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Heresy II capacitor replacement


xevious

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What capacitors are used on the Heresy II's and what are some worthwhile replacements? I've heard mention of Sonicaps, Auricaps, Solen, and AudioCap Thetas... some used for the 2uf others used for the 68uf. But never found a definitive posting about them. What's the "good" mix that people have discovered? Thanks!

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Sonicaps are a good middle of the road upgrade cap. Auricaps are an upgrade from Sonicaps but cost a lot. I wouldn't really spend money like that for Heresys honestly. AudioCap Thetas are even more expensive and are a very open sounding detailed cap good for tweeters. But again, cost a lot. Solens are the lower end of the group you mention.

The sonicaps will give you a good bang for the buck.......and they have become somewhat of an unsaid standard upgrade cap for Heritage speakers.

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Thanks for the info. Have you heard anybody share experiences of finding that replacements were not as good as originals? I heard that from someone who tested out several brands... he ended up putting the originals back in! He had not yet tried Sonicaps, but had given Auricaps, AudioCaps, and REL's a shot.

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Xevious, Sure there are some who don't like the sound of the metalized film or film and foil caps probably because they are perceived as too revealing. Most seem to prefer them since the replaement was generated by 20+ year old worn out caps that were out of spec in the first place. When I saw your original post I was thinking you had the old oil can caps. I have replaced many of those and never looked back. I never owned a Klipsch speaker with a crossover on a PC board like what is posted above. I don't know how that would sound in the first place.

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Xevious, Sure there are some who don't like the sound of the metalized film or film and foil caps probably because they are perceived as too revealing. Most seem to prefer them since the replaement was generated by 20+ year old worn out caps that were out of spec in the first place. When I saw your original post I was thinking you had the old oil can caps. I have replaced many of those and never looked back. I never owned a Klipsch speaker with a crossover on a PC board like what is posted above. I don't know how that would sound in the first place.

As for mine, the T.I. 68uf is an oil can, but not sure if this is from the better batch or not. Here's some photos:

Heresy II crossovers

Heresy 68uf cap

Heresy 2uf cap

Kind of a crowded affair on that cup... it looks bizarre to me the way the caps are overlapping like that!

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Obviously very inexpensive parts. But I still really have no idea what that crossover sounds like. The parts are probably not old enough to be out of spec (guessing). But I would expect replacing those components with upgraded parts should yield a noticeable improvement. It would not cost much to find out. Not very much there to replace.

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Xevious, that 68 micro is an electrolytic. If you decide to replace it, you could sub an inexpensive poly, like a Solen. Problem is, the poly's going to be big. You could also just replace it with another decent quality electrolytic. You'll gain the most benefit by replacing the smaller caps in the mid and tweeter filters.In other words, don't spend a lot on your low pass cap for the woofer, put your money in the high-end parts of your x-over.

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Obviously very inexpensive parts. But I still really have no idea what that crossover sounds like. The parts are probably not old enough to be out of spec (guessing). But I would expect replacing those components with upgraded parts should yield a noticeable improvement. It would not cost much to find out. Not very much there to replace.

I definitely see your point, Mark. Quality should lead to improvements. If these are indeed the bottom of the barrel (amazing Klipsch took such shortcuts at that pricepoint--seems like a steep gamble for not much savings), I should replace them then. There's a bit of choice out there, but I'm really confused on which to go with. And not being an electronics whiz, I think it best to just go with a crossover rebuild kit. Thanks again for your help.

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Xevious, that 68 micro is an electrolytic. If you decide to replace it, you could sub an inexpensive poly, like a Solen. Problem is, the poly's going to be big. You could also just replace it with another decent quality electrolytic. You'll gain the most benefit by replacing the smaller caps in the mid and tweeter filters.

To get to the smaller capacitors, I'll probably have to remove the larger one anyway. Might as well replace that one too! :)

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I would consider enlisting the help of forum member BEC. He can asist in all aspects of this project.

Already in process. Bob is reputed to be a great guy and he's quite responsive by e-mail. I'm going to go with his kit. Looks like he did all the research and even got Sonicap to make specific capacitors for him. :)

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  • 3 years later...

HI,

I'm new to the Klipsch community. I'm also interested in updating the capacitors in my 1986 Heresy II's. Does it matter if you replace the 68 microFarad capacitor with an electrolytic or poly? Is there some benefit of choosing one over the other? I'm planning on just using sonicaps for the 1.5 microFarad capacitors.

Also, would it be worth it to replace any of the other components on the crossover or are the caps the only things

that go bad?

Thanks for the help!

Evan

post-53010-13819693019572_thumb.jpg

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