Do old speakers need new capacitors?

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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Do old speakers need new capacitors?

I know older amplifiers need to have the capacitors replaced to maintain optimal performance. But what about old speakers? Do they need to be re-capped too?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

ddude003

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Last edited:

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Moderator
Staff member
Thread Starter
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
633
Location
Corpus Christi, TX
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
Yamaha CX-A5000 A/V Preamp / Processor
Main Amp
Yamaha RX-Z9 AV Receiver (as multichannel amp)
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Denon DCT-3313 UDCI Universal Disc Player
Front Speakers
Canton Karat 920
Center Channel Speaker
Canton Karat 920
Front Wide Speakers
Realistic Minimus 7 (front EFX speakers)
Surround Speakers
Canton Plus D
Surround Back Speakers
Yamaha YDP2006 Digital Parametric EQ (front mains)
Front Height Speakers
Yamaha YDP2006 Digital Parametric EQ (surrounds)
Rear Height Speakers
Yamaha YDP2006 Digital Parametric EQ (sub)
Subwoofers
Hsu ULS-15 MKII
Other Speakers or Equipment
Adcom ACE-515 (for power management)
Video Display Device
Yamaha DT-2 (digital clock display)
Screen
Pioneer PDP-6010FD 60" Plasma TV
Remote Control
Stock Yamaha Remote
Streaming Equipment
Roku Express
Other Equipment
Audio Control R130 Real Time Analyzer
Very interesting, thanks for the info. Do you happen to have any idea of what the audible manifestation would be, if any?

Regards,
Wayne
 

ddude003

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Preamp, Processor or Receiver
PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium TubePre (2 channel+sub)
Main Amp
McIntosh MC152 SS Amp (2 channel)
Additional Amp
Yamaha RX-A850 Pro (the other 5 channels lol)
Computer Audio
MacBook Pro, Custom i7 7700k De-lid 2xAsus1080ti GFX Audirvana Studio, Hang Loose Convolver, Pulsar Massive & 8200, LiquidSonics, SoX
DAC
Chord Electronics Ltd. Qutest
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Sony UBP-X700 /M Ultra HD 4K HDR & PS5
Front Speakers
Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESL
Center Channel Speaker
Martin Logan Motion C2
Surround Speakers
Martin Logan Motion 4
Surround Back Speakers
Martin Logan Motion 4 (yes, another set of these)
Subwoofers
Martin Logan Dynamo 700
Other Speakers or Equipment
Cifte 12AU7 NOS & Genalex Gold Lion Tubes in Pre
Video Display Device
Samsung The Premiere LSP7T UST Laser Projector
Screen
Elite Screens Aeon CLR3 0.8 Gain 103-inch
Remote Control
PrimaLuna, Lumin iApp, Samsung & Yamaha
Streaming Equipment
Netgear Nighthawk S8000 Streaming Switch, Lumin U1 Mini Streamer Transport
Streaming Subscriptions
QoBuz Studio Premier, Amazon Prime & Netflix
Other Equipment
ThrowRug, SaddleBlankets, WideBand & Bass Traps...
Very interesting, thanks for the info. Do you happen to have any idea of what the audible manifestation would be, if any?

Regards,
Wayne

Your welcome... Sound deterioration, reduced dynamics, frequency drift... Eventually the crossovers may not stay within driver specs and cause damage to your drivers...
 

Kerry Armes

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Jan 10, 2019
Messages
25
Do old speakers need new capacitors?

I know older amplifiers need to have the capacitors replaced to maintain optimal performance. But what about old speakers? Do they need to be re-capped too?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

It's really only electrolytic capacitors that would ever need to be replaced. Poly caps don't suffer from the same problems. The only real way for a poly cap to go bad is to send it way too much power. They can be out of tolerance from the manufacturer, but they won't really drift from that over time.

Failing or failed caps will lead to the values being off from spec. This could be the actual capacitance or the ESR, both of which could cause frequency response issues since the crossover will no longer have the values it was designed to have.

If a capacitor measured to spec, age won't make it sound bad on its own.
 
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