Which Budget Friendly Floorstanders Next?

Kalali,

It is weird. Magico and B&W are two brands which I think well balance internal and external components, and I say this being a fan-boy of neither, but appreciate their internals. :)

What I think happens is this: Builders decide they need a speaker worth $x. To achieve a perceived value of $x they must get drivers worth at least x/10, and the internal, invisible components never make it to the equation.

Of course, this formula is heatedly argued by the less informed (zing!) but it seems to hold true outside of purely in-house drivers. With the right brand it’s x/20. With the wrong brand x/5. Still the median is x/10.

But also of course, not a lot of people think there is a difference between a $1 capacitor and a $200 capacitor. Sometimes the $1 sounds better. :)

So price alone is no reason to pick a cap, going up or down, either.

Building my own speakers, I spent about 1/3rd of my parts cost on the crossovers. With $500 tweets, you can do the math. :)

Best,


E

Kalali,

It's very specific. :) To be honest, not everyone agrees with me regarding Mundorf MKP's, so it's also a bit personal.

Brands I know which benefit are Focal, Wharferdale and old Thiel.

Focal and Thiel seem to have used Solen's. Wharferdale generics. Focal uses re-branded caps, but are still apparently Solen.

It also depends on what the original maker uses. B&W had a line of 2 identical speakers, the only difference was the quality of the crossover cap. $8 cap added $300 to price.

In the top-end, B&W uses mid-range Mundorfs. Magico uses only top-end Mundorfs, and lots of them.

Personally, I prefer Clarity Capacitor house sound to Mundorf. Certainly if you buy a Magico, and immediately want to trade caps, there's something seriously wrong with you. :)

But with working-joe speakers (like I can afford)  and the brands mentioned above, these are worthwhile experiments.

Best,


E

Capacitors can be part of every filter, hi, low and band-pass filters.

In the tweeter section, yes, they block bass, preventing damage and ensuring the tweeters operate only within the range they were designed for. Operating below this range would not only be dangerous, but also create tremendous distortion.

Having "more" or "brighter" tweeters is not always better. If you wanted to make a mod like that you should reduce series resistance. But that’s not what I am suggesting.

I certainly don’t think the MKP’s will "britghten" them but smooth and warm them up tremendously, as well as give you tons and tons of low level detail.

Focal’s are IMHO also guilty of this sin, and mods to them I have made with Mundorf MKP’s were always worthwhile.

I don't think the Mundorf MKP's are the best by any means, but they are very good, inexpensive, and less objectionable to my ears than some higher end models.


Best,


E

Mundorf MKP caps are around $7. So even if you replace 3, it's still $21 / speaker. :)

Best,

E

Dude,

Wish I had known. Wharferdale's are totally upgrade-able. They put in really nice tweets with crappy capacitors. Even an inexpensive film like a Mundorf MKP can really do a nice job for them.

Otherwise, I really like Monitor Audio.

Best,

E