rickknight
Active Member
If it helps, I also used Dayton. I see no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a set of Sonicaps.
Realistic Nova 8b Rebuild & Crossover Re-Design
- Thread starter videolady201
- Start date
I agree for these old RS speakers. But, I have used better caps on some higher end drivers and I think they do make a difference. Just an opinion. It was hearing the harsh sounding smear from Solen caps years ago that changed my mind. It went away when they were replaced with better. This was using them with some very nice Scan Speak tweeters.
rickknight
Active Member
I have a set of Polk Audio M10s that I'm going be doing an upgrade/repair on. I'll try better caps on that and see if I can hear any difference. This is a very subjective topic, what sounds good to me or "can I hear the difference" my be very different for you. The M10s have been worked on by someone in the past who replaced a Sonicap 16uF with a Sonicap 12uF and generic 4.4uF aluminum electrolytic wired in parallel. I am sure whatever was gained by the 16uF Sonicap was lost when it was replaced, so when I restore to the proper Sonicap 16uF I hope to hear a difference.
Lavane
Lunatic Member
I've recapped my Monitor 10's. The 34UF Sonicap is expensive.
I just used a 33UF Audyn cap instead. It's well within the specs of the original electrolytic. I also used precision wire wound resistors that you can get at Partsexpress. I replaced the poly switches with .5 ohm resistors.
The poly switches had drift in value. As long as you don't crank the volume way up so that the speaker distorts there isn't a problem.
I wound up replacing the SL-2000 tweeters with the RDO-194's too.
I just left the blue Mylar film cap alone. The speakers sounded good enough when new with them. Depending on when yours were made, the crossovers could be a bit different.
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I'm more wondering the sizing of the caps. Like voltage and micro farads
Lavane
Lunatic Member
Going up in voltage over what the origjnal electrolytic caps are rated for with film caps is fine. As for the MF, or (UF) value as they can be marked either way, use the same values as the original caps. If you use a different value, it will change the crossover points. As I stated above I dis use a 33uf cap in place of the 34uf cap. Sonicap is the only brand that sells a 34uf cap and they're spendy. The 33uf Audyn is close enough and much cheaper. I couldn't hear any difference. It's within the tolerance of the original cap.
Those old electrolytic caps could be as sloppy as 50%.or more higher or lower in value. The tolerances can be marked on the cap. I replaced a pair once that had +100%/-50% printed on the side.
Those old electrolytic caps could be as sloppy as 50%.or more higher or lower in value. The tolerances can be marked on the cap. I replaced a pair once that had +100%/-50% printed on the side.
I opened the speakers up and found a 10uf and 4.7uf in the 8Bs. I've ordered two pairs from Mouser and will recap soon! Does this really improve the sound like people say? If so I'm excited because I already think they sound pretty good. I just feel like some detail in songs is a bit muddy/ blurred when you get to the jammy sections. Hoping this gives a bit more clarity.
maxhifi
Addicted Member
My experience is the 1970s radio shack caps have simply failed by this point, so it's more about restoring the sound than improving it. The symptoms of bad caps are weak treble and missing midrange.
That's exactly what I think I'm experiencing. Looking forward to restoring them to their glory!
When I recapped mine, it made a yuuuuuuge difference. All of the speakers that I have done have had at least a little difference, but the 8Bs for some reason had the biggest difference.
Do you remember what you replaced then with? I ordered 100v film cap replacements that I purchased from Mouser
Lavane
Lunatic Member
I think I linked some Dayton polypropylene film caps for him from Partsexpress.
Where can I find some reliable bare 22 awg wire to connect crossover components? I want to extend leads from the caps I bought. I googled and found some tinned copper wire from Remington want to make sure that's not something I can't just pick up locally somewhere or that there's a better place like partsexpress or something.
Lavane
Lunatic Member
Ive bought tinned copper from Amazon and eBay before. I think I got some from PE as well. I used 20ga and 22ga a lot. Mostly for wiring up tube amp and preamp builds.
From the nuts spinning through.
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Lavane
Lunatic Member
They didn't use the best particle board. When that happens, I add a thin layer of wood glue on the back side of the partical board, a little more on the nut and clamp it back into place with vice grips. Not too tight, you don't want to mess up the front side. When removing the screws, I give them a quick little jerk to bust them loose.
DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
It is damned likely that you know more about grounds and amplifier output stages than I do. But speakers operate on AC, which is my main point. I always assumed the amp did not change the 60 cycle alternating frequency as supplied, but I don't know everything....