Opinions on Floorstanding Speakers - Budget $4K

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by TheVinylAddict, May 6, 2018.

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  1. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    The Reference are a little short of $9k....The Trinton 1 Towers are a little short of $5k. If you are close to the STL...I can get yohh a deal on any pair you want. The Trinton Towers ain't no joke if you can get past the sock.
     
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  2. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    I heard Triton 1 towers with a LineMagnetics 100w tube amp yesterday at AZ Hifi. Not surprisingly, they sounded very nice!!! Two days ago they sold a pair of well kept Triton 1's for $2500, and I have another line on Triton 2's for $1750. It seems they resell for fiddy cent on the dollar regularly.

    But thank you, who knows I may just take you up on that!!!

    OK, signing off for the rest of the weekend, going to grill up some filets and make some crab legs for the family / company! Cheers all, respond later, and thanks to everyone that has helped me with feedback so far!!!!
     
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  3. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    That's one way to put it.
     
  4. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    IF you got $4k to spend, then get some reference speakers at a bargain price. These are some of the best speakers you will ever hear in the $6k price range and are better than the GE Reference. But they are discounted $2k .Only a few models being sold in the USA. these are a Anniversary Limited Addition Model... I think less than 4 or 5 models are to be release in the USA. They will only be made for about a year. If you know anything about the brand, youd know they are not as popular in the States as they are across the pond.

    CANTON A45 45th Anniversary Limited Edition Speaker Black Each

    Here is the German site about this speaker.

    A 45

    There is a dealer down in Florida who is just raving about this brand.......read his opinion on this forum. But in order to see the pictures of these, you will have to sign into the forum

    Canton Reference K1's are in the House! - AudioAficionado.org

    A
     
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  5. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    That's the first I've heard of Tungsten being used in a speaker cone. Interesting.
     
  6. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    Mi Man! Another passion of mine....grilling and smoking some great food!
     
  7. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    At the Chicago audio show, they had a small pair of the Canton Reference set up...sounded horrible. But these are some great sounding speakers and to see the Furniture grade in person is very impressive. Canton Vento and Reference are down right excellent and are practically unknown in the States. The entire speaker, crossover and drivers are made in house and will never be used outside of Canton. The reason you never heard of Tungsten in drivers is because no one has done it before.
     
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  8. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeaker Measurements
    I'd have to guess that ~5db rise near 10kHz is what caused my impression because otherwise they're flat as a pancake.
     
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  9. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time...

    Location:
    Chicago
    What about Sonus Faber Venere S? I’ve heard great things but never auditioned.
     
  10. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    Could be. And could have been the cables or gear or anything....synergy could have been off for various reasons. I gave up on graphs, charts, and white papers years ago. I trust my ears and I suspect you do as well. You know what you heard....could have been due to one of the other reasons listed above or something else. And besides...we don't all hear alike....for that reason, I don't doubt what you said you heard.
     
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  11. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    I don't know about the cable aspect but I certainly agree it can be a synergy thing. I don't usually quote measurements unless there's some glaring "issue," that I try to make sense of. Sometimes there's nothing to explain what I hear, and other times a graph will make total sense. Anyhow, I'm glad the OP took the time to audition them, because you just never know. In all fairness, the ones I heard were almost on-axis (as were the other brands there), and I can rarely tolerate a speaker on-axis for long.
     
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  12. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    "Audition" is a stretch --- my wife and I stopped in, we were kind of in a hurry --- I listened to about 30 seconds of Sketches of Spain (Miles), then he switched to some guitar / folk country piece because I think he wasn't feeling like it was getting the "message" across. Then, another customer walked in, he started helping them --- and then after about 2 min I got up and had to go... he was the only one there and couldn't really focus on one customer.

    The little I heard did sound good, but in no way did I put it through its paces. He had an LineMagnetics 100 watt amp driving the Golden Ear 1 speakers, and was using an iPad to deliver digital to the system - it was NOT vinyl.

