A Vega worth building..

[bigcaps]

Rebuilt to slam on a big descrete class A Krell ..using a cathode follower tube pre amp in needed a big speaker capable of dynamic slam..My 804s B&Ws fluttered and sounded stressed when pushed hard..The B&Ws got paired to a Threshold 400a and sold, paved the way for the tube pre , 90s Krell and Vega pairing and mods needed to voice the Vega well about its pay grade alas the DX and MX Vegas are a rare breed in build so i knew i had a good start .
Ditching the Vega drivers for better wasnt really needed , they are already a few steps above most 70s 80s, 90s builds anyway..They just have shitty networks and caps, wiring and that stupid Damping Control killer the fuse system..it all had to go...
Globally sourced caps films cans..made a mockup crossover on a board sitting on my bench with clips so i can swap cap types in real time and listen to the changes..Anything turned out better than those cheap Mexican Mylars and polys..Even those nasty sounding Daytons people tend to use because they are cheap..
The big mid range did its best work on 90% value AC run cap , (polypropylene in oil ) and a aluminum foil to pick up last 10% of needed value that driver is tuned for..
Throated dome tweeter.. Muldorf in oil and Dearborn paper in oil with a 20% to 80 % split really added depth of stage and keep its sparkle in the very top reaches..
MGBO Russian is a all paper in oil CAN , used as phase balancing in place of the Electroylic balancing cap on neg feed..I just copied what the original network values where and listened as i changed them to bring out the best sound stage and natural flesh tones..They never really had much in flesh tones before, alot of textures but there was always much congestion from cheap caps, now there is vast space and almost liquid darkness, that brings out rich flesh tones, more precise textures and a vast improvement in actual instrument placement..Low volume or cranked..the Vega is reborn..
Note..It will NEVER be a Wilson , it is better overall then my B&Ws yes and this higher power with sonic balance is what i was striving for....Box was already cross braced, on platforms just needed some more damping and wire upgrades along with changes like ridding the design of that nasty sonic killing Fuse system..Best investment ive made un along time...The Mighty Krell sounds open, alive and very dynamic..

 

[onwardjames]

I sold my DX9's and have forever regretted it. This is an interesting project. More pictures, please.

And you say the Dayton polys are horrible?? I've never had a problem with them, tho I expect PIO is better.

 

[onwardjames]

Also, for a layman, how does the fuse protection kill damping? I am unfamiliar with this.

 

[bigcaps]

Also, for a layman, how does the fuse protection kill damping? I am unfamiliar with this.

QSC amplifiers once did some research on this topic, posted a chart in the effect of speaker gauge VS run length , fuses in line and loss..it was interesting to see the effects measured ..For every 10ft of 12 ga you loose 25 damping control numbers.less with 10 ga much more with 14 ga..There is a direct relationship between amplifiers Damping control numbers and what wire you run and how long..I will try to post up the article if I can find it on their site..Fuses , connections and connection loss measured does the same effect..it kills electrical damping control.

 

[bigcaps]

I sold my DX9's and have forever regretted it. This is an interesting project. More pictures, please.

And you say the Dayton polys are horrible?? I've never had a problem with them, tho I expect PIO is better.

PIO is not always better but more in tune for a certain use and circuit..So saying PIO is better is NOT always accurate..depends on how it's used and where..

 

[bigcaps]

I sold my DX9's and have forever regretted it. This is an interesting project. More pictures, please.

And you say the Dayton polys are horrible?? I've never had a problem with them, tho I expect PIO is better.

I had a set of D9s..they were just too big for the room, sonically and physically..Oil cans make a big difference on most Vega mids..

 

[onwardjames]

I appreciate the explanation. Best of luck with this worthwhile project.

 

[Lavane]

PIO's are used a lot as coupling caps in amplifiers. I used them in one of my tube amps and will be using them in a couple of mono block amps I'm building.