BOSE 601 Serie I , Crossover replacement.

[tomirand]

Hi, I got a pair of Bose 601 Series I speakers from 1977 that havent been used for more than 20 years.
I've taken the speakers to a technical service to restore the foam to all the woofers and tweeters and he told me it would really improve the sound to change the crossover for one new specisally designed for this speaker. I do not know if it is worth or not. The speakers seem to work but maybe with that change they might sound better.

I am afraid that the repair man wants to add something that is not necessary.

what would you recomend?

 

[glend123]

I replaced the caps on some Dynaco A-25 speakers, the improvement was pretty substantial. I would do it.

 

[teal'c]

The capacitors in the current crossover are specially designed for that speaker. I would not replace the crossover unless you really like them and have no problem putting considerable amounts of money in them. A decent crossover isn't cheap.

That being said, electrolytic caps do go bad over time. 1997 was a bit over twenty years and the expected life expectancy for caps is approx twenty five years. Some die before, some after, and others keep limping along despite being out of their specs. Some go bad open which won't hurt anything, you'll just lose some audio. If they short out, you could fry a tweeter or mid by sending them frequencies they can't handle.
Ask your tech if he's means a recap, that is something I consider as speaker maintenance though others will disagree.

 

[Rog Beltmann]

If your crossover uses np electrolytics it can't be that high a quality to begin with.

 

[tarior]

The Bose 601 crossover is very simple. IIRC, it is just a couple of caps, a couple of resistors, one inductor, and a lamp to protect the tweeters. If they sound good, they are good.
BTW, the 601 series I and II are my favorite Bose products ever.