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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
wavetrader
260 posts
 
Volley...late 50...early 60's....anything done by Rudy VanGelder or Orin Keepnews. A good demonstration disk is "Inside Betty Carter" Half the disc is totaly awesome...probably done on a Ampex and the other half is kinda flat. Another point is during this period using Ampex with custom mixing boards was the hot ticket and the bandwith was big along with orchestras and vocalists on the same stage.....Sinatra & Basie,Tony Bennet,Jack Jones,EllaFitzgerald,Miles ect....classical all the living stereo,mercury,london phase4....Have these enormous soundstage and dynamics.....One of my favorites is a Marco Polo Cd "captain blood" with music by Korngold and others...just a beautiful piece....In fact I recently started collecting older soundtracks on CD....Koch has one with Miklas Roza's El Cid the organ music is spectacular. There's a lot of great CD stuff out there...

All this dubbed crap stinks....I like the older recordings they knew what the hell they were doing. Back in the late 50's and 60's most of the big strars wouldn't go near a studio if it wasn't tubes....The word was out SS didn't have the bandwith...sorry for the rant...
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
No don't be sorry for the "rant".

I just did not know that CD's that were done from the era were good. It makes sense though as the vinyl was excellent from the same listings you mention. The only problem is finding vinyl from that ear in good shape.

I had always suspected that not all of digital's problem were the media. In fact I think most of it is not the media and what you are saying is the great recordings from the era transferred well to the digital domain.

So many recordings since (that great era) of great music have been ruined in the studio and always we be lost.
danmyers
135 posts
 
Funny I was listening to a Rudy Van Gelder CD: "Red Clay" by Freddie Hubbard as I read this and yes, it sounds very good. Agree that you have to be selective with your source material with a highly resolving system. I also recommend Chesky, Mapleshade, and Stereophile (Rendezvous is a good jazz album) modern labels. I've enjoyed the ABKCO reissues of some classics like the Stones and Sam Cooke: these sound great in Redbook and SACD. Volley, since you're a Beatles fan you may like the Rolling Stones reissues. To be honest, I am meither a Stones nor a Beatles fan, but the clarity of the ABRKO reissues in SACD has let me enjoy these songs for the first time - really they are that good! Sam Cooke will be in the room giving you a private concert - it's amazingly life-like. Finaly, I'll plug DMP and GRP as maybe the best of early digital recording. They have some issues with metalic sounding highs, but they really like to play with the dynamic range on their albums and it can be a fun work-out for you and your system.
volleyguy OP
789 posts
 
Thanks Dan

I am a so so Stones fan. I did find out that my Beatles Bluw box set was not as good as I thought. I can for sure tell the previous owners favs. At least that is one thing you do not have to deal with in digital. (physical wear)

I do still prefer vinyl over digital. (at least what I have heard) Dan do you find there to be a difference in the way you feel listening to digital vs. (good) vinyl? I still find vinyl more relaxing although I do not have a SACD player and my digital reference may suffer from lack of information. With the Linn guys I hear them say the new Klimax DS is very good. Then the next guy (who owns one) says still not close to their Lp12?
danmyers
135 posts
 
Volley, as I said earlier, I do not listen to LPs anymore. But here are my observations on CDs as a source.

First, you need a good player for standard (redbook) CD playback. There are many out there, but it does make a difference. As a direct example, I have a cheap Sony CD/SACD player for SACD and I also have a Musical Fidelity 3DCD for redbook. When I first bought the Sony, redbook sounded flat and lifeless. It was not enjoyable to listen to any CDs. SACD sounded liquid and engaging - analog like if you will. Something was clearly wrong so I sent the Sony off for audiophile upgrades. When it came back, SACD still sounded great, but the biggest change was redbook now sounded almost as good as my MF 3D CDP. Right there, was a world of difference between CDP players that no change in source CDs could negate. So first you have to find a good/great disc player. There are lots out there, but I don't recall Linn being one of them.

Next, as we've just discussed, there are differences in source material. Buy some CD and SACDs that you know are good and use them as your reference source material. Now you can compare the sound of CD/SACD to LP.

One word of caution is that SACD is pretty much dying. Still lots of Jazz and Classical material available. So I while it clearly sounds better, I wouldn't spend to much more for it and focus on the redbook sound. My experience may not be universal, but it's harder to find a great sounding redbook than SACD CDP.
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