I lean pretty strongly towards--don't mess with it, if it isn't broken. Cross-overs are voiced for the speakers. In most cases, even with improved parts and wires, you will usually take 1 step forward and 3 steps back. I could go into examples--but everyone is different. Suffice to say, that even a simple wire upgrade in a speaker can actually give you much worse results because the crossover was voiced for the wire used and thus an "upgrade" causes a loss of "magic". If you do decide to experiment--save the old parts--and label where they go. Also--I don't necessarily feel this way about amps and other electronics because the do not have the "voicing" so to speak. Speakers are a transducer and thus the synergistic nature of the cross over and drivers (and wiring) can not be broken down into confined specifications of what is supposed to do without the other. In electronics--such as amplifiers--the power supply (or other subassemblies) can be broken down into specifications for ripple, noise, etc--which can be independently improved by better parts--i.e. capacitors etc.
"Parts upgrade" on crossovers -Any experiences?
I remeber upgrading the crossovers of a pair of B&W DM12's with esoteric resistors, caps and wiring (about 10 years ago). In the end I got a different speaker. The bottom end seemed improved and the highs were more delicate and smoother, but the midrange had lost some of the magic. I could not deal with the decreased midrange quality so I re-soldered most of the parts back to the crossovers but left the upgraded wire (the wire in there looked like tined copper and was tied with a Molex connector to the board!). I changed the parts since I felt that early 80's speakers could only benefit from higher quality parts and was worried that the cap values might be out of spec. I am currently using a pair of KEF 101 and I've been thinking about upgrading crossovers with Solen Caps, maybe some Caddok Resistors and Cardas or Kimber wire. The KEFs sound great but if I can get more out of them, I might give it a try. Anyone do similar upgrades with an increase in ALL aspects of your speakers performance...or have BAD results...or find the end result a mixed bag of better here, but worse there (like me)? Also, any input on what parts / brands to use and which not to use? Are Solen caps good choices (or are there others that work much better for this application)? Resisters Brands?
I am purposely leavig out the issue of active crossovers (don't want to find 4 identical monoblocks to run my speakers).
I am purposely leavig out the issue of active crossovers (don't want to find 4 identical monoblocks to run my speakers).