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
Is there any updates on the Jupiter copper foil caps to try.

Having tried the duelund cast, they are as good as it gets, neutral and doesnt highlight the.sound in any.way and just does things very well.

The CUTFs certainly do seem to let a tad of warm through the midrange, each having their strengths, the TFTFs still give that drive to the music like no other caps, no even the CUTFs or Casts.

Overall, if a balance can be matched with the CUTFs and TFTf, it can make a mighty fine sound with a touch of Duelunds to just bind the whole picture everything together.

I did have some success mating the mundorf sio bypassed with the TFTF which was very nice too and need more testing. I was thinking a CUTF bypassed with the TFTF might hit the spot.
Still working on the crossovers and bi-amplification. Posted some photos and comments in my system's tread.
Just an FYI to all. I have ended up with Jupiter Flat Stacked caps in my speaker on the mids and tweeter. After extensive break in they surpassed the Mundorf SIO to my ears. They are more full bodied sounding than the Mundorf and that ultimately won me over. The Jupiters can sound a tad dull at first, but after break in they open up nicely.

Still waiting on the new Jupiter caps for my dac!
Flat bottom caps such as the Duelund and Jupiter can be enhanced even further when mounted and secured on Audio Points .2's and APCD2's. I acquired a few years ago Clarity Cap DTAC caps that have a center taped bobbin and bolted these in my outboard crossovers. Between the caps and the tone wood I placed the coupling discs and 1.0 points and drew the capacitor down and secured thru the bottom bobbin hole. When you adjust the tension of the caps to the coupling points you can affect their apparent speed. I had these caps cryo'd several times and cut flying leads of 12 gauge copper foil. I performed the same surface mounting to the inductors as well. I clamped these from the top side with hard wood and secured with brass hardware. All devices are hard mounted and direct coupled no soft materials to impede energy transfer. Tom.. Star Sound Technologies.