Anyone changed out RS 2.5 tweeter cap?

I like the 2.5 as well. Certainly, it has limitations. What doesn't, right? And you are right, most speakers, until you get to mega-buck level, are built with price constraints in mind to fit potential market realities. I feel that most or all of the deficiencies that these speakers have can be hugely improved upon with some careful, well thought out upgrades and improvements. It's not about being a 'better designer' than Arnie, it's about removing some of the mass-market constraints built into the speakers. Like you, I have experienced the sonic benefits many times.
 
Just had the woofers out recently and removed the poly to do a leak check on the internal box seal, found several places where you could see light from the exterior.

Running a bead internally to seal things up, my cabinets have had a few other issues of air leakage leading to excessive cone travel etc, recommendation is to take a look
at all areas of cabinet leakage.
 
Done!

When I had mine apart last summer refinishing the cabinets I sealed up every corner inside the cabinets with Gorilla Glue, then I put in some fresh gray putty around the wiring holes. No leaks here and the bass is tight.

Larry D.
 
Next Major Upgrade...

Once the Quantum 2s are done I believe that the next major project for the 2.5s may be a wiring upgrade. I'd like to use something like the wire used in the AntiCable speaker wire. If I can't find an OFC wire of that type, then a good quality Teflon jacket solid cable will do. I can't see running a nice set of speaker cables to a speaker that has tiny little wires inside. My Von Schweikerts have what looks to be 14 gauge solid wire inside them. Albert was no dummy. He knew what to continue with after the posts. Also a nice set of copper posts is in order with the wire change. Gold plated copper if Cardas still has them.

Even a little further down the road would possibly be an inductor upgrade. I've got some 10 gauge magnet wire that I'm going to wind two sets of inductors for my Klipsch KLF-20s. Once I get that under my belt I'd like to try a couple on the 2.5s. Making 10 ga. air coils is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying them. I'm all for saving a few bucks if I can do it myself.

Those are a few of the plans I have for the 2.5s and they mostly won't cost too much to implement. I think the upper cabinet detatchment I talked about on another thread is just a little too involved for me at this time. I'd rather do some simpler stuff.

Larry D.
 
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You may.

Geoff,
Ouch! That's some spendy wire. Might go to 16 gauge if I get that.
I could get 16ga silver plated solid core PFTE coated military wire for 50 cents a foot. I'd have to read up some more on wire to go with the Neotech.

Have you upgraded? What are you using?

Larry D.
 
Oh man, that got me laughing! :)

I'm sorry. I thought we were going for sky's-the-limit, no-holds-barred, top-of-the-line, unlimited-deep-pockets, super-double-crazy-over-the-top wire here.

May I recommend the Radio Shack B-stock? You know, the roll that fell into the salt water?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.LOL

Seriously, though, the only Neotech that I've invested in so far is to rewire my RS-IIIa's. You know, those speakers in the corner that have been in upgrade for years that keep getting pushed aside by other projects, you know those speakers right? Oh well, at least the outboard crossovers are done. :)
 
I'm sorry.....

I'd run and get the Rat Shack wire you recommended, but they are no longer in business. What's the secret? Is the salt/copper combination some kind or super-conductor? Let me in on it......C'mon.....

I'd like to go all-out on everything, but my last name isn't Rockefeller, Allen, or Gates, so I'm a low to mid-budget kinda guy. Maybe some 14ga Neotech from the binding posts to the crossover, then the more affordable 16ga stuff.

Seriously, I'm trying to upgrade on the cheap for now. I was looking at some Solen 3.9uf Silver caps to go on the tweeters. They're a brand new cap and I haven't heard from anyone who has used them. I'm usually not a huge fan of Solen caps for tweeters and midranges, but this new one is a metallized silver cap instead of tin or aluminum or whatever metal they normally use. The Solen Silver price beats the Mundorf Silver in Oil by a large margin. I just wonder if they sound any good.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for that super-conductor wire you mentioned in case some lucky ebay seller gets to liquidate a RS store inventory. I may not be able to sleep tonight thinking about it.......damn!

Larry D.
 
Is there any particular reason Infinity used two capacitors instead of one cap for the 2.5 midrange x/over?
 
What's the secret? Is the salt/copper combination some kind or super-conductor? Let me in on it......C'mon.....

When the salt causes a certain amount of corrosion on the surface of the copper, it lessens the conductivity and causes a very mellow sounding midrange and treble, and you'd swear you were listening to the speakers through the same tube amp that Arnie Nudell used to voice them 35 years ago.

Believe me? :0 What the heck, it's a public forum. You can say anything and somebody out there will believe it, right?

I wish I had good advice regarding capacitors. Almost everything technical I've learned about them, I've subsequently forgotten. Have you thought about giving SONICAPs a try? I've used them on several occasions, to good results. My -IIIa crossovers use a combination of Mundorf Silver/Oils in series with the tweeter and midrange, and SONICAP Gen 1's in the shunt positions on the midrange and woofer. I did this at the recommendation of the builder of the SONICAPs, who says they make an excellent shunt cap. [The high-end Mundorfs are a bit more transparent in the series positions]. All the inductors are Alphacore copper foil. My parts inventory for my RS-II's is similar, with some Wonder Dynamicaps in the contour circuit in the midrange.

I priced out a rebuild of the 2.5 crossovers with parts of comparable quality; it caused a lump in my throat, but not enough that I wouldn't consider it. For the long run, I'd like the speakers to be as good as they can be, and I know that involves high initial outlay that has to be amortized over time through added enjoyment.
 
Been there, read that...

I've gone through that shootout over and over and many other similar articles too. Good reading.

Larry D.
 
My guess is...

Is there any particular reason Infinity used two capacitors instead of one cap for the 2.5 midrange x/over?

I'm only guessing that the reason would be that those values were what was available to reach the value they wanted. I see no advantage in paralleling the two caps when a single one would work just as well.

Larry D.
 
Might have been economy of scale. I think it's my Qb and WTLC that use the same value poly tweeter caps, but one of them uses two in parallel. I've also recapped 2000AXT, so I could be wrong on which two used the same caps.
 
I put in two new caps in the RS 2.5s today...

Well I finally did install two new 3.9uf poly caps for the tweeter section. Put in a pair of Mundorf Supremes since they're supposed to be a very good cap to use in a speaker crossover for not much money.

Right now they're on the bright side. When I first started playing them they were noticeably subdued, but as I kept playing internet audio they brightened up quite a bit. It may be a roller coater ride till they settle in, so I guess I'll update once they stay at one level for an extended period of time which is usually after 20 hours or so.

Larry D.
 
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More experimentation...

After listening again I decided to disconnect the tweeters and re-listen to passages that seemed to have annoying brightness in them and found that it is the midranges that are putting out the edgy sound that annoys me, not the tweets. I do have some 120uf 150V General Electric PIO caps that I plan on trying out in place of the Solens for the mids.

Solens always seem to be 'bright', but there are not a whole lot of affordable choices out there when it comes to non-electrolytic caps of that value which do not sound that way. We'll see what the PIOs do.

The tweeters do sound more clear and realistic so far with the Mundorfs in there. Even complicated percussion is very coherent......me likey so far.

Larry D.
 
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Another change..

Two days after installing the Supremes (I went all out and got the Diana Ross 50th Anniversary edition) I also installed a pair of Hi-Fi Tuning fuses which seemed to smooth the tweeter output a little. The change made the tweeter sound slightly sweeter without any loss of detail.

I still haven't gotten to work on the midranges yet. The lack of area available to install the oil caps has kept me away from that project. I'll have to wait till I have plenty of time to do it right.

Larry D.
 
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