Re-Capping Speaker Cross-Overs?

[rodabod]

I was just discussing with a friend about whether or not it is necessary to re-cap speaker cross-overs which have electrolytic caps?

I'm not sure how old my speakers are, but I'm guessing from this advert that they are around 20 years old:

http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Product%20Information/L20T.pdf

 

[Gus]

I seem to remember a speaker builder article were someone measured different types of caps in crossovers and electros did not measure as well as other types. Anyone remember this or still have the article?

Solen polypros might be fun to try but they will cause a internal vol change being bigger than electros.

 

[rodabod]

[quote author="Gus"]
Solen polypros might be fun to try but they will cause a internal vol change being bigger than electros.[/quote]

It would be nice to fit plastic film caps in the cross-over, but I'm not sure what value they'd need to be.

I certainly wouldn't want to fit them if it meant reducing the internal volume and having to adjust the ports, etc!

I think I should have a look at the cross-overs anyway, and see what caps are available and at what cost. The thing is though, the speakers sound great, so why would I want to re-cap them?

Anyway, thanks for your comments guys.

Roddy

 

[Minion]

Hi, I"m sorry to highjack this thread but I was wondering what the signs are that the Caps in your Crossover are Bad/Need changeing??

I have a couple 6x9"s that have 3 speakers and 2 crossovers and one of the Speakers makes this really Brittle staticy sort of sound at some Frequencies...The Speakers are quite old (Probably 15 to 20 years old) and use Electro Caps but the speakers them selves look to be in excelent condition....

I was thinking it might be the Crossover caps??

Does it sound like this might be the problem??

ThanX a Lot Guys.... :grin:

 

[rodabod]

Minion, swap the drivers over from each cab to find out.

 

[Minion]

Well actually I am getting the Same problem from both speakers and I have Tried each speaker individually without the crossovers and they sound Fine so i do suspect it is the Caps but i asked the question because I wasn"t quite sure....

ThanX

 

[rodabod]

I would say yes, although the speakers wouldn't sound correct without the cross-over.

Watch out for loose parts!

 

[franklinh]

I've pulled the dust cap off to look for debris only to find the crackling was the shunt wires vibrating against the backside of the woofer cone!

 

[pstamler]

In my esperience when crossover caps need replacing they pass little or no signal. Or they explode (at which point, of course, they again pass no signal.)

In other words, cap failures in crossovers are usually catastrophic rather than slow and subtle.

Peace,
Paul

 

[Minion]

Well I will try Changeing the Caps and If it doesn"t help I guess Ill look for other Places were the problem might lie....

ThanX for the Help Guys!!!


Cheers

 

[mcs]

[quote author="rodabod"]I was just discussing with a friend about whether or not it is necessary to re-cap speaker cross-overs which have electrolytic caps?[/quote]
It might not be nescessary, but I have sometimes gotten a huge improvement in high frequency clarity when replacing old electrolytics in crossovers with polypropylene caps. The clarity doesn't always make the speakers sound better though - sometimes you can just hear how terrible the tweeters actually are :wink:

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen