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
have you heard Duelund capacitor? You owe it to yourself to try or at least audition one. It's one of the best if not the best cap right now. CMIIW.

cheers
Most of the new polycaps require a hundred hours or so to fully break in. Give them some time to smooth out before you go yanking them out.
Audioism I have heard that about Dueland. I know there are way better and Sonicap is the bottom of the better caps as I understand. I did want to see if that was my problem I kind of thought it would be a slam dunk right off the bat.

Sherod I have heard that about the 100 hours. I know some people do not believe in that kind of thing. I know people who do not believe a cartridge needs to break in either and I know for SURE they do.

I am not panicked about the caps till the end of break in. But I am concerned. I hope they open up.

You guys know when your wife comments on the difference you know it's BIG and says the new ones (and she did not know which speaker had them) sound like crap. I suspect she is talking about the tight sound of the new ones. The old ones like I said sounded open alive but to my ears very worn out. I prefer the new Sonicaps but they are (not yet) anywhere near the sound of the Paper in Oil when they were correct.

What surprises me most of all is that the Klipsch sound like everyone else's speakers with the Sonicaps? I always thought I liked the sound of the horns "live feel" but now I am starting to think that may be just paper in oil caps sound for the midrange.
There are many top speaker companies who currently use Mundorf oil caps in their crossovers. You can get a lot more feedback on this subject on the Tweaks forum at Audio Asylum web site. The Sonicaps are a good quality cap. They might or might not be the right cap for your Klipsch speakers, but since you have them in there, I'd give them some continous play to make sure whether you like them or not in that location. Until the Sonicaps have been played continously for a few days, they will have a somewhat tight and restricted sound. After break-in, they'll begin to open up in the midrange while the frequency extremes will extend and smooth out as well. Here's a thread on AA for your info:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=hug&n=6874&highlight=crossover+caps+for+Klipsch&r=&session=
Here's another thread on the La Scalas:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=hug&n=2674&highlight=la+scala+crossover

There are more threads in the Hi efficiency speaker forum on AA. Also, I believe Klipsch has a chat forum on their web site with much info re: crossover cap replacement in the La Scala.