    Since it is close I plan on going back for a more detailed audition. He has the GE 1's ($5K) hooked up.... and it is the ONLY speakers he has set up, his listening room is like 10x10, with the remainder of the shop about double that in an L shape. It is a SMALL space in downtown Phoenix... (welcome to the world of Phoenix area audio shops and auditioning).

    I am out in Cali in a few weeks for about 5 days --- I already plan on a few stops for more listening / viewing.

    Anyway, just thought I would clarify...
     
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  13. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    To close out the thread with a choice - after an extended search and consideration of a few different types, my speaker search is over for now, as I landed a pair of vintage Yamaha NS-2000’s that I am quite pleased with. These were discussed a couple of pages back and if you are unaware of them (or if you care :)), take a look around the web at the specs, reviews and discussions that exist.

    Those that know what these speakers are, and that they are all beryllium driver design that would cost greater than $10K to make today, already realize why I like these speakers. Besides the fact they sound so good to boot!

    I originally typed more of a response, but it started to get long-winded (yeah, that's me :)) so I shortened it to just share my choice. Many already know what these speakers are!
     
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  14. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    Wow! Cool! I got speakers with beryllium tweeters this year and I like it. Hope you enjoy it for many years to come.
     
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  15. Davey

    Davey NP: CLARAGUILAR ~ Figura (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Nice speakers! Of course, you probably realize the woofer isn't beryllium, just the midrange and tweeter. The woofer is carbon fiber. How are the woofer surrounds? Aren't they foam on these? Presumably have been replaced at least once over the years. One of the guys on the forum here recently embarked on a project to make new upgraded crossovers for his NS1000 speakers, all new inductors and capacitors and resistors, while keeping the old ones intact. Interesting, and somewhat expensive project considering the stock parts quality is pretty high, at least in relative terms ... Crossover Inductor Coils ... the NS2000 is a nicer looking speaker too with that high end cabinetry.
     
  16. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    @Davey
    In the long-wonded post I did NOT post :) I actually addressed all your points, so I will do some cut and pasting from the paragraphs I saved to answer your questions.
    Pasted from original / unposted response:
    I have seen these sell anywhere from $2500 for a good condition pair to up to $5000+ for a mint pair, so I feel very fortunate to have landed them for $2500 for the pair I got. They are 8 out of 10 cosmetically, and come with the original boxes. They are in all original condition, except for a re-foaming of the surrounds, which is a must on vintage speakers and most likely done a few years ago.

    So, yes, of course they were re-done, but the originals were rubber surrounds from what I have read. The seller actually still has two JA-3301 re-coning kits with the original rubber surrounds and new carbon fiber cones. These are impossible to find, but he is asking WAY too much for them. Plus, the foam surrounds now on mine were done right, and look to be only a few years old. (And yes, I know the woofers are carbon fiber).

    Also, the JA-3301 the seller has were sold in 1994 (he still has the receipt from the original owner - a Yamaha employee - and the original receipt was dated 1994) --- so, consider that the reconing kit has 24 year old surrounds, even though unused. Note the carbon fiber cones in the reconing kit are new looking, as you know, most of the NS-2000's out there have burnish marks on the cones, it comes with the territory. The ones in the kit are PRISTINE.

    Oh, btw, the NS-1000x also has the carbon fiber cone.

    Again, paste from original/unposted response:
    I went to California for a week long trip with the intention of also auditioning new speakers (did make it out to a couple of places), but ended up coming home with these after finding a seller on CL. For the price I paid compared to what I can get new at the same price, I am a very happy camper. Even with the original 36 year old caps in them (they used MF paper caps) they sound fabulous --- I plan on doing a complete overhaul of the crossover network to get them singing with some nice caps, and there will surely be a thread or two about capacitor upgrades on vintage speakers! I am already digging into the Service Manual and debating on what I want where…. Of course there are a lot of considerations because of availability today and matching cap values 1 to 1 is not always easy…. Knowing full well some will say “all original Yamaha, LEAVE THEM ALONE UNLESS THEY ARE BROKE!!!” I am still undecided, but a stronger contingent of audio folk I rely on say “36 year old caps, replace them, they will undoubtedly improve.” Whatever I do, I will buy good components and do it right. (read, no electrolytic in the signal path!)

