2000 Year speaker capacitor replacement?
uxbridgechris
Posts: 23
Hi folks. New to the forum. I have mostly questions and few answers. :-)
My home theatre speakers that I bought new in 2000 are RT800i. CS245i and RT25i.
They are in pristine condition as they have barely been used, and never used hard.
I love to tinker and I am proficient in circuit board soldering.
Can these speakers benefit from a capacitor upgrade?
If so, what brand and type is recommended?
Thanks.
My home theatre speakers that I bought new in 2000 are RT800i. CS245i and RT25i.
They are in pristine condition as they have barely been used, and never used hard.
I love to tinker and I am proficient in circuit board soldering.
Can these speakers benefit from a capacitor upgrade?
If so, what brand and type is recommended?
Thanks.
Comments
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Did I post this is the wrong forum? Thanks
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Of course, they can be upgraded and will benefit from doing so. As for brands of caps, how deep are your pockets? Don't forget to upgrade the resistors too.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks Fnut. How deep do they have to be? Can I make a substantial improvement for $30-40 per speaker?
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Just for the record. I wasn't just a lazy sob. I did read the archives before posting. not just on this site but also others. many argue there is little difference between a $8 cap and a $30 cap and yes, some say they are worlds apart. I wouldn't know. I've never done this before and I don't have a keen ear for what's right and what's wrong. I just want to "refresh" the speakers. I know that caps dry out. I didn't read anywhere that resistors should be done but I am open minded.
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uxbridgechris wrote: »Just for the record. I wasn't just a lazy sob. I did read the archives before posting. not just on this site but also others. many argue there is little difference between a $8 cap and a $30 cap and yes, some say they are worlds apart. I wouldn't know. I've never done this before and I don't have a keen ear for what's right and what's wrong. I just want to "refresh" the speakers. I know that caps dry out. I didn't read anywhere that resistors should be done but I am open minded.
Many don't have a clue.
You need to pull the crossovers to obtain the values of the caps and resistors. Yes, good resistors, such as Mills, make a difference too. Then shop around for components you can afford, but $30 - $40 per speaker isn't getting you much.
Here's a little reading for you.
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.htmlPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Yes it is an amazing resource. if only I spoke that language. lol.
So, my take and you guys can correct me if I am wrong is that some caps aren't necessarily better than others but more or less, they yeild different results.
This leads me to believe that I shouldn't use the same brand cap for highs and mids????? The problem is, where the hell does a guy start with that large of a selection?
If I post pics of the crossovers, can you guys offer me guidance? -
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that was from my center channel. is that worth doing and where do I start? Thanks.
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having trouble identifying one resistor, is the 5w1Ω5j a 1 ohm ? Also, can I substitute a 12 watt resistor for this 5 watt resistor? thanks
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No, some caps are better than others as a result they sound different.
5w1Ω5j is a 1.5 ohm/5 watt. J is the tolerance code, which in this case is +/- 5%.
Yes, you can replace 5 watt resistors with 12 watt versions.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
So is this a good start for center channel?
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You do not want Solen caps.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Ok so do I pick a few more dozen brands until you say I picked the right one or are you gonna help me out here? Lololol
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Try Sonicap Gen I or Clarity CSA.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I'm assuming the 10mfd cap is for the tweeter. that would give it around 2000hz.
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Guys, here is the crossover for the RT800i. I thought there would be more caps.
the one cap is a 27mfd. what is the yellow thing? (9.0J 100v)? is that the tweeter cap? Is it 9mfd? -
Sorry here are pics
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9uF cap
27uF cap
3.5 ohm 5 watt resistor
1.5 ohm 5 watt resistorPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
9uf for tweeter?
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YesPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
my center channel tweeter is 10uf.
My tower speakers tweeter is 9uf.
I can only get 10uf from my local clarity cap supplier. can i use 10uf for my center and tower speaker?
Thanks. -
or 5.6 + 3.3 for 8.9?
If the tweeters on the center channel are 10mfd, would it not be better to use 10mfd on the towers???? I just don't know. -
Use two 4.7uF.
No, the crossovers are designed to obtain a balanced sound, which would be different for the towers and center.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I'll will look for some pics, but I believe I used the clarity caps on my rt800's a few years back. The fitment was tight and I think I had to change the height of the circuit board just slightly to get everything back inside.
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in mine, the crossover board is screwed to the backside of the binding post assembly.
Lots of room behind if I need to stack a couple of caps but I'd sure love to see the pics. Also, would like to know your opinion if the change was minor or drastic. if you are happy etc. Can't find a single thread online where this was actually done to this speaker. Cheers. -
I want to say the overall sound quality had improved, not by a huge margin though.
The midrange seems slightly tighter, the tweeter may be padded down just ever so slightly but might not be a bad thing.
The bass appears to be tighter and more accurate, they will play loud and sound cleaner at higher volumes. I want to say there appears to be a slight dip in the higher frequencies, just enough to make you wonder where the last bit of sparkle went...but again, might not be a bad thing.
I haven't gave them alot of critical listening time recently, but I want to say the clarity caps I used may not be as revealing as the sonicaps...not sure, haven't done a A-B comparison.
I flipped the boards to aid in soldering.
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I want to say the overall sound quality had improved, not by a huge margin though.
The midrange seems slightly tighter, the tweeter may be padded down just ever so slightly but might not be a bad thing.
The bass appears to be tighter and more accurate, they will play loud and sound cleaner at higher volumes. I want to say there appears to be a slight dip in the higher frequencies, just enough to make you wonder where the last bit of sparkle went...but again, might not be a bad thing.
I just recapped a set of speakers, and feel exactly as you do. My speakers are Acoustic Research AR58S's. A 3 way, using dome mids and tweeters, and 12" woofers.
With the recap, I used a CSA on the tweeters, and an ESA on the mids. After about 75 hours of burn in, I hear a lot lower noise floor, allowing low level detail to be easily heard. Also, the dispersion has increased, to where the speakers throw a nice sound-stage. But, there seems to be an upper mid roll off, and a lack of air and sparkle in the treble. Dynamics are a bit lessened as well. I hope the caps continue to improve with increased burn in, as I like most of what I'm hearing so far. I just want the dynamics and sparkle back.
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You'll get used to what music is supposed to sound like.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
