Hahaha yeah you can actually still call people too! I always forget about that...Give him a call, he will actually talk directly with you.
New Cornwall I owner needing opinions
- Thread starter MooCorn
- Start date
Phones.. how quaint! I'm still trying to decide how far to take these cornwalls. I know they have to sound different from when they were brand new, but I'm just not in the market for tube amps and all the other stuff to take me back to the days of my youth just yet. Sadly, I lack a proper room to appreciate them completely.
Off topic: a friend brought his JBL L96s over for comparison. They sound very very good, and are a lot smaller. He was going to restore his cabinets, but is befuddled as to how the midrange speaker is attached to the cabinet. The entire mid seems encased in a thick, sealed cardboard tube, but the front of the speaker is using screws made to screw in to metal, and the mid won't just pop out of the hole like the woofer and the tweeter did. I helped him recone the woofer and fixed the tweeter dome, but it is a hassle to even think about doing woodwork repair with that mid still inside the cabinet .
Off topic: a friend brought his JBL L96s over for comparison. They sound very very good, and are a lot smaller. He was going to restore his cabinets, but is befuddled as to how the midrange speaker is attached to the cabinet. The entire mid seems encased in a thick, sealed cardboard tube, but the front of the speaker is using screws made to screw in to metal, and the mid won't just pop out of the hole like the woofer and the tweeter did. I helped him recone the woofer and fixed the tweeter dome, but it is a hassle to even think about doing woodwork repair with that mid still inside the cabinet
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DEFTECHY
Well-Known Member
The caps Bob sells are nice, but IMO you don't need to buy expensive caps to get the same improvement in sound over the very old & cheap original caps klipsch uses. In a blind A/B test I bet none of the people using sonicaps or other more expensive brands can tell the difference from a decent quality dayton type cap for a few bucks each. The whole capacitor ordeal is kind of funny, if the cap is within spec & of decent quality, it's highly unlikely the human ear can tell the difference between a $20+ cap & a $5 cap of the same type. Especially on the average mid-fi components & less than ideal room etc etc.
The sound improvment is because you are replacing 30-40 year old cheap electrolytic caps with new poly type caps. So if you're on a budget, or just dont want to buy overpriced caps that are not needed to improve/upgrade the sound, I would check out parts express for the dayton brand or any other comparable priced caps. I've used daytons & other brands in klipsch & other speakers with excellent results. & sounds like you know your way around electronic stuff so I'm sure you can solder in a few caps in a very basic circuit.
As for the mid touching the back board, the horn is very long & comes very close to it. A mod some guys do is to wedge something in there like a piece of rubber or foam from a mouse pad etc, not too much force but enough to put some pressure on the back board & act as a brace to stop any vibrations, it won't hurt the mid driver.
The sound improvment is because you are replacing 30-40 year old cheap electrolytic caps with new poly type caps. So if you're on a budget, or just dont want to buy overpriced caps that are not needed to improve/upgrade the sound, I would check out parts express for the dayton brand or any other comparable priced caps. I've used daytons & other brands in klipsch & other speakers with excellent results. & sounds like you know your way around electronic stuff so I'm sure you can solder in a few caps in a very basic circuit.
As for the mid touching the back board, the horn is very long & comes very close to it. A mod some guys do is to wedge something in there like a piece of rubber or foam from a mouse pad etc, not too much force but enough to put some pressure on the back board & act as a brace to stop any vibrations, it won't hurt the mid driver.
Yes, I've been combing all the forums for caps. I think I finally came around to the conclusion that cap testing is BS. I've been dealing with material scientists for 35 years and I asked a couple about cap 'break in'. They say for caps using air for a dielectric, there can be no break in changes unless you are running the caps so hot that the air inside changes properties, in which case you probably are out of spec already. They would not rule out changes in oil used for a dielectric, as it can change over time. BUT they said in the small break in periods people seem to be using the oil should not be changing and altering the cap's properties. I am under the impression that if cap values could change over time (besides the obvious ratings), then that value would be present on the cap, or in the datasheet.
My mids leave a nice firm circle shaped impression on the material tacked to the rear cover. I have a zillion old mouse pads, maybe I'll try it, thanks.
When I changed my crossovers from Type B to B-2, I used Solen caps, which is the brand I've used for 25+ years with great results. Everyone has their preference and I've used these in tons of award winning car audio sound quality systems (back in the day) and also in home speakers. The Dayton 1% and 5% caps are good, also. I've just always been a fan of Solen caps and Mills resistors...when needed. The original caps in my 78 Cornwalls we're leaking some and sounded dull and lifeless. Changing them fixed that. Along with Crites CT-120 tweeters.
In fact, yes. I'm not an AC/analog expert, so I combined 2 pics I found either on this site or another DIYer site. I put 2 electrolytic back to back (to 'eliminate' polarity as suggested by one pic) and put a .01pf cap in parallel with that as suggested by another pic for a Klipsch xover update. Now that I have the old oil caps out of circuit and can test them with a proper ESR+capacitance meter, they are showing their age of 36 years. I bet the Cornwalls would sound better with a 'real' audio cap, but I'm getting old, and can't hear beyond 18K anymore, so updated tweeters and more expensive caps would make no sense.
I'm 50 and can't hear much past 12k but it still made a world of difference in changing the leaky oil cans with some Solen poly caps. I ran it for the Dayton 5% tolerance caps and it's $21.80 plus shipping. Pretty negligible for the increase it will give you. I never leave those old caps in or any electrolytic that's in the audio section of speakers's crossover.
I'd give a left **** to hear up to 18k.
I'd give a left **** to hear up to 18k.
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I've been looking around some more, and I see that Bob Crites wires his crossovers with larger wire right up to the ends of the caps. Won't soldering that close to the end of a cap mess with its performance? I realize you are effectively adding a small resistor into the circuit if you use the smaller leads on the caps, but does it make a real difference to sound?
No, it really doesn't make that much of a difference in the grand scheme and nothing to worry about. The wires he uses aren't really that much bigger....if they even are. There's an inch or more lead coming off of a capacitor....you aren't cutting the cap wire down to a nub and soldering on. He is wrapping them in heat shrink.
