RE: When to recap a speaker.

Posted by Brian Levy (A) on January 4, 2015 at 17:49:24

In Reply to: When to recap a speaker. posted by sanman on January 4, 2015 at 08:06:54:

Tough question. The Fives like many KLH speakers used electrolytic and dual caps. The engineers and parts sourcers never planned on the parts to be good more than half a century later.

Some caps can have a catastrophic failure as one in my Heresy IIs had not long ago. The obvious answer is when this happens there is no option but to replace. Some simply over time break down and go out of spec. They may be well out of spec and an owner may not notice it. A few years ago I acquired a pair of Wharfedale W70s. 1 had a dead cap and the tweeter was dead. The other sounded so fine that I suspected the cap was good but as I had to replace 1, I needed to do both. After pulling it, I found it was more than 100% out of spec.

Some many Fives that have not been refused have non working tweeters. In checking, more often than not it is the caps. I think it is safe to assume the caps are suspect and should be checked. In older speakers, oil caps should still be checked but tend to be less failure prone.

If the caps are swollen, they are on their last legs. With the caps in the KLH swelling or discoloration are tell tale signs.

When replacing the caps, the problem of which to use is right up there with tube rolling. As caps are an important component in voicing the speaker you need to decide where you want to go. Try to improve the original design or try to keep it. It is a personal choice. I tend to favor keeping the voicing as designed.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - When to recap a speaker. - sanman 08:06:54 01/04/15 (21)

Don't Invalidate Your Vintage Speakers - Mike Porper 09:34:52 01/08/15 (0)

Caps to ground... - TWR 06:35:16 01/06/15 (0)

This is a good conversation as - sanman 13:23:00 01/05/15 (0)

RE: When to recap a speaker. - Brian Levy 17:49:24 01/04/15 (0)

you recap a speaker when you see a non polar electrolytic(s) - Michael Samra 13:43:33 01/04/15 (13)

Yeah, but - E-Stat 07:36:54 01/05/15 (8)

RE: Yeah, but - Michael Samra 07:52:36 01/05/15 (7)

RE: Yeah, but - E-Stat 08:40:44 01/05/15 (6)

Yep, it's not always as simple as just swapping with the same value cap - DFaulds 09:20:10 01/05/15 (0)

RE: Yeah, but - Crazy Dave 09:16:26 01/05/15 (4)

Yep! - E-Stat 09:24:41 01/05/15 (3)

RE: Yep! - Michael Samra 09:34:06 01/05/15 (2)

Sorry - E-Stat 09:41:18 01/05/15 (1)

RE: Sorry - Michael Samra 13:45:50 01/05/15 (0)

RE: you recap a speaker when you see a non polar electrolytic(s) - escape2cfc 17:42:00 01/04/15 (3)

RE: you recap a speaker when you see a non polar electrolytic(s) - Brian Levy 16:47:11 01/05/15 (1)

RE: you recap a speaker when you see a non polar electrolytic(s) - Crazy Dave 12:57:16 01/06/15 (0)

RE: you recap a speaker when you see a non polar electrolytic(s) - Michael Samra 19:11:54 01/04/15 (0)

RE: When to recap a speaker. - BillH 11:43:08 01/04/15 (1)

RE: When to recap a speaker. - sanman 13:44:21 01/04/15 (0)

RE: When to recap a speaker. - johnmil 08:12:24 01/04/15 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: When to recap a speaker. - Brian Levy 17:49:24 01/04/15 (0)

RE: When to recap a speaker.

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