What capacitor would you use to upgrade Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary?
Well, look at this! A man in Cologne, Germany has the same thought as me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrm803g5n08 At 10:59 he shows a pic of the upgrade. He's using a $10 Clarity cap. He also swapped out a 2.2R resistor. Hmmm...can't hurt. Not sure how much it helps. |
If anyone needs the schematic, PM me. Already got you mgrissom. My Lintons got stuck in a media room. I can't get them out. Why? They are hooked to a $750 Marantz receiver playing television and movies. That combo is wonderful. None of that television sound glare or movie track pitchiness plagues me. Just smooooooooth. But, I feel guilty as they deserve to be in a proper two channel setup. |
Hey adg101, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I should've noted that when I say the Lintons got "stuck" hooked to that Marantz it's only because they sounded so great together in a media room. I put the upgrade on hold because the Lintons are serving that duty too well. I have a dedicated listening space with Cornwall IVs so I don't need the Lintons in that space any longer. But if I do move the Lintons to a dedicated listening space at some point, it is then that I'd upgrade them. By the way, I have fed the Lintons with the following other more legitimate amps:
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DK, I think what is going on with Wharfedale is much simpler than a potential strategic move to keep the Linton from competing with the Elysian. My theory is that the speaker was built to a price point where they figured out the profit margin they needed on the units and selected parts accordingly. While it certainly helps to get better educated before performing a crossover surgery, I would recommend leaving the values and tolerances where they are and upgrading with capacitors and resistors of near identical values/tolerances but with much better product. That way you stay true to the designer's work on the network. I sold mine and haven't been inside the Linton in a long time so I cannot recall how easy the surgery would be. But if it were me, I'd start with upgrading the cap(s) on the tweeter then midrange. Also, I saw the forum thread you linked to above. I saw there was debate about bypassing caps. I'd softly recommend not doing that and just going for a cap replacement where you think it would help. A better cap will provide better signal and get out of the way. Bypassing caps in parallel still leaves the allegedly inferior, inexpensive generic cap in place. In my humble view, we are generally better off by putting in an identical value better cap than playing the bypass game. Others believe otherwise though. Best of luck! Enjoy the surgery. |
@davekine, You pose good questions. I say they are good because you are thinking about it correctly and there are no clear answers. Disclaimer--I'm good at spending other peoples money--or so my wife says. That out of the way, I'd upgrade as much as you can afford on the mid and treble side of the network. And, mixing cap makes is fine, but I'd go as good as you can afford. For example, I recently did the caps on my Klipsch Cornwall IVs. I hated the fact that upgrading all caps on the tweeter and midhorn were going to cost me $900 when I included Path Audio resistors (dumping ceramic cast resistors). But, these are a $6k speaker and I thought they deserve the best. Don't people spend $900 on speaker cables? At any rate, I wouldn't worry as much about inductors for now. They can have an impact but from what I recall the inductors weren't junk in the W-Dales. My two favorite caps right now are VCap ODAMs (like them better than VCap CuTfs, which are stellar in their own right) and ClarityCap CMR. The ODAMs get the nod against many on sound but when you look at their size you will be happy to install them! Finally, I really wish I could've heard the Lintons upgraded. They are just a wonderful speaker. I think they are a hi fi bargain of the last decade. When the guy who bought mine showed up to pick them up, he couldn't believe how heavy, solid, and beautiful they were for a $1500 speaker with stands. |