    I have done a lot of research on the crossover network in the last few days, in fact I already have a draft of a post to start discussions on cap choice favorites from some. The network has a 2.7uf cap for the tweeter (C4), a 3.5uf (C3) and six 3.5uf caps (for 21uf total for C2) for the midrange..... and finally four 22uf caps for the woofer (C1). Note I edited - the woofer is C1, the tweeter is C4.

    When they maintain these at Hifido, they leave the original caps in for C2 and C3 (even C1) because they are epoxied to the board. There are vids out there of folks using angle grinders and chisels to get them out! That's overkill, but they are mounted firmly on the board, and sunk into a hole so the epoxy has a good grip.

    EDIT: the C4 cap comes out easily, it's screwed in on a strap. For the C2 and C3 I may leave them in to start to give a fallback in case I want to, like I said, they leave them in at HiFiDo when they maintain them, and cut the leads!!! The verbiage they use is "difficult to remove".

    I know for sure the tweeter and midrange caps are going --- for the tweeter, I am debating whether I want a Mundorf 2.7uf Silver / Oil and pay that much, or maybe a Jantzen Alumen 2.7uf ---- or maybe even do a bypass by putting a Mundorf Supreme 2.2 uf in there to save coin, and bypass a 0.5uf Russian Teflon.... or a nice polystyrene.... you get it. The debate of "1 to 1" replacement vs bypassing is an interesting one... many opinions.

    The midrange C2 where they have six 3.5uf caps is a little tougher, many options. A direct 3.5uf is a little tougher to find these days, lots of 3.3uf.... then if I do leave those six on the board for now, real estate becomes an issue. I could always use on 20uf, with a 1uf bypass like many have done... the choices are endless. I have seen for C3 many folks using a 2uf with a 1.5 bypass, or maybe a 3.3uf with a 0.22uf or 0.2 Teflon, etc.

    Yes, I have seen many of the NS-1000 crossover threads, there are plenty. The 2000 crossover network is quite different, for instance, the NS-1000 used electrolytics for the woofer, and I think the tweeter ---- the NS-2000 used no electrolytic in the signal path, all MF paper.

    Anyway, you should have known I did my homework!!! I am also planning to upgrade the wire in there too - it's 36 year old 16 gauge stranded....
    Again, from the original / unposted:
    Note these speakers are not tall at 31” (I got stands with them also in the sale), but are 17” wide and 14” deep. They have a 13” woofer, and are literal cinder blocks at 103lbs. They are SOLIDLY built with a beautiful walnut finish. Their weight belies their size!! They are a 3-way speaker with 3 drivers…. But three really good drivers. Simple as that

    They are absolutely gorgeous, and being a woodworker I appreciate the solid wood trim up front, and the thick verneer on the side cabinets. Plus, recall I have a GT-2000L turntable (note the 2000) and it too is the same walnut!!! Twinsies! Note they were both made in 1982, not a coincidence!! Oh, I should have just done another paste from my original response:

    Plus, they make my Yamaha GT-2000 turntable sing (notice the 2000 in the name --- these speakers and TT were made by Yamaha in the same year – 1982, the 2000 designation is not coincidence).

    I realize now I have probably already answered most of the pending questions in the LONG thread I originally typed!! LOL
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2018
  17. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    @Davey - the more I read up on cap replacement, the more I realize it is something I want to approach carefully. The beauty of the NS-2000 is they are carefully engineered / voiced and that is one of their reason for their appeal - they sound really good! Plus, the pair I have still sound good too... and again there are many who say about the Yamaha "if it ain't broke..."

    What I may do is take a gradual, step-wise approach, leaving a fallback to original if I don't like the result. For instance, upgrade the tweeter network, run them for a while, use good components - then consider what the next step might be. The tweeter and midrange caps are a more critical target potentially, and the caps are 36 years old.... so there is the other side of the argument. Plus, replacing the one C3 cap at 3.5uf is more critical than the six C2 midrange caps because the one C2 is at the end of the signal path, and in parallel to the rest.

