Who manufactures ALCAP capacitors?

Diyggy - did you notice on the KEF crossover that only a few of the original caps were marked as "10%", only the "LL" (long life?) caps in fact. The rest... I dunno', back in the day, perhaps 10% tolerance caps were very rare?

Yes, that is not clear also on the Kef shematic as the caps were sorted in relation on how measured the coils related to the matrice reference (the final reference prototype) by a computer. L & R speakers had not more 0.5 dB difference they claied iirc.

So the marking means nothing about the exact capacitance values, the exact number is near that but not exactly that imo. All the caps wer emeasured to cope the "Reference" production model.

Most of the time bipolar lythics for loudspeaker are more often 5% to 15% above the marking, whatever they say 5% precision like Mundorf. The brand I measured the most precise was F&T (bougth them in Europe at Banzai Music Germany) that certainly are the Mundorf caps maker, but the Mundorf were more towards 10 to 12 % which is useless for a precise refurbishing whatever they were marked 5%. Second more precise caps were a Taiwann manufacturer.

Be aware than the Bennic are bad lythics sound wize. You would have to change the roten foam donuts of the bass driver as refreshing the ferrofllluid of the tweeter that dries and becomes a marmelade.
 
diyiggy - I'm surprised to hear you say that Bennic's are "bad lythics sound wise", as I've seen them in plenty of high-end B&W loudspeaker crossovers. I've been studying (far too many) images of crossovers using Google Image Search function online (as crossover builds / rebuilds turn out to be quite the side-fascination / tweaks of many). It's an interesting way of learning which companies use which products... I keep coming around to B&W as I respect their products. One day, before I die, I shall own a pair of 802's 🙂
 
Why would nowdays anyone bother with electrolytic caps in a X0 when even the most crappy combination of film-caps (even polyester) would be much better in any respect , other than size, one could thinck of?
 
Last edited:
Well... file this under "I wouldn't listen..." So ~ I spent far more time than I'd care to admit, hunting down capacitors from dozens of online sites worldwide, comparing, comparing again and comparing some more. Editing and reediting a spreadsheet, looking to come up with the best quality (that I viewed as close tolerances) vs. price for a full recap' of the KEF 104.2 loudspeaker.

I was utterly convinced that I could do far better than what Falcon Acoustics in the UK had the full recap' setup available for... "Notsomuch", as it turns out.

Note that the Cost column is for single capacitor, in US Dollars. USD to CAD is a really sad state of affairs these days - .73 Cdn. cents to the US dollar.

The the prices quoted for the Cap's assembled in this list are pre-tax, pre-shipping, pre-hassle of dealing with so damned many suppliers!

In this case, I'm fine with being wrong about my part-sourcing capabilities 🙂 Will be ordering from Falcon.

A.
 

Attachments

  • Crossover Cost Comparison.png
    Crossover Cost Comparison.png
    72.5 KB · Views: 85
I just googled it, unbeleavable crazy amount of components, now i understand your pain. I could sell you for cheap (have 100+) 40uF DC-Link pp caps that could handle 18Arms each, to get the the bigger values you need, possible some of the other values too, but they would be even bigger size having M8 or M10 screw connections, but size, nearly 10kg kg total weigth and shipping cost would make it unreasonable...
 
Last edited:
yes go with the falcon kit to avoid errors and disapointment. Some of your cap list are too big and will not fit on the pcb, some others are not bipolar. And no one gas a chance to measure the same as their marking (my input above).

First, try to open it and bring the pcb on a table if not already done.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AndrewDrouin
Gorgon53 - That was just me, looking at how I could come up with a better price than Falcon was offering. Apparently, that is not possible.

Even if one could find a Canadian supplier of every single capacitor (not possible, trust me, I burned off dozens of late-night hours attempting to source same) the price that Falcon is offering the kit for is pretty damned great.

My electronic tech' told me as much a week ago, but apparently I'm not much one for listening to good advise 🙂 Hopefully this helps someone else down the line, as I imagine that thousands of KEF 103/104/105 etc. speakers were produced over the years, and all of them will need cap's at some point.

BTW: I have a 100ml. of Ferrotec APGL11m ferrofluid at hand - hit me up if you want some >> wayyy cheaper than what is being offered online, mostly because I don't charge much for the Ferro', but also because I refuse to ship via courier, and that is what makes the cost of accessing the stuff so damned expensive from others online.
 
Andrew, if this caps are expensive, make sure they are fresh, electrolytic detoriate with age. Before ordering new ones, can you measure them and make at least sure you need new ones because they are faulty or out of specs?
 
Last edited:
From what I gather, Falcon has a contract with the makers of the ALCAP capacitors, and everything that they get in stock is 'fresh' from the manufacturer.

Given modern technology and materials, these suckers should outlive me ~ then it's my nephew's problem, because he's the one who is likely going to end up with these beauties in his living room, many years down the line!
 
  • Like
Reactions: gorgon53
I have successfully ordered and used replacement ALCAP caps from Falcon for my original set of Celestion SL6 (copper tweet). My SL6si's also have ALCAPS as well so best I can tell, all the SL series used them. It's not uncommon to find parted out SL's on eBay if you get stuck. BTW, I couldn't hear the difference between original caps and the replacements. And no, I'm not a self professed Golden Ear, more like a old fart who still enjoys his music..😎
 
Wair 30 years they are burned in...ahaha.
What andrew could is just changing the serie cap in front of the drivers on one of the loudspeaker to listen if good enough changes.

I would try with the bass and mid first and relisten.