SpeakerTalk

centaurus · Last edited by centaurus on Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:57 am; edited 1 time in total

Hi all,

been really enjoying the KEF Calindas i bought a few months ago. of course i can never leave well enough alone. currently I'm running them with a pair of McIntosh MC60 tube mono blocks and a precision fidelity C4 tube preamp with a little bass augmentation from a B&W ASW-500 powered subwoofer.

i know that the caps in the x-over are electrolytic. does anyone have the schematic they could send me?

i think it's got some huge 25uf cap in there. i have a source for really cheap ($4.00 for a 25uf) Mexican made motor run hermetically sealed oil caps. not audio note, but heck, they're 4 bucks! i was thinking if replacing the caps in the x-over with all oil caps. hopefully, it will mellow out the "spitty" nature of the T27 tweeter and make the B200 sound even better.

or leave well enough alone?

thanks,
Robby

proffski

What have you to lose? Try it, or spend the rest of your life thinking about it. I loathe non polarised capacirors in anything!

ColinR · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:08 am Post subject:

Well the schematic is where I left it Cool

.

http://www.hifiloudspeakers.info/Anatomy/Crossovers/Calinda/CalindaCrossoverIndex.html

I'm not a fan of motor or valve capacitors in speakers, but as you're into "oil" just do one speaker component by component and see if it makes a difference.

Use only test tones, Pink and White noise for testing.

Music lets one fall into the psychoacoustic trap of well I've just spent loadsamoney on poncy caps and cryo crap wire and treated it with something that resists corrosion in an 80% Hydrogen Sulphide atmosphere, so it must sound better - it won't.

centaurus · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:03 am Post subject:

ha ha!

i agree with you Colin. i have heard my friends MFA Magus C preamp with all REL Caps. did it sounds better? yes. was it worth the $300 for the caps? no way!

thanks for the schematic, you provide an incredible resource!

again, the motor run caps are cheap. about the same price as new solens. and i already have 4 unused 10uf!

how do i get to the x-over? through the B139, i suppose? will the woofer just pop or or is it glued in?

thanks,
Robby

ColinR · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject:

My problem with motor caps is that in any industrial application they're inspected and tested on a regular basis.
If they're put into a sealed box, "out of sight out of mind" something nasty may occur and I still wouldn't fancy scraping out the gunk having worked on Styrene Oxide and EO-PO plants, Hydrogen Peroxide and Carbon Disulphide / Hydrogen Sulphide plants Cool

.

The crossover is by the input panel and is held by four sharp half inch captive (on the pcb) self tapping screws, so removing it requires some care.

I favour the wide end of steel nail file beteween the BD139B mounting hole and the wordwork and just gently easing out the ABR.

proffski · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:29 pm Post subject:

Interesting and very valid point.
Spoken like a true professional engineer Colin!
I'd also be interested in testing the capacitors for the Q as well as any interesting resonances.

As I have said before, try it and see, and I still hate Non Polarised Electrolytics!

centaurus · Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:36 am Post subject:

thanks colin!

i never thought about the potential of the motor cap to leak and the inability to see it leaking from inside the cabinet. other than popping the B139 every few years to check up on the caps.

the Calindas do sound awesome as they are right now (been listening to elliot smith and some roky erickson as i type).

i will try the motor caps on my other speakers. janszen Z-600 electrostatic hybrids from 1963 first.

Robby