Should I recap my speakers? If so who can do it?

How do you know if your caps are bad? I assume visible leakage would be a clue. What if they look OK? I have a set of Snell Type A V5's. Kevin Voecks went crazy with large outboard passive crossovers. They were built in 1996. It seems to me that streamlining them could be for the better. Opinions please. Thank you. Joe

Age is a factor for electrolytic caps. Industry standard life is 15 years. Even if capacitance is still within spec, ESR is probably quite a bit higher than when new.

Polypropylene caps usually sound much better than electrolytic or mylar.

Replacing 20 year old mylars with modern polyprolylene can be a revelation.

Film and foil are preferred, but more costly. High quality Metalized film work very well and represent the best bang for the buck.

Be aware that capacitor 'reviews' seldom take into account contributing factors and are valid for that equipment only colored by the reviews predilections and prejudice. As always, Your Mileage Will Vary.

Quite right, ieales.

To comply with your concern, I initially experimented with an ESL based vinyl system, and classical music. This has since been upgraded to air bearing TT, etc. Current impressions are consistent with the formal experiment detailed above (I DIY all my electronics, and experiment continually).

+1 for Mills. Few more reasons they are worth it:

• Small for power rating, makes them easier to fit and leave air clearance
• Dead accurate resistance
• Extremely thermally stable 

Fascinating thread.  I have considered upgrading the crossovers on my Coincident Super Victory II speakers.   This discussion prompted me to take a look at the crossovers to see what might be done.  I expected to find the crossovers behind the plate to which the binding posts are attached, but when I pulled those plates away from the speaker cabinet, there was no crossover evident.  It would seem that the crossover must be behind one of the drivers.  I know that the SV IIs do not use a board, but rather point to point wiring.   Anyone know anything about these speakers?