Upgrade 20 years old crossovers


My last thread informed me that the best thing I can do for my great 20 year old speakers is replace speaker wire inside cabinet and replace capacitors etc. on the cross over circuit board. Please help me prioritize in what order to change components on an old cross over circuit board say electrolytes, plate capacitors, resistors etc. Obviously there is diminishing return. Thanks in advance for helping out.
dcaudio

Showing 1 response by vman71

No doubt in 20yr old speakers, the xovers and internals will need some TLC. I upgrade xovers for many brands of speakers and I'll recommend to you, exactly what I do.

Basic:
Replace caps, resistors, internal wiring (silver coated copper), and inductors (inductors are case-by-case b/c if they are air core inductors, I just leave them alone or if they are in the woofer section of the circuit, I leave them alone)

Just by doing this, even using entry level brand caps like Kimber or Auricap, you'll take your speakers performance a very long way. This will cost you less than a pair of IC's or power cord. Not only does it cost less than an IC or power cord, you'll hear way more sonic improvement.

Another beauty of upgrading xovers, is (in my case) I don't have my customers ship their speakers, just the xovers themselves. This prevents damage to the speakers and keeps shipping costs very low.

Bottom line: no matter who does the xover upgrade, it takes the speakers performance a very long way.

Mike