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Speaker crossover mod. Your advice?

I'm considering modding the crossovers of my Focal 1027s. Specifically, I am thinking about replacing the capacitor associated with the tweeter. I have received some helpful advice from another A'gon member who has done a similar mod to his crossovers (on a different model speaker from the same manufacturer).

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions from folks who have experience with this sort of thing. In particular, what sort of improvements can be achieved with this kind of mod? Any thoughts on which caps to use? Any common mistakes I should avoid? Is the whole thing a bad idea?

Thanks for your input.

Bryon
bryoncunningham
bryoncunningham OP
888 posts
 
Thanks Jeffrey. Not trying to make things difficult. Trying not to make a mistake I will regret. To a pro, a rookie's caution may seem silly. But we are all rookies at one time or another.

Speaking of not making a mistake...

As Magfan pointed out, it's going to be difficult to mount the new caps to the crossover board, as they are MUCH bigger than the stock caps. Can anyone make a suggestion as to how the new caps can be secured to the board, which is mounted vertically inside the speaker cabinet. No, I can't go external.

BTW, I did discover that ClarityCaps MR will be available in March from Parts Connexion in the value I need - 3.6uF. I'm now leaning toward a combination of ClarityCap MR and Mundorf (not sure which one). Both have their proponents, so I may just split the difference.

Bryon
face
516 posts
 
Bryon, why split a mediocre cap and high end cap instead of just using a single high end cap? The combination of bypasses mentioned above can add artificial artifacts and can also sound very detailed, not something I would want with a metal dome tweeter. Besides, a single cap in series will have better spacial information than unequal split values or bypasses. YMMV.
bryoncunningham OP
888 posts
 
Face - Sorry, my last post wasn't that clear. The tweeter has 2 caps associated with it - C1 and C2 - that are 3.6uF and 6.8uF. What I was trying to say in my last post is that I'm currently leaning toward doing this:

1. Replacing the stock 3.6uF cap with a SINGLE 3.6uF ClarityCap MR.
2. Replacing the stock 6.8uF cap with a single 6.8uF Mundorf, (possibly silver/oil)

What do you think of that idea?

Bryon
reynolds853
367 posts
 
Bryon,

I just want to add that I respect Face's experience and would heed his advice.

John
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
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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