Tweaking the tweeter corner frequency on my beloved Richard Allen Pavanes.
1972 vintage 
Not my main speakers but a labour of love for over 30 years nonetheless.
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Iām in the process of doing the same on my Tannoy Westminsterās. I am using all Duelund CAST Silver and Graphite resistors, Mundorf copper foil inductors, and Miflex KPCU capacitors.
Is that the stock crossover in your pic or the upgraded?
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Will you change the cables?
It is this yearās crossover variant, version 3 
(I have the original crossover in a box but it is a very simple affair with cheap (and of course old) components).
Iād love to replace all the wires, but have resisted the urge so far - those drivers are nearly 50 years old and re-soldering the lugs risks damaging the spider.
I have done the woofer with heavier gauge (red and black in the pic) but Iāve left the others alone.
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Yet another crossover variant for my beloved Pavanes
Soldered up, Iāll install them after a few more hours sleepā¦
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Looking goodā¦ Your usual highest standard of workmanshipā¦
Are you still changing the internal wiring with the Siltech Emperor Crown cables I posted down to you!
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I have home built speakers from 1975, Kef Kit 3s in Bailey-style transmission line enclosures. About 4 years ago it was apparent that the crossover capacitors had aged. Instead of re-capping I bought new Radford crossovers from Falcon Acoustics (cost more than the original speakers - inflation is a wonderful thing), did some rewiring and fitted better binding posts. It is the only time I have experienced something resembling a night & day change.
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I did the same thing.
I overhauled my elderly LS3/5a speakers a few years back. I picked up a pair of new old stock Kef B110 ā SP1003 drivers at a HiFi/Audio bazaar on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I bought the rest of the parts from Falcon Acoustics. Last year I overhauled my MK1 Linn Kans that I bought new in 1981 - and once again I bought from Falcon - changed the whole caboodle bar the cabinetsā¦ Massive improvement to sound quality in both instances!
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Ha - nice thought
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These are a joy to work on, factory assembled I think (though shoddily, they are a late period 1972 pair).
Richard Allen made a lot of kits though, some very similar to the Pavanes.
The drivers are all ānaturalā materials, that are still fine, unlike a lot of slightly later āold British Speakersā, where the rubber and/or foam used doesnāt last wellā¦
Iāve heard a few pairs of the KEF kits over the years, some of them sounded wonderful
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These ones are pretty good. Because the TL cabinets are so large, and strong, I have them on their sides in alcoves with squab cushions so that they double as window seats. Not good for stereo imaging or treble, but it is the only way I can get away with big speakers in a small Georgian sitting room. The āTV table and equipment rackā is a 16th century monkās stool. Needless to say I have taken the all-in-one route!
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They sound most excellent - Iād love to come across a pair of something similar, but alas I think all such bargains and ādiscoveriesā are long gone (and I donāt get out of the house so unlikely to stumble across a pair).
My wife would think that a good thing though 
(she puts up with it, and actually encourages me sometimes to go for it, I think she secretly likes that there is a cool hifi in the back room, even though she moans about āthat damn hifi I canāt even turn onā.
Iāve offered to train her in its usage but she refused, mostly so she could continue to moan I suspect!)
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Spent the day getting the Rosewood finish 105/3ās setup correctly. The Crossoverās Electrolytic Capacitors are all new (given to me with the Speakers). The great thing was I have a lot of high Voltage Solen Metallized Polypropylene Capās in my junk bin. They all measure fine. I used the 100nF to bypass most of the big value Capās and was able to replace some of the smaller value Electrolytics with the Solenās stacked to create the correct value or just by chance (7uF), I had the correct value in my junk bin.
How effective is bypassing the Electrolyticās with the Solenās ? I have no clue but this little project gave me an excuse to get rid of those partsā¦ 
The solder splatter on the top right of the board was picked away before re-installing in the cabinet.
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Nice job - I too am unsure if bypassing with the low value polyprops helps, but it might, and itās easily done
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Ironically enough I am considering replacing the mid-range caps on the Pavane crossovers - they are currently cheapish polyprops - a 10 and a 15 uF to make 25, with an alcap 25 uF, recently bought a pair new, as I am dubious of the quality of the cheap polyprops, they may be contributing to a bit of an excessive presence peak around 7 kHz, and the original crossovers had polyprop on the tweeters, but non polar electrolytic on the mid-range, so Iād be closer to the original āvoicingā (allegedly).
Itās an experiment I guess, and if it failed Iād probably replace those with some Clarity caps 25s or some such better polyprops.
Havenāt had a chance to do the swap yet - itās 16 screws per speaker to get the backs off, in old (and overly dry now) MDF type wood.
Maybe next weekā¦
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Hi John,
Honestly, Iāve been using Solen Capacitors for 26 years with no issues (a few of those Caps in the picture are 20 and 26 years old) ! Between the Alcaps that my friend gave me and the Solen bypass Caps. These Speakers should be good for another 30 years (if the Drivers donāt fail).
Iām going to āFrankensteinā the black pair of 105/3ās since the Uni-Qās mid and separate Tweeter are no good anymore. Iāll rework the Crossover for the two Midwoofers. My friend gave me a pair of the Morel replacement Tweeters for the 104/2ās. Since the Tweeter ferrofluid replacement was a success on those Speakers, the Morels will be Frankensteined onto the black 105/3ās with an adapter plate my Son is making for me on his 3D/Thermal Printer. I stole one of the 8" Woofers from it for the Rosewood 105/3ās since one of itās Woofers has voice coil rub. Iāll save the remaining 3 Woofers for parts for the Rosewood 105/3ās in case they ever get blown. Dayton Audio (Parts Express) has some nice 8" Drivers that would easily drop right in. The Funky Metal rod will be gone but that shouldnāt affect it (I think itās a gimmick).
Yes, I put a couple of the more expensive SoniCaps only because they were in my Junk Bin. I didnāt change the resistors but thatās on my future āto doā list. Iām looking at the more expensive Mills resistors. More of a longevity thing. The Bennic resistors are actually in good shape for 30 years old (havenāt removed them to measure though).
Check out pricing on the Solenās in our your neck of the woods for your Pavaneās
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yes i have too, i may use Solen if the Alcaps donāt work out rather than Claritycaps, the price isnāt too different anyway (clarity slightly more) for the larger ones
sorry, was sleep typing before so not clear
i have used the solens before, found them to be fine, i used a clarity cap on the treble on the last iteration of pavane crossover for a change, but the cheaper yellow Convair caps on the midrange are my target for replacement. iāll try the alcaps first as iāve just bought a pair new, and the original factory xover had non polar electrolytic in midrange, then if iām not happy iāll try some clarity or solen on midrange too. not always possible to get 25uF solens in the uk but iāll hold out until i can. solen usually around the same price as the clarity caps so not a lot in it really but i wanted to try the alcaps first
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btw one advantage to the pavane is the low order crossovers - cheaper than those presumably higher order crossovers you have for the KEFs!
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