What does it mean to change the caps on a pair of LS 90 speakers?
shaironbob
Posts: 7
What does it mean to change the caps on a pair of LS 90 speakers and what is the advantage of doing it?
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shaironbob wrote: »What does it mean to change the caps on a pair of LS 90 speakers and what is the advantage of doing it?
The LS90s are around 30 years old now since they were an early 1990s speaker. The crossover components such as capacitors may or may not have drifted in values over time and be out of spec from the original design, and it is true that better capacitors were available then and now that could improve clarity or bass response. The standard crossover parts used back then were also no better or worse than what is used now in similar speakers.
How do they sound as is? How do they compare in sound quality to a more modern speaker design? Is it worth it to you in terms of time and money to buy parts and upgrade/update crossover components yourself vs buying a new speaker that may perform better anyway because of better driver performance and cabinet construction? Also bear in mind that upgrading crossover components on an old pair of speakers that may have beat up cabinets isn't going to increase their value if the desire is to sell them in future.
Answers
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The crossover in each cabinet contains the following components, capacitors, resistors and inductors. The quality of stock components in most speakers are not very good. Sure they get the job done, but there are much higher quality components available resulting in mo' better sound.
Avoid Solen, Dayton and Bennic caps or any from places like Aliexpress, eBay, etc.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 forgot to mention...the stock electrolytic capacitors on your crossovers are way past their lifespan, so another reason to upgrade.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 -
Mine were purchased around 1992. One has a scratchy tweeter so I just found and bought two used but supposedly tested tweeters on EBAY which I will install the one that is bad.
Where are the caps? I guess I can start pulling the individual speakers to find them.
Where does one go to buy replacement good quality capacitors? I don't mind spending some money to fix these up some. I just now have set them up in my garage after about 15 yrs in storage. They have sentimental value plus they still sound great. -
Also, should I consider replacing anything else? Are the caps and anything else for that matter plug and play? Simply sway out?
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Update: I just found a photo of the part in the back of speaker where the speaker wires connect. It was referred to as a crossover and appeared to have some circuitry and possibly a capacitor. If that's it, is that cover everything or is there even more inside the cabinet?
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Re-read my previous posts.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 -
Here's one example of a crossover upgrade. Maybe a little overboard and more than is needed to make some minor updates, but it's an example of what's possible from a skilled person:
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/147720/polk-audio-ls90-crossover-modification-thread
