself in late night sessions where you just look up and are getting great sound. During these times of great happiness, your memory might go back to the speaker mods, and then you will again feel how much it was worth it.
I am also very glad to see you move into the next stage of this hobby my friend. It is fun to hear the difference in the crossover components themselves.As the months pass you will scratch your head and wonder what took you so long to take that step.You have also opened up a can of worms. Now every time you listen to a pair of speakers.You will ask yourself ... what can I change in this speaker to fit my needs? LOL

All the Best!!
Thanks for all your well wishes. The speakers really are sounding better by the minute and I've only had them plugged in for about 24 hours. I have a lot to look forward to. I'm replacing the tweeters to a pair that I know will work well as the person at Pass Labs who designed my X250 amp had a pair of Hales just like mine and he used the tweeters I am getting to replace the ones I've got now. The main reason for this move is that my tweeters are inbalanced. When I first got my Hales new they had a dent in one of the tweeters domes and Hales replaced the entire tweeter driver. The tweeters never since then sounded the same as each other. I tried changing both the voice coils and the problem remained, I then decided it must be a crossover issue which started this whole crossover upgrade idea and know although sounding better the tweeters are the same amount different than before the crossover mod. By process of elimination it must be the tweeter driver as every other variable has been explored and taken care of. At least I have a better speaker in return for my efforts and the Seas H881 are supposed to be really nice with the Hales.
Thanks again for all your inputs as it has helped me get a better speaker. I'll post again in a few weeks to let you all know how they sound with a bit of burn in time.
Mitch
Keep in mind that there's a plethora of good tweets out there that COULD be near drop-in replacements. All you need is the impedance curve & efficiency of your present tweets (choose the one that sounds "better", obviously there are discrepancies there) OR, simply, the efficiency of the mid-driver. You also need the x-over frequency, but you've got that anyway. Scanspeak, Vifa (T series), the bigger Seas, Hiquphon, Morel 33...
Gregm, I was going to suggest the same thing. Although, the Hiquphons are smaller than most, and will not drop right in.

I would suggest the Vifa Ring Radiator. At $65 it is a steal, our speaker designer at Fried likes it better than the much more expensive ScanSpeak Revelator at the same company. I have the Revelator now in my Coincidents, but will say upon hearing the RingRadiator, it sounds very special.