    I plan on keeping these for a while, they are wonderful speakers. Plus caps don't last forever, that is a given for any speaker. But the fact these have lasted 36 years is a testimony to how they are built and the quality of the components used. The last thing I want to do is screw that up.... so I am going to take a gradual, step-wise approach leaving a simple fallback if I don't like one of the results.

    Even something as simple as the wiring to the drivers can have a negative impact, so if I replace due to age or suspected oxidation, it'll be with the same type / size of wire most likely.

    It's much easier to screw up a crossover network by slapping a bunch of poorly integrated components, and that is the last thing I want to do. I want to keep the original voice, and want anything I do to be high quality, just like when they were built. Getting inside the cabinet to the board is not that hard, so doing it more than once is not that big of a deal.

    I don't mind tinkering if it is on something that is worth it, and to me these speakers are worth keeping running in tip top shape and some day handing them down....
     
  18. Davey

    Davey NP: CLARAGUILAR ~ Figura (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Below is the schematic from service manual for reference ...

    [​IMG]

    The metallized paper caps are probably fine, I'm not sure they really have a degradation mechanism other than moisture intrusion, there's nothing to leak and they have spent their life in a mostly ambient environment anyway. And paper is a good dielectric, but not the best, and there are some very nice capacitors available today, well built, including those with foil electrodes and some of the better dielectric plastics that would likely sound better. I have a bunch of Teflon caps in my Conrad Johnson gear, but they can get very, very expensive in the aftermarket, size is big and values are small too.

    The pots for tweeter and midrange level may be another area that could be improved. I'm not sure how they are implemented, if wirewound without a ceramic core, they may sound OK, but some of them sound terrible, may benefit from fixed resistors, though many commonly available power resistors with ceramic cores and coatings sound even worse, so may have to experiment there, or do some research.

    Sounds like you have a good plan with the incremental upgrades, though I'd be concerned about opening it up repeatedly to get at the crossover, seems a lot of work. Think I'd be inclined to move crossover outside, or maybe try to flip around the back panel and route wires back into the cabinet through a new temporary connector plate until you are done with experimenting. As we talked about in that other thread I linked, there are advantages to remote crossover positioning close to amp as well, though it means more speaker wires. Alternately, with crossover at speaker position, it can make a pretty significant difference to bring separate return wires back to amp, so in your case, you would separate the grounds in the crossover sections and have one (+) wire and three (-) wires from amp to speaker.

    Anyway, have fun and keep us posted, and we expect pictures at some point showing (in action) all this great vintage gear you've been collecting :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2018
  19. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    @Davey - Thanks for your thoughts. Been meaning to reply, you hit so many good topics that I waited until I had an ample block of time to do so. Due to the newly acquired NS-2000's, I am learning a ton about x-over networks --- not sure if I will be dusting off the soldering iron to do the work myself, strongly considering it. I used to do a fair amount of soldering back in the day... just need some practice to dust off the cobwebs.

    Thanks for posting the schematic – I already had it of course , I printed off the Service Manual before I visited the seller - that is how I was able to rattle off all the cap values earlier. (actually, the audio engineer I took with me was thinking ahead and printed it for me :))

    I will say this again, from my extensive reading on the topic, I don’t mind taking a step-wise approach, as there are many stories of folks that tried an x-over upgrade and were not happy with the results. I don’t want to drastically change the voice of these, there is a reason they are so sought after! I don’t mind a little disassembly, these are easy to work with, and I can do a couple of things that are “temporary” until I am finished to make taking them apart easier! I have a shop to work in, so have the space to make sure it’s done right.
     
  20. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    Paper caps - the bottom line is the paper caps are 36 years old, and they have degraded. Paper caps were chosen for the NS-2000’s for their LONG life, and it's working as the speakers are 36 years old and they still sound good! Moisture is an enemy to paper caps as you stated, but after 36 years it is more than moisture attributing to their degradation. The caps clearly are not “bad” but definitely not up to their original performance after 36 years. One contingent says "don't replace them unless they stop working" - you know how it is, the conservative approach. At the end of the day, they are 36 years old... that has a bearing...

