Don't Invalidate Your Vintage Speakers

Posted by Mike Porper (A) on January 8, 2015 at 09:34:52

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

By making them a Frankenstein, haphazard, groping-in-the-dark combination of something new with something old.

I've posted about this before. Here's what I've said:

The notion of "upgrading" capacitors [and resitors and wiring] is a particulary bad idea. It's actually very intrusive, and very Frankensteining. Most people aren't electronic engineers, with a specialization in filter theory and materials physics. Hence, most of you don't know that those old capacitors you're dying to replace have a value of R, or resistance, that has to be taken into account, since it's an integral part of the crossover design. You can't just pop a new capacitor in.

If you really want to replace the old parts in the crossover, you should get a good measurement mic, mic stand, and mic pre-amp [Parts Express has a good one for about $295.00], and seperate design software to load onto your computer. Individually measure each driver electronically and accoustically. You'll then have to refer back to the original engineering design measurements, to make sure that what you've just measured [and how your speaker's now performing] is within specification.

Once you've done that, your software should be able to identify the correct replacement parts you can put into the crossover. At that point, you'll also have to option to completely redesign the network with a modern optimized one, which would get the maximum possible performance out of the drivers and their enclosure.

But, of course, 2 problems pop up there. #1 - you have to be a pretty talently engineer to come up with a really good design #2 - it's Frankensteining.

It's simple. If you want new gear, buy new gear.

If you want a real vintage experience, then keep it vintage.

I believe in having the most authentic vintage experience possible, not some muddle mixture.

A Frankenstein mix of old and new is...Frankenstein

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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

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

Don't Invalidate Your Vintage Speakers

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