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 2 responses by knotscott

"Have you ever replaced the caps and resistors in your speakers crossovers, and to your ears did that result in better sound quality?"

Yes, and yes. Many times. On a good system it’s pretty audible. It helps reduce/eliminate one of many potential sources of masking the signal.

I haven’t tried the modern boutique caps, but always found Solen to be a good bang for the buck. My best caps are from Convergent and are unobtainium. GS Research likes the Clarity Caps. Wire wound non-inductive resistors, larger gauge air core inductors, and sometimes better wire are also desirable. Be mindful of any significant changes to DC resistance between inductors. Remove any circuit breakers and fuses too, but it goes without saying that you have to be mindful of the fact that they're no longer protected. Sometimes adding a bit of extra polyfil can be beneficial in the mids by reducing cabinet resonance too.

What speakers are in play here?

It couldn’t hurt to ask them if the upgrade is still available, or at least what they’d recommend. Otherwise, go your own way...it should still be an upgrade from cheap electrolytics, sand cast resistors, and iron core inductors. Should definitely be fun to do if you’ve got that gene! Good luck!

Don't recommend adding polyfil to open baffle speakers! 😁