    Besides, as stated, paper is NOT the best dielectric (teflon, polystyrene, modern polyprop's with foil considered ahead in the chain) --- that also has a bearing - so 36 year old paper caps, plus middle of the road.... and why I am considering a careful upgrade. I am not putting any mylar, cheap polyprop’s or dielectrics anywhere in the tweeter or midrange signal path!! I would leave them alone before putting lower end stuff in there. With the exception of the woofer x-over caps - I may try to save some $$ of course there being 4 x 22uf - it's economics, and plus the bang for the buck on sound will come from the tweeter and midrange caps. Some routinely put electrolytic in the woofer replacements... I might opt for lower end Solens polyprop's, maybe lower end Mundorf polyprop's, even saw an intriguing Jensen choice at $15 a cap that has the terminals on top just like the ones put on back in the day - it's even one that Tony Gee rates well... so that's a plus. Humble Homemade Hifi - Cap Test

    (Now, for the rest of my replies – I am doing this because there are so few posts / info on the net regarding the NS-2000 and crossover work. Due to the large owner network, there is a lot of info on the NS-1000, but much, much less on the NS-2000.)

    Teflon only come in smaller micro-farad values, and are large in size for a given value. You can get 1uf Teflons, but they get HUGE and real estate becomes an issue. So you are then relegated to using them as a bypass in crossover networks, it really isn’t feasible to use them as a primary cap in a reuse situation due to their small values and size. As a simple first step to gauge what direction re-capping will go, I may start simple --- and put a 0.1uf (or even .05uf) Teflon bypass (or polystyrene) on the tweeter and midrange network, and leave the original paper caps in there. Or consider even a Cornell Dublier 940C 0.01uf bypass that Tony Gee (Humble Home Hi Fi) recommends. His favorite is the Dueland 0.01 uf pure silver bypass, but I refuse to pay $100 for a .01uf bypass capacitor!! Anyway, bypassing to start will serve as a test to see if there is any improvement / cleanup of the mids and highs, and give a gauge to what Teflon or other bypass would do. I could tack solder them on so backing out to original is easy. I could always go back in later and replace the paper caps with something newer, but still use the Teflon or Polystyrene as a bypass.

    Now for potential risk - of course there are some that think that bypassing small caps is not wise... it can possibly lead to other artifacts in the sound. The logic is a 0.05uf capacitor discharges at a higher rate than the larger capacitor (say, a 2.7uf) it is in parallel with. Hence, that sound is delivered to the driver first, and you can get echoes, artifacts, sometimes minute enough where not all ears can detect them, but other times it can affect the sound to the negative. It's amazing the dichotomy of theories / practice as always. That’s why starting with a plan that is easy to back out is wise, see what happens and lock it in after testing for a while. I am in no hurry, it is a marathon with these speakers and not a sprint! I'll get to the bottom of it though.

    Finally, I agree on the foil caps, they can get expensive though - like one Mundorf Silver / Oil can reach $75 for ONE 2.7uf. Then one Silver / Gold / Oil is $105!! There is a new-comer as a tweeter choice from Jantzen - the Alumen - which is $36 bucks and is getting great reviews. It comes down to what is the right level of investment on $2500 speaker... if you wanted to, you could spend more on caps than what the driver is worth!! So, as always, law of diminishing returns. Besides, I won’t go for 1 to 1 replacement anywhere in the network until I see what a simple Teflon bypass, or polystyerene bypass, or even a high quality polyprop bypass will do.

    When I auditioned these, I was accompanied by an audio engineer (someone you may know and we spent about 6 hours auditioning, trying different sources into the NS-2000's. The seller had TONS of vintage amps, and enjoyed showing them off. We tried vintage Marantz 2325, 4000 series, tube amps, and more. Every time the audio engineer heard any sharp edge to the treble or mid with a particular source, he would say "it's probably those old paper caps accounting for 30% of that." I am not going to doubt his opinion, he is probably right.
     
  21. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    Actually, I went in thinking that I would be disappointed with the tweeter and midrange pots - you know how those typically fare on many speakers over time and why you brought it up. BUT, this is one area where the Yamaha techs must have done it right.

