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Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in Oil

I wished I could find a log with information on caps. I have found many saying tremendous improvement etc. but not a detailed account of what the changes have been. I have had the same speakers for many years so am very familiar with them. (25+ years) The speakers are a set of Klipsch Lascala's. They have Alnico magnets in the mids and ceramic woofers and tweeters. The front end is Linn LP12 and Linn pre amp and amp. The speaker wire is 12 gauge and new wire.

I LOVE these speakers around 1 year ago they started to sound like garbage. As many have said they are VERY sensitive to the components before them. They are also showing what I think is the effect of worn out caps.

There are many out here on these boards I know of that are using the Klipsch (heritage) with cheaper Japanese electronics because the speakers are cheap! (for what they can do) One thing I would recommend is give these speakers the best quality musical sources you can afford. There is a LOT to get out of these speakers. My other speakers are Linn speakers at around 4k new with Linn tri-wire (I think about 1k for that) and the Klipsch DESTROY them in my mind. If you like "live feel" there is nothing like them. In fact it shocks me how little speakers have improved in 30 years (or 60 years in the Khorns instance)

In fact I question Linn's theory (that they have proved many times) that the source is the most important in the Hi-Fi chain. Linn's theory is top notch source with lessor rest of gear including speakers trumps expensive speakers with lessor source. I think is right if all things are equal but Klipsch heritage are NOT equal! They make a sound and feel that most either LOVE or hate. (I am in the LOVE camp and other speakers are boring to me)

So here goes and I hope this helps guys looking at caps in the future. Keep in mind Klipsch (heritage Khorns Belle's and Lascala's especially) are likely to show the effects of crossover changes more then most.

1 The caps are 30 years old and
2 the speakers being horn driven make changes 10x times more apparent.

Someone once told me find speakers and components you like THEN start to tweak if needed. Don't tweak something you not in love with. Makes sense to me.

So sound
Record is Let it Be (Beatles)
The voices are hard almost sounds like a worn out stylus.
Treble is very hard. I Me Mine has hard sounding guitars. Symbals sound awful. Everything has a digital vs. analog comparison x50! Paul's voice not as bad as John's and George's. Voices will crack.

different lp
Trumpets sound awful. Tambourine terrible. Bass is not great seems shy (compared to normal) but the bad caps draw soooooo much attention to the broken up mid range and hard highs that are not bright if anything it seems the highs are not working up to snuff. I have went many times to speaker to make sure tweeters are even working.

All in all they sound like crap except these Klipsch have such fantastic dynamics that even when not right they are exciting!

Makes me wonder about the people who do not like them if they are hearing worn out caps and cheap electronics? Then I can see why they do not like them! If I did not know better from 25+ years of ownership that would make sense.

For the new crossover I have chosen Mundorf Silver in Oil from what I have read and can afford. I want a warm not overly detailed sound as Klipsch already has lots of detail and does not need to be "livened up" they need lush smooth sounding caps. Hope I have made the right choice?

When the crossover is in I will do a initial impression on same lp's. Right now it goes from really bad (on what may be worn vinyl) to not as bad but NOT great on great vinyl. (I know the quality of the vinyl because tested on other speakers Linn)

The new caps are Mundorf Silver in Oil and new copper foil inductors are coming. I will at the same time be rewiring the speakers to 12 guage from the lamp cord that PWK put in. PWK was a master at getting very good sound often with crap by today's standards components.

The choice of speakers would be a toss up now depending on what I am listening to. Klipsch vastly more dynamic but if the breaking up of the sound becomes to much to effect enjoyment the Linn would be a better choice on that Lp. If I could I would switch a button back and forth between speakers depending on song and how bad the break-up sound was bothering me.

volleyguy

Showing 2 responses by matrix

matrix
305 posts
 
Now it explains it... Well I see where your true issues lie...

Your in need of some real electronics my friend no offense.. Your simply trying to pry some very old and distorted equipment back by now "covering it" with good filtering..and re-capping it. This includes your speakers and old vintage gear.

No doubt your cast caps are good, but the VSF's are just fine in a system with the right amps..

You need to seriously consider not wasting another 2000 to 3000 on more caps to cover up raspy horns driven by mediocre equipment to get this "Magical vintage sound"

To me it sounds that your money will definitely take you furthest with a minimum of getting PURE Class A Mono blocks Solid state or good stereo amp class A, Yes one made in this CENTURY!

I think your fighting a difficult battle on several fronts, not just reviving your old speakers or gear with all this re-capping exercise..

As for vinyl thats almost silly, not sure if your cleaning and setting up everything correctly.. As a matter of fact the Cast caps will take most vinyl to a Higher level not the other way around. Cleaning machine, good vinyl rig, and nice amps to actually drive your speakers will cost you at this point what you want in bandaid approach of capacitors!

Don't get me wrong the right mix of caps especially in the right crossover is great for really getting the most out of your system, but I think you need much more work up front if the VSF cap sounds distorted!!! Ha, thats just insane, or that speaker is really very colored being older horns. Most that do this stuff, amature or professional reading this thread I believe would agree at this point, so please save yourself before coughing up such ridiculous amounts of money on more caps when it can get you a first class system instead of all this shot in the dark hopes of re-viving more!
matrix
305 posts
 
No doubt my post was not very clear..

**First I totally agree, horns from then or now are the way to go for effective and cheaper alternative than several of the so called "esoteric" speakers..

Never would I or could I dispute.. By the way I was not directing a finger at your choice of gear, as
S.E.T is absolutely the way to go!! But I think the cost and time put into such Old tube gear you are trying to accomplish at these price points you will in fact find much newer SET amp designs to be quieter, and much more dynamic, with all the goodies you seem to feel comes from your CAst caps being the main "Quieting and distortion free" culprit.

Point being as I see above you took us on a journey of old vs. new, or technology being inferior.. That was not my purpose here... I appoligize, as the old horns spruced up with mega quality crossovers is in fact my favorite way to short cut and be very cost effective too :-)

My opinion is that you can do much better with thousands on new century tube equipment which is much more designed toward silent and consistent operation with good quality caps in mind already than trying to Retro grade everything in the system at the levels you are starting to exhibit here was really my point...

For example I can tell you right now VSF or Cast no matter putting a fisher amp on it vs. a good newer version tube amp such as a Class A SET for a good deal on Audiogon will probably help you sleep at night knowing you did the best you can with that kinda money, only as I see above you mentioned maybe going in and putting another 2000 in crossover on the speaker, I also see you decided to not go that far, so I understand. Hope this helps...Trust me you don't need to prove to me the value of some vintage designs over new costly crap :-)
Good luck
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