Braun LS-100 crossover re-cap with pics

For those interested...I recapped the crossover in my recently acquired pair with daytons and they *seem* to sound much better (or who knows, maybe it is in my head!).

Not much room in there for capacitors. I was able to combine values on the daytons and get the same values as the originals. The 30uF daytons had to be mounted on the other side of the board with the black sticky putty that was holding the old crossovers there. Handy stuff, I wish I knew what it was called/where to get more! (uhh home depot I guess?). Caps were made in West Germany, so I'm guessing the speakers were made in West Germany too(?).

They needed one of each:
-33uF
-8.2uF
-3.9uF
-2.7uF


Not much room in there:




I thought these were old-style-before-ADS Braun speakers? Wait...ADS logo on the crossover...? Interesting.




Not as clean as I would have liked, but it's my first crossover re-cap.




All done...

Well having 2 sandwiched in like that sure didnt help, that was an ambitious first project. My first was just a clip out of the tweeter line, twist and solder a new one in.
Of course those speakers werent quite on this level..
Anyway..it appears you got em. Congrats on a job well done, so now for the ceremonial question. How do they sound compared to before?
Braun is West Germany and a concern that has made some wonderful gear imho. As for the black putty, Im thinking that close enough is the putty thats sold in a brick for weatherproofing cable and wire entrances into houses. I would check with a local electrical/plumbing/hvac supply house for that. Doesnt harden up and stays stuck to where its applied. Just wish I had a brand name to give you, but the brick I have is just in a plain white wrapper, the outer bag is long gone.

What speakers were they? I'm not quite sure what level these particular speakers are on, to be honest. Info on them is basically non-existant...


Well- it's interesting. [begin nate-rant] (summary at end for those who don't want to read)

When I first got the speakers, I was a little concerned something was wrong with them. Don't get me wrong- I liked them a lot- but, I thought the bass output was a bit too low compared to the mid and treble. However, I think the new caps have partially or completely solved this 'issue.' I could have just gotten used to the bass from the L980's in my room as well. I don't know if there is a supposed 'burn in' time for film crossover caps, but perhaps that will yield interesting results as well.

Either way, at first I was doubtful about possible improvements, but now I can definitely tell the difference- the speakers are much more balanced now. It is a DAMN good speaker, IMO, for its size. Absolutely beautiful sound. Imaging and pretty much everything else is spot on. For another test, I need to move them to another room that is more closed (and possibly not quite as bright with fewer windows and open spaces) and to see what they will sound like compared to my main setup, and with 100 wpc. I've had a few different models of ADS speakers (L200's, L420's, L520's, M9's, SAT 6's, L980/2's, etc.) and these are just completely different. The tweeter and midrange are probably the reason- again, not seen in any of the ADS models I have personally come across. But, that's just my amateur guess.

I'm also still not sure what the holes on the upper part of the back of the cabinets are for- they look like mounting holes for a wall, but I have no idea how you would use one hole to mount a speaker in an ideal fashion like that. Sure, I can hang them from screws in the wall (and have), but I'm also pretty sure that's not ideal!

My other question is- if ADS supposedly supplied some of the parts for these speakers- is there an ADS equivalent that we are unaware of? From what I've read, there isn't. And the woofers, at the very least, are definitely not made by ADS. So perhaps they just assisted in crossover parts and/or design? No idea.

I'll check for the putty in those types of places- thanks. It was quite amazing to see that it was still sticky and flexible- probably the same as new- after all of these years.

And, thanks for the compliments! I was very nervous at first, but all turned out just fine. The hardest part was the first cabinet, and the fact that I had to remove the woofer to get to the crossover (I wasn't sure how to get it out by wiggling it out the back). Removing the woofer was not a good idea- the allen screws have steel mounting clips that are staple-gunned into the inside of the cabinet. They come loose easily, and then you end up screwing the woofer back into nothing, as I couldn't get the steel mounting holes to stay back there again. Luckily the woofer has a few extra mounting holes that are unused. I ended up using a few similar allen bolts with screws on the ends and screwed the woofer back into new mounting holes, and added some putty to seal the thing back in there.


The coolest part is that I think I might have gotten a friend into vintage audio with these speakers. A duplicate set went up for sale from the same guy on CL, and my friend happened to be in need of new speakers for his college dorm room (parties). Apparently someone blew out his last pair at a party by cranking the volume ALL the way up on his amplifier.

Anyways, he loves the Braun's! . Let's hope his pair survive the college lifestyle :scratch2:. I think he will keep a closer eye on his amp from now on!



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For those who just want the quick and dirty summary:
The new caps helped, speaker sounds more balanced. I like them, and I think I also got a friend into vintage audio by grabbing a pair of these for him as well. Now on to thinking about the recap for the ONE 100uF electrolytic in the L980/2 crossover....

He he..when I say whole diff level..I mean my first recap of a speaker was on a pair of Toshiba 2 ways...not quite on par with ADS/Braun.
That being said, my Braun IC90 are quite different than your L models I think. 3 way, 10 in woofer, about 2 feet tall, I think they can take about 100 watts or so. When I got them the orig vinyl stuff on the outside was all shrunk and melted from being too close to electric heat..so beisdes having to repair a tear in one of the mids and a recap, I also ended up veneering them with maple. Sorry they are kinda dusty as they are swinging about 9 feet off the floor and dont get swiffered so often.

They are a decidedly early 80s speaker, and I never could find much info, though I did see a pair offered up on CAM not long ago. To my ears they sound absolutely sweet, and feel they have found a permanent home.
As to who made what and whether they were first or rebranded etc...Im a little hazy on all that, and Im sure that search function AK on Google can give you the correct info as to time line etc. Its my understanding though Brauns been around for a long time and been an independant entity long before any merge with ADS. I could be wrong but my impression was ADS has acted as more or less a conduit for integration of Braun into the North American market, or perhaps at least an integration between the two to come up with a super product.

Wow- interesting model you have there, and definitely very little info out there on it too. Your veneering job looks great! Was that your first effort with veneering?

It would be interesting to compare your IC90's to the LS-100's. Any idea when the IC90's were made? When I opened up the cabinet on my I think I remember seeing '1982' stamped inside. If you're ever in the area with those speakers let me know!I'll try doing some research on the German Braun Hi-Fi forum.

The branding I saw may have been the result of the early days of the Braun/ADS partnership, when they first started using the same parts. Your understanding of their partnership is as good as mine. Agreed that the older Braun Hi-Fi stuff is neat and definitely its own design.

Tyvm. That was my second speaker veneer job, my first was way more involved as I was piecing and matching existing veneer (more a repair thing). Just doing flat panels en masse really was pretty easy and didnt take very long at all, maybe a couple three hours total.
I am sure that mine were made at around the same time as yours...Ive seen a few pics of IC 70s and they are closer in style to your LS. These..I dunno maybe a step to try to integrate a more traditional style into the line? I may be wrong but I recall seeing a reference to at least one model above mine somewhere.