I built Ellis 1801s from kit in 2004. Have been down a rabbit hole chasing SET amps and high efficiency speakers for the past 3-4 years and sadly my 1801's have been sitting on my work bench for most of that time. Still love my Frugelhorns and EL84 set amp but have recently bought a new McCormack DNA amp that has breathed new life into my neglected Ellis Audio speakers.
Looking at other full range speakers for sale I have begun to appreciate again how good the 1801s are particularly with the right amp and high quality source(s).
The 1801s have Sonicap capacitors (think Gen 1). Back in the day Dave Ellis talked lots about the improvements that came with bypassing them with .1 uf Sonicap Platinum Capacitors. So today I bought 6 Platinum Caps.
I am also thinking about re-wiring the speakers - I made a poor job of it in 2004 and actually had Dave Ellis rebuild one crossover for me that I had made a mess of. I don't understand guage and quality of wire so have been asking Jeff what I should use for tweeter and woofer (the Ellis is a two way).
I have always found the 1801s a little dark - always been mid-range speakers. So looking to improve the top end. I have excellent sources - a Lampizator dac for digital and WellTempered turntable with Lyra Kleos and Nagra phono for vinyl.
Spent half of my upgrade money on the caps but say I had an additional budget of $250 to $400 tops, any thoughts on what else I could do while I have the speakers and crossover apart?
Thanks for feedback and discussion.
David
Looking at other full range speakers for sale I have begun to appreciate again how good the 1801s are particularly with the right amp and high quality source(s).
The 1801s have Sonicap capacitors (think Gen 1). Back in the day Dave Ellis talked lots about the improvements that came with bypassing them with .1 uf Sonicap Platinum Capacitors. So today I bought 6 Platinum Caps.
I am also thinking about re-wiring the speakers - I made a poor job of it in 2004 and actually had Dave Ellis rebuild one crossover for me that I had made a mess of. I don't understand guage and quality of wire so have been asking Jeff what I should use for tweeter and woofer (the Ellis is a two way).
I have always found the 1801s a little dark - always been mid-range speakers. So looking to improve the top end. I have excellent sources - a Lampizator dac for digital and WellTempered turntable with Lyra Kleos and Nagra phono for vinyl.
Spent half of my upgrade money on the caps but say I had an additional budget of $250 to $400 tops, any thoughts on what else I could do while I have the speakers and crossover apart?
Thanks for feedback and discussion.
David