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Recapping your X over?


tbagshaw

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People who don't do it say there is no difference. People who do are glad they did it.

 

What speakers? The older they are, the worse they need it.

 

Depending on the quality of the caps used, some newer ones benefit quite a bit too.

 

Is it drastic? It depends on the crossover, what is done to it, and how you like to listen. People who just like to crank it while doing work around the house are probably wasting their money.

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2 hours ago, Deang said:

Is it drastic? It depends on the crossover,

This is the main thing that will determine how much difference you will hear, is how bad was the original is that makes a big difference.

 

I had AA's that were leaking but working, just new caps and the same design and the difference was drastic, and they were playing fine. This was just back to stock and the difference was big, probably would have not heard such a difference if the old caps were fine.

 

As far as other designs that you can switch to, I have no idea about that, I don't know the differences, but Deang and others do.

 

Just wanted to say in some cases just new caps can make a big difference for worn out caps, so other changes could also make differences depending on what you're trying to do.

 

 You asked what differences, to me everything was cleaner and much more defined and more detail. So I guess it was more of what I was not hearing which made it sound better. I put them back together not expecting much but was really surprised when I first tried them, much better than I was expecting. Before I never really commented on people asking about old caps but now I know in some cases it can be a really big difference so I have to say something.

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Thanks for the reply's I have Old Hersey's from the seventies and love them but I am curious. I was thinking of doing one reversible of course and listening and then checking out the old one that's not modified and seeing where I stand. I have a mono rig and love mono lp's so i can do this..

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I recapped a pair of 1980 E crossovers and replaced the inductors, otherwise stock Heresy. I’d say it was worth every penny for more separation and clarity. I’ve also replaced 1984 Heresy x-over with a commercial set and also updated those crossovers with better caps resulting in better clarity and separation, but way more cost. Definitely worth doing, just figure out a budget.

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24 minutes ago, Alexander said:

The best way that I can describe the update is the original will sound like there was a blanket over the speakers that is removed. How bad your old caps are will determine how thick the blanket was.

That's fairly accurate as to what I've experienced as well.

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Depends on the meter.  If it measures uF that's only part of what you'd need to know, though if that value is now wrong it's enough to fail the cap.  But that value could measure good with the cap still needing replaced.  The only all-in-one meters I've seen that can do the whole job are dedicated to capacitors.

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/14/2020 at 6:44 PM, dgough said:

I did my pair of Heresy I . It wasn’t a drastic difference but the midrange and high end did improve. Especially the definition of the midrange. For such a cheap and easy fix, it was worth it to me.

For me I was the same... 7

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On 2/27/2019 at 7:01 PM, tbagshaw said:

Would measuring the old  caps before removal make sense? Could that be done with a regular multi meter?

 

 

No, you need a ESR meter that will measure the cap's ESR (equivalent series resistance). The issue is typically that a cap's ESR increases over time (certain types of caps are more prone to this), rather than the capacitance value changing. 

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I always wonder why people hesitate so much to renew capacitors.

Difference between old, worn out caps and new ones is usually night and day, plus you can buy much improved quality capacitors nowadays.

In electronics, it's the same - but doing it at home requires a bit more knowledge. still, an old amp or preamp with tired capacitors doesn't sound as good as it should, far from it - and is facing reliability issues sooner or later!

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I did my KG 2.5's with Bob Crites' kit, substituting Erse PulseX for the high-value electrolytics to have all film caps in the crossovers.

Did it one speaker at a time in stages, first step on one speaker, second step + first step on other speaker, third + second on first speaker, et.c... and listened to both speakers playing familiar music before moving on to the next stage, it was an eye-opener.

Step:

  1. Replaced both electrolytics with the Erse film caps.  Treble on that speaker opened up and became very clean and balanced.  I was not expecting this, as both electrolytics were on the low-pass side of the crossovers.  Maybe the 'shunt to ground' of high frequencies wasn't happening for the woofers, and all that energy made a mess of things...
  2. Replaced the film caps, 'full recap'.  Vs Step 1, treble expanded and cleared up.  The KG's would have been very listenable at this point but...
  3. Replaced stock tweeter diaphragms with Titanium.  Treble cleaned up even more and became very extended and smooth.  I'm using one of the 2.5's as a center channel speaker with my current CF2's.  There's a very good 'family resemblance' between all the speakers, although the 2.5's definitely don't have the same sort of 'horn THAAAANG' that the Epics have. Also, I want more horns.

Every step along the way was NOT subtle, it was smack-you-in-the-face obvious that something had been improved each time I did something.

Maybe I should have taken the time and tried the new electrolytics from Bob's kit, just to see, but I kinda new where I was going to end up and just went for it.

 

If you're curious about it, just get some components and go for it.  It's pretty easy to put the original stuff back in if you're not satisfied and know which end of a soldering iron to hold.

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I did caps in my Heresy 1s and also put seal on the back panel as well as putting a layer of ply on the inside of the panel to stiffen it up. Sounds much better now.  The Heresy 1s could use a refresh not sure about the 2s they are probably ok. You can also put a titanium diaphragm from Bob in them I think. But I cant afford them. 

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