Modifying Crossovers

I'm a big believer in the effect of using quality components in the crossover. I've done a modest amount of experimentation and have found that high quality parts can make a significant effect on tonal richness, dynamics, microdetails, and soundstage. 

Besides the obvious issues of resale value, warranty, etc., there are a few things to keep in mind:

Esoteric components, particularly capacitors, can add a tonal flavor that is different than the original design. This might be preferred by the listener or might not be, so just because a component is well regarded and much more expensive than the original part, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be an improvement since we all have different preferences. 

Many of the higher quality parts are bigger (sometimes considerably so) than the original parts. IT may be challenging to actually get the new parts to fit in your speaker. I use some capacitors in my speakers that are 50% bigger than a 12oz can. 

Some of these parts, particularly esoteric film capacitors, can take hundreds of hours to "break in". During this time, the sound can change considerably - sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. So you can't really make a judgement when you first install the parts.

@carlsbad2 - your crossovers look very nice - much neater than mine. I was pretty tight on space with the caps I ended up using. 

@carlsbad2 - I've been using these crossovers in my dipole planar-magnetic line arrays since November. They took a few months to fully break in, but are now sounding fabulous. 

@lemonhaze - 

I'm using the Dueland 0.01uF JDM Tinned Copper Foil Bypass caps on both the tweeter series cap and the midrange shunt caps, I didn't really notice much if any difference on the midrange caps, but they added a touch of sparkle and airiness in the tweeter circuit. 

I added these before the crossover caps were burned in though, so I'm not sure if they would have had the same affect after burn-in. But I'm really happy with the way my speakers are sounding now so don't want to make any changes. 

Yeah, I spent about $3000 for the parts in my current crossovers. These are high quality parts, but FAR from the most expensive parts available. I’ve seen some crossovers from Tidal and other high-end brands that use parts that are several times more expensive. Even at volume pricing, these crossovers could easily cost $5000 to $8000 in parts.

A number of years ago, I talked to the designer of some high-end speakers about how he picked crossover components. He said he listened to a variety of parts and selected the ones that offered acceptable performance for his cost target and the available space, AND that were also available in quantity from a vendor he was confident in. But he said the choice was rarely his favorite from a sound quality perspective.

A lot of the best sounding components are made by small manufacturers with limited production capacity. A speaker manufacturer that intends to sell hundreds or thousands of units can’t take the chance of designing in parts that may not be available when they need them.