Is it good to upgrade the crossovers in your speakers?


A confessed audiophile, threw this Forum I have contracted “Tweakitus”.
QSA fuses, SRA Platforms, Townshend Podiums, NPS Q45T, ad nauseam.

The latest bug in my bonnet is upgrading the crossovers in my speakers.

I asked my speaker designer about part quality. He did mention that caps, for example, can cost as much as $800 each. And that he has gone up to $50 ones.

Like all things “Hi Fi”, cost does not necessarily dictate quality. And I doubt that I would opt for 2 $800 caps. But there must be a sweet spot for crossover components? Any ideas?

mglik

Showing 1 response by fsonicsmith

Ten years ago I had my vintage (1978) Large Advents and B&W 805 Matrixes (1997 or so) upgraded by John Van Leishout of Van L Speakerworks in Chicago. I pretty much gave him carte blanche within reason to upgrade everything. I know the caps, inductors, and internal wiring were replaced. The sound improvement was substantial in both sets of speakers. I recall that at some point he called me about various cap options for the B&W's ranging from $200 to $1500 per cap. I am pretty sure I told him to go with something in the $200-$300 range and that my "carte blanche" was not really blank. 

My recommendation is that if you are considering this truly for sound and not also for the fun of the exercise, than have a pro do the work.