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
My auditory receptors communicated to my brain most recently that when I installed a pair of .68 Clarity Cap MR's directly across the 12 volt input of my hybrid Altmann multi dac that I was hearing more air molecules in my listening room. In fact this simple addition made more difference than the 130,000 mfd. storage bank coming off the battery on its way to the dac. This bank of caps are bypassed by film and foils. The MR's at their point of entry made for a stunning improvement for a somewhat minimal cost. Very easy to implement. Tom
Hi Jburidan , I can confirm the quality of the Clarity MR. For 3 weeks ago i removed my Mundorf s/g/o 1.5 uF from my Tannoy HPD-385a. The difference was huge. They are very very neutral and for me close to perfectly balanced.
On the Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold on her album Songbird , The Mundorf was tilting the treble so i nearly went into a state of insanity.
I have V-CAPS CuFT in my pre-amps and mono 6c33 amps. Now i am so happy and even if this thread sometimes is a little off topic , It for sure "saved" my HIFI life. We are quite some people here in Denmark who have choosen the V-Caps and Clarity and i can said for sure all the persons i know would thanks volleyguy a lot for starting this thread for almost 4 years ago.
Wow Micheal you are right almost 4 years ago.

This thread has helped me a lot as well. I can for sure say I do not lust over any Audio gear, which saves me money!

I have one stock vintage amp except for the power supply which is Jensen Electrolytic and it sounds terrible! (just hooked back up)

I would really like to hear a paper in oil power supply and have hoped someone else on here would try it? I was quite shocked to hear the difference in power supply.
Hi Volleyguy , My good friend who builds and sell tube amps are taking a lot about the Electrolytic Cap over the anode , and on my 6c33 amps this is 330 uF. Some one who has the same amp , are going to try some Black Gate so i'll get a comment in the near future. I once have another amp which uses the Jensen Photo Flash Caps. They are expensive but they changes everything i remember. Speed is close to everything :-)

A little off topic , did you buy the oppo , you have talked about ???