Speaker crossover mod. Your advice?

I too wouldn't mix brands of caps between the 2 positions, and I wouldn't use Clarity caps if they were free.

Mundorf SOs are fine. If the caps are too large in diameter to reach the board, use a half-inch-square chunk of wood on the board as a spacer, cap on the wood, 3M foam tape holding all layers together, and a plastic ziptie thru the board.

But I'd still use SoniCap G1s and Platinums. :-)
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...use a half-inch-square chunk of wood on the board as a spacer, cap on the wood, 3M foam tape holding all layers together, and a plastic ziptie thru the board.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I was thinking of doing something like this.

Last rookie question for you: To create the holes for the zip ties to pass through the board, is it ok to drill through the board with a regular drill bit?

Bryon

You might want to consider an all-new layout with point-2-point and terminal strip wiring.
You should change those nasty iron core inductors, too.....at least for the bass and possibly the midrange.

How many layers of conductor does the board have? IF a single layer on only 1 side, just drill and AVOID any traces. IF conductors on both sides, you'd best be REAL careful.

Did you go to the Humble Hi-Fi site? The site 'owner' DOES mix caps with claimed good results. This guy has tested multiple dozens of caps and has a fair grip on the subject matter.

Just an example, the caps in my crossovers have 4 in parallel to get the required value.
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Bryon, judging by the photos you linked to in your first post dated 2-12-11, it appears that the circuit connections are on a layer or layers internal to the board. Unless you can see exactly where they are by shining a light through the board, drilling holes would therefore be a no-no.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks for the warning, Al. That's just the kind of rookie mistake I was hoping to avoid.

RE: The lack of room on the circuit board for the new caps...

Another poster suggested (in private email) that I build a small platform to go above the existing crossover board and attach the platform to the circuit board with wood blocks that are glued to the spaces created by the removal of the old caps. Then I can mount the new caps to the second platform, which would provide plenty of room for some of these big boys. I'm planning on using this approach.

RE: Which caps to use...

Obviously, folks have strong feelings about caps. I don't want to start a war, but I do want to elicit one last piece of advice about which caps to go with. Here is what I'm hoping to achieve: SMOOTHER treble. I would like to try to remove the last bit of grain and glare from the top end. In light of that...

-After reading about caps in other threads, the Duelunds sound perfect. But they are too much of a budget buster. :-(

-I have seen the Mundorf silver/oil caps described several times as "smooth." Hence my interest in them.

-I have seen the Clarity MR caps described as "neutral" and "transparent." Those characteristics are great, but may or may not involve greater "smoothness," which is the principal reason why I am changing the caps.

Thanks for any guidance.

Bryon