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
Johnk I can understand Klipsch not for everyone. What kind of amps? I had used Bryston and it was awful on Klipsch. They are very sensitive. What kind of new horns? I can see new being better but have not heard any of the top new horns. Also digital and horns is not the best either. Any harshness up the chain is exposed in an often painful way.

I know Arthur Salvatore has higher ranked horns but $27k is wayyy out of my range since Lascala's are only worth 1k to 1.5k. So even with 1k into crossovers still less than 10% of those speaker cost.

http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Speakers.html#ClA

I would like to hear the mega $ speakers though just as a reference. Right now I have not heard better than Lascala except older Khorns.

This post (and I have no idea how it is going to go) is going to help the person (who like me) is trying to get the most out of pretty cheap speakers.
I tried many many amps pres etc while I owned the klipschs I always had other loudspeakers and systems about so easy to compare. Not saying klipsch is bad just klipsch might not be right for others. If your looking to improve on a k horn tweeters and crossovers are a good start. Next address the cabinets. When I built a doubled baltic birch ply cabinet with modern damping the bass was greatly improved as was the imaging, think cabinet vibration smeared image from mid and tweeter.
Day 2.
Yesterday the speakers seemed so dynamic today second thoughts on the repair. I am hearing less of the positives and more of the break-up in sound quality.

Is it going to be worth the 1k???? I hope they come back to life. L
When volume turned down they do not sound as bad turning them up reveals the hard sound.

Should be around 1 week until nw crossover is in.

I hope this info will help people in the future looking at spending as much on speakers to bring back to life as the value of the speakers. (used) Wondering if you are doing the right thing.

At this time I have no idea how I will feel in the end. Ecstatic or did I just throw 1k into the wind????
The dorfs I use take awhile to break in. But the new crossover could be showing some of the limitations of the vintage drivers etc. Many variables with crossovers- drivers etc toss in age just another to go wrong, still end result might be worth the effort but then again it might not.
John I have not put the Mundorf's in yet but you could be right. What I could not find was info on what the sound difference was people would just say they did or did not like it.

This will put it into perspective. (the perspective of is it wise to spend 1k on a crossover on speakers worth barely more than 1k)