    The first thing did when auditioning the NS-2000'a was walk up and turn the knobs on the tweeter midrange, fully expecting that one or two might be "scratchy" or give some distortion while turning them... but not the case. Smooth, no noise -- and the amazing thing was how much the midrange tone / sound changed when you turned them across the range!!

    Bottom line, the pots for the tone adjustments on the tweeter / midrange are the least of my worries going in... one less thing to worry about, they work great.
     
  22. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    We think alike. There are many ways I can leave the board more accessible so I don't have to open it up more than once. On the flip side, taking it apart for these is not THAT hard anyway. It's a trade off - and I would rather not change a bunch of stuff at once and then have to wonder what might have caused an unwanted result. I want to take a measured approach, there can be unexpected results in x-over's!

    I thought about ways to make incremental upgrade easier, including your idea of temporarily leaving the x-over outside of the cabinet. It might mean slightly longer internal wiring for a short time, but it could make life easier. Thanks for sharing.

    There are two things I plan on doing first – one is replacing the cheaper internal wiring from the network to the drivers with something a little higher end. It appears the wiring they used is cheap nickel plated, and not even pure copper or silver. I carefully inspected / removed the woofer at the sellers house to look inside to guage how original everything was, and was surprised to see the type of wire used! The audio engineer present was not surprised, and offered up a few tales / stories on how internal wiring was frequently a cost savings target in even higher end speakers.

    The second thing is thinking about uprading the speaker wire posts / terminals on the back. They come with a “push” type where you insert the wire into a hole, and not only are the originals oxidized, I am not a fan of the push type terminal. But maybe just a clean up there… they are original, not broken, and some actually swear by them of how they make a better connection.
     
  23. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found Thread Starter

    Location:
    AZ
    LOL. I don't even have a picture hosting service set up yet, so still not able to post pics - I miss the days of direct cut and paste. I will have to get around to that one day! There are 2 or 3 board members that have pics of my speakers now, but they were sent on a separate email externally!

    Bottom line though - the speakers sound very good with the current crossover network, and the paper caps in all their glory - so leaving a fallback as I go won't hurt. Listening to a piano concerto as I type and piano never sounded so good on my system. BUT, I am sure I can improve things with a measured, careful, long haul approach….
     
  24. padreken

    padreken Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego
    It wasn't this model, but I remember hearing some Canton floorstanders at RMAF a couple of years ago and being very impressed.
     
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  25. Davey

    Davey NP: CLARAGUILAR ~ Figura (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Well, I was commenting more on the sound quality of ceramic core potentiometers and resistors, not on the effects they may suffer from age, such as scratchiness from intermittent contact. I was just planting the idea that, at some point, you may want to investigate if there is any gain by replacing them with high quality fixed value resistors. Like I said, I don't know exactly what type of pot is used in these, but something to keep in mind for later.

    Regarding the paper film capacitors, one of my favorite capacitor types is the inexpensive Wima MP3-X2 metallized paper capacitor. It's actually an AC capacitor designed for across the line usage, so is rated for high AC voltages and is vacuum impregnated with epoxy to remove any air from the windings. In the smaller sizes, say up to 0.1uF, the impregnation is near complete, and it is really a solid block of epoxy, meaning unlike almost all other capacitor types, it is nearly free of internal resonances, I think one of the main mechanisms of capacitor sound coloration. This also means that from a dielectric view, it is closer to mylar/polyester film because of the epoxy impregnation, but in my experience, the capacitor construction often trumps the dielectric constant when best sound quality is the goal. For instance, the old ERO MKT1813 series capacitors sound great even though they are mylar dielectric, but they are cylindrical form and are wound very tight from heavier film, and are very stable. I'd normally stay away from the flattened capacitors for audio, the best sounding are almost always cylindrical and high mass.

    Anyway, good luck on the project, and if you wanna give some of the Wima MP3-X2 caps a try for a bypass on the current caps, PM me your address and I'll send a few, I've got a bunch left over from some past audio misadventures :)
     
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