• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Recapping Confusion

Flyingpoint

Flyingpoint

New Member
I'm in the middle of refurbishing a pair of JSE Infinite Slope 1.8s. And I'm increasingly confused by the need for recapping.

Everything I've read speaks to the need to recap speakers that are 20+ years old. These definitely fit that fill.

But another JSE owner was able to speak to John S. a few years ago and his advice was not to bother unless the entire x-over could be rebuilt. A simple "like for like" won't maintain the Infinite Slope x-over benefits.

Any thoughts? Anyone refurb these?

Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2474.jpg
    IMG_2474.jpg
    190.7 KB · Views: 128
Register to hide this ad
^^+1,^+1
Those were my impressions when I first saw the original post. I just wanted to wait until some with more experience and/or knowledge commented before I got put in my place.
 
not all caps go into their dotage a-wandering tho many do. When they do the sonic results are not hard to spot. If you like the sound you've got, keep it. It's possible that they wandered into something that better suits you or like a car system you've just gotten use to, it's what you've grown accustom to. If you really want to know tho measure them vs. their claimed spec. The meter never lies, well, a properly functioning one anyway...
 
rider33 said:
not all caps go into their dotage a-wandering tho many do. When they do the sonic results are not hard to spot. If you like the sound you've got, keep it. It's possible that they wandered into something that better suits you or like a car system you've just gotten use to, it's what you've grown accustom to. If you really want to know tho measure them vs. their claimed spec. The meter never lies, well, a properly functioning one anyway...
Click to expand...

I'm of the school of wanting to know the condition of what I have on hand. That pic feels like that cross-over has either been messed with or the manufacturer was a hack. Take a look at the assembly quality. That pic leaves me with a strong sense of uncertainty as to whether I could trust that it is working to original spec. Maybe that's just me.

In terms of "wandered into something that better suits you". Umm, again I like to know what I'm working with. I don't like accidental stuff that might continue to drift due to out of spec parts. Maybe that's just me.
 
Thanks everyone. I don't know much about speaker construction, but I can definitely say that this is how they came from the factory. I'm the only owner. FWIW, there's a certain amount of "trade secrecy" here too. Just about every component on the two boards has a portion of the number crossed out.

And I've looked EVERYWHERE for a schematic. It would be hugely appreciated if someone has one or could point me in the right direction.
 
I am going to put this in all caps for the people in the back:

DON'T TOUCH JSE CROSSOVERS.

Unless you really know what you are doing.
They are not designed like other crossovers.

Those crossovers are not a mess.
They are a work of art. Leave them.
 
The build quality on that crossover looks strikingly like my FIRST attempt to build on on a piece of board in regards to workmanship. I would like to be enlightened on what makes these so special. Is there something in the design that accounts for aging electrolytic capacitors?
 
Guido57 said:
The build quality on that crossover looks strikingly like my FIRST attempt to build on on a piece of board in regards to workmanship. I would like to be enlightened on what makes these so special. Is there something in the design that accounts for aging electrolytic capacitors?
Click to expand...

Read up on the "Infinite Slope" crossover design. John knew what he was doing. Yes, you could go in and replace e-lytics "like for like" but the crossover was designed well initially. The inductors are hand-wound to very specific measurements. They are placed correctly on the board. My Model 2's had huge inductors duct taped together. JSE was/is a small company. Hand built components don't have to look fancy to do fancy things.

Take a look at early AR, Snell, Thiel, B&W, Monitor, or Tangent crossovers and you'll see the exact same build type.
 
I was not doubting the design aspect. The OP was merely asking about recapping and e-lytics tend to drift over time. That was the point of my question. There seems to be a mixture of capacitor types and the e-lytics would be the only ones many would suggest replacing. Few, if any, would suggest messing with the inductors. My comments on the build quality were based on the on the connections, not the layout. The connections may suggest two things: 1: they were done by someone who could have been done nicer but didn't have the time to be concerned over aesthetics. 2: they were done by a less skilled person and the only concern was that they were solid.
And whatever the crossover looks like, I have never read anything negative about the sound of the Infinite Slope speakers.
 
Guido57 said:
I was not doubting the design aspect. The OP was merely asking about recapping and e-lytics tend to drift over time. That was the point of my question. There seems to be a mixture of capacitor types and the e-lytics would be the only ones many would suggest replacing. Few, if any, would suggest messing with the inductors. My comments on the build quality were based on the on the connections, not the layout. The connections may suggest two things: 1: they were done by someone who could have been done nicer but didn't have the time to be concerned over aesthetics. 2: they were done by a less skilled person and the only concern was that they were solid.
And whatever the crossover looks like, I have never read anything negative about the sound of the Infinite Slope speakers.
Click to expand...


understood.
 
baco99 said:
I am going to put this in all caps for the people in the back:

DON'T TOUCH JSE CROSSOVERS.

Unless you really know what you are doing.
They are not designed like other crossovers.

Those crossovers are not a mess.
They are a work of art. Leave them.
Click to expand...

Those are a mess, this is a work of art.
20181112_002414.jpg
 
Electrolytics do eventually go bad in many cases. But I would check to make sure they were out before doing anything. I replaced the electrolytic caps in my HPM-500s and never bothered with the second speaker -- hard to take it down at the moment from it's location, and there was zero difference after putting film caps in the first one.

If the caps are already film, there is no reason to do anything unless something is obviously wrong.

Replacing like for like should not make any difference unless the original parts were hand selected for exact value.

Nothing every happens to inductors unless you bend them, and the load on speaker resistors is quite low so they should not drift much either unless junk parts to start with. I don't think there is anything else in the crossover except L-pads -- which can benefit from cleaning. That said, the ones on my Pioneers (all four) are fine at 40 years of age.
 
baco99 said:
I am going to put this in all caps for the people in the back:

DON'T TOUCH JSE CROSSOVERS.

Unless you really know what you are doing.
They are not designed like other crossovers.

Those crossovers are not a mess.
They are a work of art. Leave them.
Click to expand...

-----

FWIW - I just heard back from Millersound. They're definitely of the "don't touch them unless absolutely necessary" school of thought. Thanks for the feedback this AM.
 
JD#7 said:
I looked up JSE crossover images and see a lot of this


View attachment 1867028
Click to expand...

Exactly

Look into VMPS crossovers. Those are a total mess.

Some Apogee speakers don't look much different on the inside.


Ever opened up a set of Nolas?

35884573975_649ea68262_b.jpg



Snell C for reference

29917710088_65ba5203eb_b.jpg



Sjöfn "The Clue" crossovers have the components glued right the rear of the baffle. (sometimes incorrectly, I might add....)

41429249894_432848ce75_b.jpg



And here's what JSE Model 2 look like for posterity. Absolutely beautiful sounds those speakers made.

34974913226_27b182a1b6_b.jpg


35014974785_fb51ae070b_b.jpg


43912826221_e21058c948_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom