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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
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
sean...I did outfit my speakers with AWG10 coils and fancy capacitors and I do think that performance improved, although I can't say that the slight change I made to the component values (crossover frequency) might not be the reason.

However, do you have any technical explanation regarding WHY a coil with 0.15 ohm DCR should sound different from one with DCR 0.65, apart from slightly less attenuation (so that the volume control needs to be cranked up a bit)? It's been noted that after passing through the coil, the signal traverses some hundred feet of very fine wire called a voice coil (or in my case fine wire glued to a mylar diaphram). Why does the DCR of the coil matter?
theaudiotweak
2,797 posts
 
If you want to make the stage blacker, quieter and have the music arrive noise free and I believe everyone does, then the most over looked, easiest, most cost effective ,and most fullfilling crossover mod is to replace the resistors.. They are the lowest of the low when engineered even into some of the finest speakers on the market..Many designers turn a deaf ear to the device that is the noisest in the circuit...the resistors..Tom
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
I agree ..from my limited experience the resistors really make a positive difference.Mills and Ohmite resistors are both terrific replacements for the basic sandcast resistors found in a lot of speakers.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Eldartford, while I don't know if a bigger coil, with its lower DCR, "measures" better, I do know that they seem to do magical things with the sound. Most people focus on the slam a bigger or better coil can produce, but the thing I hear even above that is that the sound just plain "opens up" when upgrades their inductors. It is beyond significant, and sometimes can be breathtaking.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
I also agree with the resistor thing. What I will add is that the refinement jumps up surprisingly. The grain and hash can be relieved with a mod that is about as inexpensive as things get.
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