The one tweak most Focals need ...

I had wondered about this. I have Chorus 807v’s and researched swapping to a more refined tweeter. 
I mighty try this instead

Those tweets are hard to replace.


 The Mundorf MKP’s are cheap and to me, a big improvement.

Give them 48 hours to break in.

Hey Erik.  I have a pair of older Focal Cobalt surround speakers that use the old metal inverted dome tweeter.  When you say upgrade the caps to Mundorf or Clarity, what would be the result?  Are we looking at a smoother sound?  Or more resolution / transparency?  Or what?!?

No evidence that replacing the caps will improve the sound. It could be make believe. 

Narrow minded troll is back at it.  

Hey @auxinput -

Smoother is exactly the word. I find the Solen caps Focal uses to be really pretty harsh sounding. I prefer Mundorf MKP's relatively to those. though not all agree.

Clarity is less dark, but also a lot less harsh than what Focal puts in.

I suggest that experimentation here is your key to learning. Try it and come back and tell me what you found. :)

Best,
Erik

Well, I ordered some Clarity CSA caps.  They seemed to be the only ones that would fit in those positions.  If I hear any significant difference, I'll report back (in time), but since these are used as surround speakers, I'm not sure that I would be that clinical in listening.

I'm a little surprised! I thought CSA's ran a little larger than Mundorfs.

Do let us know!


Erik

If you going to do Xover caps  a clarity CSA would be minimum 
I have found best bang for a higher end cap the German Audyn 
true Copper Max caps . Parts connecxion just started selling them     I have used them in higher end builds, and recently put them in 
my new Lampizater dac , they are very natural with excellent resolution , very close to the Jupiter copper foil ,at half the cost .
i compared them extensively.

Hey @audioman58

I like Clarity a great deal and the Audyn Copper line a lot also.
However in this particular case, I think you'd be amazed at how much better Mundorf MKP's are to Focal's default.

Still, yeah, Clarity and Audyn is better. Audyn, like all copper caps, are HUGE though.

well, yeah, I guess I could have gone with the Mundof EVO caps, but I wanted to try for the resolution of the Clarity CSA and I didn't want to spend as much on the EVO SGO.

Regarding the vast majority of speakers even at over $10 k many use 
capacitors which I consider substandard like Solen which are rated a 6 
vs 15 for the worlds best Duelund cast caps for example. I upgrade my speakers always . If speaker company will give you the Upgrade  options go for it .you can easily gains  15-20% better sounding Loudspeaker.

Hey @auxinput

I so don't like Mundorf's top end caps at all, that's why I didn't suggest them, especially not with Focal's tweeter behavior.

Then of course there is the physical size ...

I guess if I could describe the Mundorf MKP by comparison to Focal/Solen it is darker but a lot smoother.

The EVO scintillates. Adds a lot of color saturation at the mid/top end which is just not natural to my ears. That + the way those inverted domes sound naturally makes it go the wrong way.
The Clarity is more smooth, and also not nearly as dark as the MKP. It _is_ a better cap in absolute terms than the MKP, but ... like the Batman, I like the darkness. :)

Almost anything is better than the stock Solen PPA 250V caps.
There is also the inductor used for the woofer.  The wire thickness of the series inductor is embarassing.  You can measure a whole 1Ohm DCR in some cases.

Hey @johnsonwu

I agree with you about the caps, but sometimes DCR in a coil is a good thing, as it can be part of a baffle step compensation.  Don't go reducing that without understanding the circuit.

Especially in shunts like Zobel or notch filters.

Best,

Erik

erik_squires.  How much do you think to rebuild a new cross over for a 3 way speakers home made 8" woofer, Vifa 1" silk dome tweeter, Audax 3" carbon fiber midrange. 25-25000 hz.  I want especialy more top end presence and definition, mid and bas are OK.  The present cross over is glued to the interior baffle, so I would need to complete rebuild it probably.  The cross over parts are not well known and never find the brand on internet.  Would it worth to change the tweeter ?

audiosense -

There are three ways for you to go I think:

1 If you want to try inexpensively, update any caps in series with the tweeter and midrange.
2 Get a miniDSP and attempt to EQ your tastes into the speaker
3 Get a brand new kit.

The hardest thing for newbies to do is take an old speaker and switch a single driver. It's a lot of work, and may not be worth it due to the quality of the parts involved in the original, the cost of the new crossover, etc.

This is totally a great learning exercise. You will learn speaker measurement and analysis, you'll get new tools, and be able to dial in exactly what you want, but .... it is ONLY worth doing if you want to invest in yourself that much. To do it to reuse the parts you have, not really worth it at all.

I think the newer Focal 2's & 3's use Mundorf caps.
And, I honestly would have no idea as to how to check without destroying the cabinet.

How did you get to the caps?

ozzy

I tweaked my Focal Sopra 2's the right way: I got rid of them; biggest audio disappointment thus far;  
 

Ozzy :

Often via either a panel in the back, or the woofer.

erik_squies,

Thanks, I did notice that there is a panel around the speaker lugs. I doubt if I will ever remove the panel though. But I am curious about the crossover components.

dpac996,

I am really surprised to hear your comments about the Focal 2's. I am using a Ayre preamp and Bob Carver 350 mono blocks and couldn't be happier.
I guess that's why there are so many choices...

ozzy