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Cornwall I Crossovers - Renew or Leave Be?


Cornwill Is

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I purchased a matched pair of Cornwall I speakers in 1980, have used them almost every day, and they are still working. Though I still think they sound great, I wonder if their sound has degraded over time as a result of aged electronics in the crossover. I'm considering purchasing a pair of new Type B crossovers and installing them. If any of you have an older set of Cornwalls, and have resplaced the crossovers, I'd like your opinion on how much of an improvement/difference it made.

 

Thanks in advance and apologies if this question has been posed before!

 

Edited by Cornwill Is
grammar correction
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If you are happy with sound why? You many not like the sound after capacitor change but then you may. Crap shoot. Most on this forum think it necessary which I believe comes from being told so by those that sell crossovers and caps on this forum. Lots of stories of unhappy campers after doing so but many that are happier after change. In my opinion changing caps just creates a different sound just like different new caps can and do sound different form each other. Most restorers of 50 year old electronic equipment that I know just change the electrolytics and many of the restorers do not believe in changing all of them. The thought being you will change the character of the original sound.  

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Welcome to the forum. Do not replace the entire crossover networks, only the capacitors. More than likely you have the “B Networks” which use only 2 capacitors: a 2uf and a 4uf. When the original caps got old in my 1977 Cornwalls, the highs started sounding rolled off making the speaker sound a little lifeless. I have messed around with a number of capacitors for the sake of experimentation and education, but the ones I like the most are the ClarityCap CSA caps (made in Britain). You can either buy two 2uf and two 3.9uf (enough for 2 crossovers), or get very picky, like me, and buy a pair of 2uf and parallel them to give exactly 4uf, in others words, just buy six 2uf caps: 1 for the tweeter, 2 paralleled for the midrange, per speaker. I bought mine at partsconnexion.com for around $8 each. When installing, do not twist the leads too much as you do not want to break the seal where the wire enters the capacitor. If you do crack the seal, put a dab of superglue at the base of the wire to reseal.  Let us know how it turns out. 

Andy

 

P.S. Unless you listen to your music very, very loud, stick with the B Networks over the B2. I have tried both sets in my Cornwalls, and the B sounds much better and more balanced in my opinion.  The B2 was phased in mid 1981. 
 

One last thing:  I got the bright idea one time to put my original capacitors back in; they sounded terrible. After that misadventure, I threw them in the trash to never be used again. I guess I was saving them out of nostalgia.

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11 hours ago, Cornwill Is said:

I purchased a matched pair of Cornwall I speakers in 1980, have used them almost every day, and they are still working. Though I still think they sound great, I wonder if their sound has degraded over time as a result of aged electronics in the crossover. I'm considering purchasing a pair of new Type B crossovers and installing them

 replace solely the capacitors -

 

-for sales of klipsch Genuine capacitors , or  to revamp your network  -Contact @JEM Performance  by phone or email or PM -

 

Any Questions , you may have about JEM 's  Klipsch  Certification ,   can be sent to @dtel    @dwilawyer  ( Moderators ) -

 

https://jemperformanceaudio.com/

 

 

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1 hour ago, henry4841 said:

Most on this forum think it necessary which I believe comes from being told so by those that sell crossovers and caps on this forum.

Not true at all.   Please don't make statements like this about forum members based on your personal opinion rather than actual fact.  Some of us actually know what we're talking about, most of the time......

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2 hours ago, henry4841 said:

If you are happy with sound why? You many not like the sound after capacitor change but then you may. Crap shoot. Most on this forum think it necessary which I believe comes from being told so by those that sell crossovers and caps on this forum. Lots of stories of unhappy campers after doing so but many that are happier after change. In my opinion changing caps just creates a different sound just like different new caps can and do sound different form each other. Most restorers of 50 year old electronic equipment that I know just change the electrolytics and many of the restorers do not believe in changing all of them. The thought being you will change the character of the original sound.  

 

With all due repect, you can't remember the sound from 4 months ago, even less when it's been 40 years.

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1 hour ago, jimjimbo said:

Not true at all.   Please don't make statements like this about forum members based on your personal opinion rather than actual fact.  Some of us actually know what we're talking about, most of the time......

More post about replacing capacitors then those that say not to. Not my opinion just fact. Perhaps you need to do some research before saying just my opinion. 

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13 hours ago, Cornwill Is said:

I purchased a matched pair of Cornwall I speakers in 1980, have used them almost every day, and they are still working. Though I still think they sound great, I wonder if their sound has degraded over time as a result of aged electronics in the crossover. I'm considering purchasing a pair of new Type B crossovers and installing them. If any of you have an older set of Cornwalls, and have resplaced the crossovers, I'd like your opinion on how much of an improvement/difference it made.

 

Thanks in advance and apologies if this has been question has been posed before!

 

Welcome to the forum! 

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Just for record, I have no financial interest in my aforementioned recommendations - just a good ear, plenty of experience in audio & music, and an honest desire to help out my fellow human being (like many others here).  The wealth of knowledge and willingness to assist others on this forum, albeit not perfect, is often inspiring.

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13 hours ago, henry4841 said:

If you are happy with sound why? You many not like the sound after capacitor change but then you may. Crap shoot. Most on this forum think it necessary which I believe comes from being told so by those that sell crossovers and caps on this forum. Lots of stories of unhappy campers after doing so but many that are happier after change. In my opinion changing caps just creates a different sound just like different new caps can and do sound different form each other. Most restorers of 50 year old electronic equipment that I know just change the electrolytics and many of the restorers do not believe in changing all of them. The thought being you will change the character of the original sound.  

 

Understand completely, I could do the change and save the old capacitors, but it looks like some of the capacitor seals are beginning to fail (leak). Do I wait for them to completely fail, or be proactive? I wonder what PWK would do?

 

 

 

 

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On 2/15/2021 at 8:14 PM, Cornwill Is said:

 

Understand completely, I could do the change and save the old capacitors, but it looks like some of the capacitor seals are beginning to fail (leak). Do I wait for them to completely fail, or be proactive? I wonder what PWK would do?

 

 

 

 

My guess is he would recommend  a set of new Mylar/polyester capacitors (like the JEM caps suggested earlier) via their service department. The Mylar caps represent a good cost versus performance option. 
 

BTW, I think you will be quite pleased with the sound of your Cornwalls after replacing the caps, whether Mylar or polypropylene (each have their  fans and detractors). My Cornwalls sounded dramatically better after cap replacement. Let us know if we can help further. 
 

Andy

 

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9 hours ago, Cornwill Is said:

 

Understand completely, I could do the change and save the old capacitors, but it looks like some of the capacitor seals are beginning to fail (leak). Do I wait for them to completely fail, or be proactive? I wonder what PWK would do?

Leaky capacitors should be replaced. I am going to guess and say you have the big can capacitors. If so why not replace them with same type which are motor run capacitors readily available that are used in refrigeration. Just be sure and get motor run and not motor start. Then there are many options and brands to choose from at PartsExpress.    

 

https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/crossover-components/crossover-capacitors/metalized-polypropylene-crossover-capacitors

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21 hours ago, Marvel said:

 

With all due repect, you can't remember the sound from 4 months ago, even less when it's been 40 years.

This is true. Our audio memory lasts  less than one minute.

 

I see no need to replace the capacitors unless they measure out of spec. If they're in spec, they still work.

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3 hours ago, Peter P. said:

This is true. Our audio memory lasts  less than one minute.

 

Is this something you know or something you have read? If entirely true no one would remember a loved ones voice years later. Just saying not to disagree with anyone. Certainly hard to do comparing different equipment if not done quickly but one does have a sound memory.  

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