CV D7 Crossover question

cmcvey

Member
It never previously dawned on me until about a week ago when talking to a friend that I may need to consider recapping my speakers. I thought I was doing pretty good by simply replacing the foam surrounds but he scared me into considering recapping.
I don't think that is a job I'm comfortable tackling on my own. If I can avoid doing it altogether I will. I've attached a photo of each crossover. Can you tell by looking of the caps are good or not? None of them are bulging. Wrapper slightly peeling off one.
Any advice would be appreciated!20190312_160308.jpg 20190312_160346.jpg
 

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The only ones you "need" to replace are the two blue ones. Yellows are films and won't go bad though you could replace them with newer or higher quality ones if you wanted.
The blues are near or at their end of life expectancy so could be replaced though there are many who would argue if it ain't broke...
And no, you can't tell if a cap is bad by looking unless it's had a catastrophic failure, but sometimes not even then.
Speaker caps are bipolar so standard caps won't work.
 
Also the black one is a nonpolar electrolytic. Those usually show up in the larger values because it makes them smaller and cheaper. Because of their design (they have a layer of paste like the jelly in a jelly roll) they do dry out and get off spec.
 
I'll be very honest, cap talk is all way over my head. More so just wondering if I should concern myself with getting it recapped or not and if so, how much to expect to pay.
Appreciate all the replies so far!
 
Replace the electrolytic caps (3 caps). 15 microfarad 100V (2 caps), 60 microfarad 100v (1cap). All non-polarized electrolytics. Check Parts Express. The caps are cheap as compared to films. The 15mfd caps cap be replaced with film caps. The 60mfd best kept as a electrolytic cap. The caps are getting old. The electrolytics tend to dry out, changing the value. The ESR (internal resistance) tends to get higher starting to block signals reaching the speakers.
 
Replacement caps can be higher voltage rating, no problem, as long as the uf value is within 5-10% of original. You should have no problem finding 15 and 60 uf.

All of those caps could be purchased for under $20. If you're not a DIYer and not ready to learn soldering, the labor will be more than the parts on a job like this.

These caps do not look to be in bad shape and if the speakers sound good, it's OK to play them. But as caps age (especially electrolytics) and their capacitance and internal resistance gets off spec, it will change the sound of the speaker. Most people replacing electro caps in a speaker 20+ years old do notice an improvement, especially in the upper end.
 
You're not in any danger so wouldn't be worried.

You can likely listen to these for along time, zero issues.

If you want to improve sound and possibly avoid a failure someday of somekind, do as suggested, replace the blue and black capacitors. If you are not comfortable doing it just remove the crossover and take to a local repair shop and have them replaced. Probably wise to buy the caps yourself and take in with you. Parts Express probably the way to go for parts. We can give you part numbers to order if you tell us the capacitance and voltage of each of the blue and black caps.
 
If you do remove crossovers, make sure all wires are labeled as to where they come from and go to. Or draw yourself a picture.
 
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