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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
undertow
1,032 posts
 
Clarity cap prices here...
http://madisound.com/manufacturers/claritycap/mr.php
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Thanks Undertow

Next week I will be ordering inductors as well.
The CAST by Duelund I can not say for sure if dimishing returns as I did not find the VSF's to be dimishing returns but large returns. I used to think I could never listen to digital unless I spent some crazy amount of money and even still did not know what it meant. I must say this is the first time I have enjoyed listening to digital. So for the price of caps I can enter the digital age and not have to listen to just vinyl.

I still have not heard the turntable on the Duelund's. I am waiting for the mid caps to be here to do that. So to me the caps are worth it. In some ways I am afraid to hook up the table, I love/hate when you get a new reference! I used to like my other speakers before the Duelund's. Now I cannot even listen to them, really that is kind of a bummer.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Thanks Undertow

I wish Tempo eval'ed Clarity as well. As it is nice to have two opinions. I found the Supreme's much better than Sonicaps and Tony did not rate them much higher? All of our ears are slightly different. I found the dynamics alone worth the price for the Supreme's.

But Tony does not talk about that? (except in the congestion as how one cap is less or more congested)
dgarretson
2,394 posts
 
It could be interesting to try some small-value teflon caps bypassing the caps you've tried-- particularly the Mundorf SIO. Mil-spec surplus NOS Russian FT-3 teflon can be had in .1uf-.22uf values on the cheap from Eastern Euro sources on Ebay. I've had good luck with these in electronics, but never tried them in speakers. I wouldn't pay attention to the published reviews of the russian teflons, unless they make it clear than they tested the superior FT-3 version.
undertow
1,032 posts
 
I have bypassed mundorf silver / oils with .1 sonicap platinum's and yes it does add a little more clarity, Zip or speed, and more solid bass. If cheap enough its worth a shot, but then again I think just using one single better cap if possible might be the way to go, due to add up the cost of an exotic teflon and then the big body type of a mundorf and it might cost as much or in some cases more than just using a cap that will do it pretty close on its own, if its in a small size that is.. For example a 1 uF cap is not too large in value, and a better one vs. bypassing would prrobably be better, but if you got an application of like 2uF or 5 uF I can see the advantage in trying a nice .1 uF to bypass it especially in the cost differences.
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