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A previous discussion included a statement about crossover components.

The commentator stated something to the effect that some very high end speakers really cheaped out on the capacitors and resistors in their crossovers, and hinted that replacing them with high quality components might improve the sound quality of the speakers. My question is "Have you ever replaced the caps and resistors in your speakers crossovers, and to your ears did that result in better sound quality?" Also, what brands of caps and resistors do you consider to be "the best", and why?

peporter

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,802 posts
 

Whether speaker makers scale their crossover components with the rest of the system varies a great deal.

Magico and B&W are two brands that do, using higher end Mundorf in the higher end speakers.  Focal is a brand I've only seen use OEM versions of low-mid grade Solen caps at best.

Personally I don't like high end Mundorf caps as I think they are a bit oversaturated, too colorful and splashy.  I do prefer Clarity caps overall though I've found that the high end Clarity caps still benefit from bypassing with copper foil caps at the larger (> 4uF) sizes. 

I have heard really good things about upgrading Wharferdale Diamonds even with low end Mundorf MKPs (I like the MKP's the most in the Mundorf line).

I suggest anyone who really wants to get into this to build speaker kits instead of starting off with an expensive pair of speakers. It's also much more rewarding.

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