Inspired by the gentlemen on this forum who undertook the same tweak, yesterday I have replaced the capacitors in my Ascents for Obligattos. The caps arrived in the morning and it took me about 5 minutes to start opening the boxes and replacing the caps.
A couple of hours later the caps already showed signs of burn-in, the change was really profound.
I kept on burning the parts in today, and after some 11 hours of continuous playback the "new" Ascents shine in full splendor. I think this evening will evolve into a late night listening session. I hear details never heard before, the soundstage is bigger, microdynamics significantly improved, the clarity has gone ballistic, all without a sign of harshness.
All that for a very modest investment.
One remark: I noticed that in one loudspeaker the 30uF capacitor was not soldered on one side to the resistors, so the contact was purely (loose) mechanical. And I did enjoy the speakers for years! I always thought the Ascent being a great speaker, with this tweak it's fantastic!
BTW, I also made a pair of 12" long throw subs in 50 liter boxes with low bass boost, these properly tuned to the Ascents brought new level of performance into the system. I did not have time to play with analog circuitry for bass boost, so I used a Behringer FBQ2496 I had laying around and turned it into an equalized bass booster with great results. Main advantage is that it's easy to adjust and the results can be tested immediately without heating the soldering iron
All in all - very successful tweaks. Next weekend I'll shower the panels, a pair of replacement panels just arrived last week so I can take the risk and try it
Life is never boring withe the ML's !!!!
A couple of hours later the caps already showed signs of burn-in, the change was really profound.
I kept on burning the parts in today, and after some 11 hours of continuous playback the "new" Ascents shine in full splendor. I think this evening will evolve into a late night listening session. I hear details never heard before, the soundstage is bigger, microdynamics significantly improved, the clarity has gone ballistic, all without a sign of harshness.
All that for a very modest investment.
One remark: I noticed that in one loudspeaker the 30uF capacitor was not soldered on one side to the resistors, so the contact was purely (loose) mechanical. And I did enjoy the speakers for years! I always thought the Ascent being a great speaker, with this tweak it's fantastic!
BTW, I also made a pair of 12" long throw subs in 50 liter boxes with low bass boost, these properly tuned to the Ascents brought new level of performance into the system. I did not have time to play with analog circuitry for bass boost, so I used a Behringer FBQ2496 I had laying around and turned it into an equalized bass booster with great results. Main advantage is that it's easy to adjust and the results can be tested immediately without heating the soldering iron
All in all - very successful tweaks. Next weekend I'll shower the panels, a pair of replacement panels just arrived last week so I can take the risk and try it
Life is never boring withe the ML's !!!!
