fuzzykoala

@MoMoney, did you end up replacing the caps on your KSF's? Yeah, I know it's been a while since I posted, just to say that I haven't regretted it in the least. So, just go ahead and follow Deang's advice. Btw, I also replaced the stock diaphragms with the Bob Crites titanium ones. Easy as pie and also worth doing. Had a pair of Elac floorstanders that I snaffled for under $100! However, after giving them a go for a week I find they are just too polite vs. KSF's. So those Elac's are just sitting in a corner, unplugged and unused, and I'm happy to listen to the Klipsches again.

So, it's been a little while...and after quite some time roaming central Australia I returned home where the requisite replacements caps awaited me. In the end I went with Dayton 250v. replacements. Quite a challenge fitting them on the existing size board and back through the terminal hole again. Number one son remarked "They're monsters!" And they are indeed much bigger than the originals.. However it fitted. The pictures attached show a liberal, if not supremely amateurish, use of additional copper wire to extend the cap. legs to meet the mounting holes. I also used a glue gun and thought to use insulating wire stripped from other cables to ensure no bare wiring touched where it shouldn't. A quick test with an ESR meter showed that all original caps were outside their accepted range even though they looked ok [apart from the obviously failed 47uF on both crossovers]. The listening test was the confirmation that all went well. I'm also surprised that the soundstage improved greatly. First track played: Pat Metheny's 'sound of water', then followed by Yes's 'owner of a lonely heart' (at high volume ), lastly Bjork's 'stonemilker (and don't those cellos sound superb!). I'm hearing cymbals again and other fine drumwork on other tracks. Just lovely. Here's some pics that prove my utter lack of skill in various diy departments, but like I said, it all worked just fine/n/dandy.

Thanks Mighty and Glens.Will choose replacing caps. Awaiting price now and then fun with a soldering iron.

ok, now that i've finally found a spare few minutes, I took out the KSF 8.5 crossovers and found tiny capacitor volcano.... Sounds like my ears weren't deceiving me after all 😀 I'm not even going to bother taking the other one out for a look. It'll be a given that both crossovers are due for a replacement. So unless you kind people can think of a good reason to replace just the caps, it'll be entirely new crossovers.

Thanks glens, yep, they're mounted on the input terminal cup. I'll definitely have a look at the caps. in series with the tweeter. At first glance it looks pretty good nick. I'll have to test them for resistance then chase suitable replacement parts. Thank you everyone for your feedback. I'll report back when replaced & fixed.

Thank you Mighty. That's a confidence booster for me. Pardon my ignorance, where'd you buy your replacement crossovers from?

Sailormanbigd, what happened with your 8.5s? I know it's a little down the track now... Did you manage to resolve the high freq. issue however? I'm suffering from the same (I think)8.5 issue but am going to look at having the crossovers recapped. What did you end up doing?

Thanks for the welcome Zen Traveler! There's no dual binding posts on these. but checked anyway 😀 Almost 20 year old speakers don't worry me much. I'll take out the crossovers, take pictures and ask my electronic wiz to give his opinion on recapping them. Richard McDonald designs his own high quality, highly regarded amplifiers and he's a real gentleman in the proper sense of the word. It's a pity he's 5 hours away... In the meantime i'll be happy to keep treble adjustment at 3 o'clock.Keep the suggestions coming though. I need to learn such a lot.

Hi Glens,yes. Been running the NAD for ~ 2 years now with those Mission speakers and they sounded fine.

Hi all, first time poster and utter newbie from the land down under. Just bought the ksf 8.5's and I am impressed. I've heard sounds I never heard before in the bass end of town. I just love it. I love music from acid jazz to prog.rock to indie, then classic Bruch and everything in between. But I have to admit to being a little disappointed at the high frequencies. Using a freshly recapped NAD 3020 [just looove that amp], I have to increase the treble knob to nearly the 3 o'clock position to approach what I think I should be hearing. Even then the high freqs. seem a bit 'muted'. Previous speakers were the classic Mission 700's and they sounded bright in comparison. Should I be looking at the crossovers? Or replace the horn drivers? In another thread someone mentioned Eminence driver to replace their ageing tweeters. I love this new Klipsch experience and want to make sure I'm getting all the sound I should be. This newbie would be very grateful for your collective advice and wisdom.