I have a pair of Pinnacle PN8+ speakers. I have had them a really long time. Basically I want to rebuild/ refresh the stock crossovers because those capacitors and other parts are probably due for a replacement due to old age. They sound fine to my untrained ears, but I am not an audiophile, so I don't have a clue what I'm doing.
Another question is what other speakers are these equivalent to? I'm trying to figure out if selling these would be a better idea, I don't know if they're even worth $150 and if that's even worth the hassle or if I should just toss these. I have been reading about DIY speakers and the Swan/ HiVi 3.1A DIY speakers seem like the best cheap speakers to buy. These are the best speakers I've ever owned, they sound very good to me but I have nothing really to compare it to other than briefly listening to Magnepan at an audio store, but those speakers are way too expensive.
So if these are keepers than my questions are, can you help me identify what types of capacitors these are and tell me what I should replace them with? The treble already sounds like it's on the verge of being too high ("bright"?) so I don't need to make them brighter.
I'm not really looking to change the sound that much so should I replace it with exactly with what originally was there including the electrolytic capacitor or is replacing every capacitor with Dayton polypropylene capacitors okay in order to make them last longer without changing the sound too much?
I just need to make it clear, I have no clue what I'm doing so if you could provide links or exact names to new parts I'd appreciate it. I would just buy the original KSC capacitors if I could find out where to buy it and which ones to get.
Are the blue capacitors polyester/ mylar capacitors? I heard polyester lasts for 40-50 years but it's already been 15-20 years so should I replace them?
What is that mysterious yellow large 7.3J (7.3 uf?) round capacitor? is it a Tantalum capacitor? I'm attaching photos and a link to pictures of someone else who rebuilt these crossovers. he never listed what the original capacitors were so I cannot figure out what to replace it with that's why I'm here. The only parts store I'm sort of familiar with is Parts-Express
here's the pictures I took of my crossover:
pinnacle pn8+ crossover — ImgBB
here's the link to better pictures of the parts from someone else: Pinnacle PN 8+ Crossover rebuild — Polk Audio Forum
I know 1 blue capacitor is impossible to read I will figure out what it is later, I just need advice on what to do
Another question is what other speakers are these equivalent to? I'm trying to figure out if selling these would be a better idea, I don't know if they're even worth $150 and if that's even worth the hassle or if I should just toss these. I have been reading about DIY speakers and the Swan/ HiVi 3.1A DIY speakers seem like the best cheap speakers to buy. These are the best speakers I've ever owned, they sound very good to me but I have nothing really to compare it to other than briefly listening to Magnepan at an audio store, but those speakers are way too expensive.
So if these are keepers than my questions are, can you help me identify what types of capacitors these are and tell me what I should replace them with? The treble already sounds like it's on the verge of being too high ("bright"?) so I don't need to make them brighter.
I'm not really looking to change the sound that much so should I replace it with exactly with what originally was there including the electrolytic capacitor or is replacing every capacitor with Dayton polypropylene capacitors okay in order to make them last longer without changing the sound too much?
I just need to make it clear, I have no clue what I'm doing so if you could provide links or exact names to new parts I'd appreciate it. I would just buy the original KSC capacitors if I could find out where to buy it and which ones to get.
Are the blue capacitors polyester/ mylar capacitors? I heard polyester lasts for 40-50 years but it's already been 15-20 years so should I replace them?
What is that mysterious yellow large 7.3J (7.3 uf?) round capacitor? is it a Tantalum capacitor? I'm attaching photos and a link to pictures of someone else who rebuilt these crossovers. he never listed what the original capacitors were so I cannot figure out what to replace it with that's why I'm here. The only parts store I'm sort of familiar with is Parts-Express
here's the pictures I took of my crossover:
pinnacle pn8+ crossover — ImgBB
here's the link to better pictures of the parts from someone else: Pinnacle PN 8+ Crossover rebuild — Polk Audio Forum
I know 1 blue capacitor is impossible to read I will figure out what it is later, I just need advice on what to do
There's Notting to change in that board
Or...you can do a Total rebuild
...like putting It external,. Etc.etc.
Or...you can do a Total rebuild
...like putting It external,. Etc.etc.
but shouldn't the electrolytic capacitor be changed out? this thing was probably manufactured 30 years ago
Last edited:
can you help me identify what types of capacitors these are and tell me what I should replace them with? The treble already sounds like it's on the verge of being too high ("bright"?) so I don't need to make them brighter.
The only thing to do first is to draw a schematic of the crossover.
It's not an easy task 'cos it might be confusing.
Once you sorted out which component is where it needs to be, you can think of the possible changes.
The quoted period means that you can do whatever you want and to change the tweeter sensitivity is quite simple...but not that simple either because if the resistor in series is placed before or after the tweeter network...well, it's part of it,so, yes, better to leave it as is

I won't argue with what you say about the electrolytic, but if you want to make an improvement you can measure and identify areas that need it.
I'm not wanting to improve it even if it sounds a slight bit bright to me. It's just I've had these speakers for maybe 15 years, I want to maintain it so it lasts and not have the tweeter or even the woofer just get destroyed because I was too dumb to not replace a capacitor. again my main problem is I do not understand what each capacitor type is or if it's ok to just replace all the capacitors with polypropylene capacitors. I have a zero understanding of how to identify the type of each one and which types or brands I should replace it with. KSC isn't even a capacitor that easily shows up on a google search.
I heard polyester lasts for 40-50 years but it's already been 15-20 years so should I replace them?
Wait 30 years.
Waiting 50 years and assuming the electrolytic capacitor is still good is a bad idea. Your advice makes no sense
Last edited:
I heard polyester lasts for 40-50 years but it's already been 15-20 years so should I replace them?
I was wrong these were made in 1991, it's already been 30 years
50-30=20.
- Home
- Design & Build
- Construction Tips
- Need help: rebuilding crossovers for Pinnacle PN8+ speakers