Crossovers Rebuilt Night and Day!!!

F1nut

It's like talking to a brick wall in here. I'm out.

gimpod

F1nut wrote: »

It's like talking to a brick wall in here. I'm out.

Sometimes I wonder why you bother. There are those that get it and those that don't and never will. For those that don't it's all about improving the sound of your speakers and like it's been stated here several times "Everything Matters". Now as far as measuring your cap's and resistors values you can take it with a grain of salt because most meters (unless you coughed up for a hi-end bench model $$$$$$) have an accuracy of about +/- %1 - %2 and even higher on lower ranges it will get you in the ball park but that's about it.

jim 249

There has been quit a bit of chatter on this thread while I was at work today. The resistors were changed out because: Many knowledgeable people here on this site have reported a positive change in the way their speakers sounded after replacement, the cost is not very much to do the change, I did not want to have to remove the crossovers again to replace the resistors, I am not on a scientific journey to experiment with different configurations. As far as the caps go, I used 1% Daytons on the high end and 5% Daytons on the low end. Many people on this site have reported good results with the Daytons. My equipment while not elcheapo is still a long ways from being considered high end. The results have been better than I had hoped for. So one happy camper here!

On3s&Z3r0s

gimpod wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder why you bother. There are those that get it and those that don't and never will. For those that don't it's all about improving the sound of your speakers and like it's been stated here several times "Everything Matters". Now as far as measuring your cap's and resistors values you can take it with a grain of salt because most meters (unless you coughed up for a hi-end bench model $$$$$$) have an accuracy of about +/- %1 - %2 and even higher on lower ranges it will get you in the ball park but that's about it.

Actually, I just measured the resistors as an afterthought and only because I was curious. It seems like (at least on this forum) Mills is the only name you hear when it comes to replacing those in the Polk XO's, so I just took that for granted. I went back and forth on the caps considering mainly the Daytons on the low end, Sonicaps in the middle, and the Clarity ESA's on the high(er) end.

I decided on the SC's because of all the love they get, but for a couple of reasons that order didn't go so well. It's not really worth shipping stuff back and forth to try to get it fixed, but I asked for matched and thought I was getting matched and they're still 3% off from each other. Seems like if you ask for matched they would assume you mean you want within about 1%, not necessarily of the nominal value of the cap, but of each other. I'd have been super happy if I got two 12.5 uF caps. And even though I don't have an LCR, the two DMM's I have do agree within a couple hundredths of a uF, so I'm thinking they're reasonably accurate at this range.

Anyway, all that's pretty much beside the point... Bottom line is I was happier with the purchase decision on the Daytons than I thought I might be. Again, I don't know what part of the improvement is due to caps vs. resistors vs. new tweeters, but all of it together is a big improvment. For the SC's the jury's still out. It won't exactly be a fair comparison since they'll be in different speakers, but I'm looking forward to finding out if that set of mods makes for a bigger improvement to offset the extra money, etc.

OldmanSRS

Face wrote: »

37+ years of audio experience and you still believe all resistors of the same value sound the same, come on now.

All was not part of the subset of resistors under discussion. We were comparing the OEM sand-cast to the Mills non-inductive resistor. I have compared the two types in an SRS2 and could not hear any discernible difference in a blind test. Neither could the two others that participated.

The 4 - 22 Ohm resistors used in the tweeter circuit have an extremely small inductance (on the order of 5 - 50 uH (0.000005H). Forget inductive issues, they are so low and almost identical between cheap and 'audiophile' resistors. "Identical", in terms of the insignificance threshold for the bandwidth of a speaker.

The several feet of internal wiring and the driver voice coils have a greater inductive influence on the sound quality than the resistors which contain a only few inches to a foot of wire.

If you want to upgrade to Mills, go for it. It's your money but for my money, it's not night and day or even afternoon, for that matter.

I'm out too, taking advantage of the brick-wall clause.

heiney9

aboroth00 wrote: »

I was under the impression that resistors never go bad and are really constant factors which don't vary in the XO circuit.

The resistor is the first to go if there has been any moderate abuse. Plus, the cheap sandcast resistors aren't the best sounding. Non-inductive wire wound by Mills sound better so do the Dueland's, etc.

H9

george daniel

heiney9 wrote: »

The resistor is the first to go if there has been any moderate abuse. Plus, the cheap sandcast resistors aren't the best sounding. Non-inductive wire wound by Mills sound better so do the Dueland's, etc.

H9

Brock-- any comparasion between the Mills WW and the Mundorf MOX?--I'm beginning a X over rebuild is the reason I ask.Mills,,I'm familar with,,Duelands,I cannnot afford,,BTW-- you ever finish the Adcom GDA?
Take care

VR3

Mox is brighter to my ears. (IMO)

heiney9

george daniel wrote: »

Brock-- any comparasion between the Mills WW and the Mundorf MOX?--I'm beginning a X over rebuild is the reason I ask.Mills,,I'm familar with,,Duelands,I cannnot afford,,BTW-- you ever finish the Adcom GDA?
Take care

George no experience with Mundorfs. I still have to put the Burson regulators in the Adcom dac. I'm moving and will have a dedicated work bench and work space for this kind of stuff so 1st on my list is the 1C's (rings, spike, dynamat, mortite, etc)and then put the regulators in the Adcom. By that time I'll be ready to add the Auricaps to the Norh and then Tony's boards for the SDA's.

I'm sure with a new house these projects will take a back seat until I get good and settled.

H9

ohskigod

aboroth00 wrote: »

As anyone knows, you often times can't really trust your ears.

I know lots of people that don't trust their ears, that's why they have Ipods and earbuds. IF you dont trust your ears, what the heck are you spending your hard earned cash on? lulz!!

I do trust my ears, and the extra amount it costs me is worth it to make my ears happy.

Dayton's float your boat? great, I'm not surprised that using Dayton's in a 20 - 30 tr old crossover can yield an improvement.

While I am a proponent of more cost does not always equal better, that does not mean the inverse is true that if it costs more there is no way it is better.

better quality caps are going to yield better results. wasnt rocket science to me when I had my crossovers done. Espescially since I was upgrading a relatively new crossover in my lSi9's (2008). For me it was money well spent.

it's all about finding that place where the $ is worth it. if that lies in Dayton's, thats more than fine.

stop caring what other people do.....people can look at my system and say if i got this or that it would be better. know what? they are probably right, but it's my choice if the $ is worth it. If it isnt, it doesnt make those making the suggestions wrong.......I just have enough self esteem to not take it as an insult.

my .02 WINNING!!!!