Prodigy Upgrade?

[BobF]

Hello Folks,

Last weekend I changed the binding posts on my Prodigy's and looking at the caps noticed they were a French brand with what appeared to be an "S" as the brand?

Do you think there would be an improvement in any areas of the speaker by changing out to a better quality type cap, say Auricap or Mondorf?

I have enjoyed these speakers for many years and wonder what opinions are out there or just leave well enough alone?

Many Thanks,
Bob

 

[Tosh]

"S" = Solen. They're OK metalized polypropylene film caps.

I have not seen the Prodigy xo, but if it has a cheap polyester film cap in the LCR notch, then that's what I would attack first.

 

[spectral]

Hello Folks,

Last weekend I changed the binding posts on my Prodigy's and looking at the caps noticed they were a French brand with what appeared to be an "S" as the brand?

Do you think there would be an improvement in any areas of the speaker by changing out to a better quality type cap, say Auricap or Mondorf?

I have enjoyed these speakers for many years and wonder what opinions are out there or just leave well enough alone?

Many Thanks,
Bob

Take a look at my Odyssey crossover upgrade using top Mundorfs, in the Tweaks section. You won't believe the improvement, on par with speakers like the Magico Q3 that I have compared them to... Solens and Bennics in our speakers, as well as the inductors, are really far behind today's top parts. Solens are usually used in power supplies, not crossovers.

 

[MPS]

Solens are actually quite nice for what you pay for but like member spectral's example shows there is some room for improvement.

 

[Bernard]

Parts Connexion has a 20% off sale on film capacitors right now.

 

[BobF]

Parts Connexion has a 20% off sale on film capacitors right now.

Thanks for the heads up Bernard!

A lot of great info from all you gentlemen.

I guess I have some home work to do.

I will see if Necroson can get some pictures I took when I had the board out so you all can see the set up so you will all have a better idea of what I have.
I have the pictures on my phone and will email to him as at my age I am an idiot with these fancy I-phones but needed for work.

I hope to get them out Sunday as we are going to the N.Y. show tomorrow.

My Best,
Bob

 

[spectral]

I am also preparing another mod, this time structural - these speakers' panel support pillars resonate and it's quite audible. Hope to have this complete next week.

Check out also PS68's Spire crossover mod - that is one spectacular piece of work. These speakers have tremendous potential with top crossover parts.

Edit: One thing I can't still come to terms with is how well the bass is now integrated with the panel; incredible speed, tautness and control, no longer warm, bloated and slow... The Magicos still outshine with their lack of mechanical noise, and there is nothing I can do about it... but they are a bit darker in character which bothers me.

 

[BobF]

I am also preparing another mod, this time structural - these speakers' panel support pillars resonate and it's quite audible. Hope to have this complete next week.

Check out also PS68's Spire crossover mod - that is one spectacular piece of work. These speakers have tremendous potential with top crossover parts.

Edit: One thing I can't still come to terms with is how well the bass is now integrated with the panel; incredible speed, tautness and control, no longer warm, bloated and slow... The Magicos still outshine with their lack of mechanical noise, and there is nothing I can do about it... but they are a bit darker in character which bothers me.

Thanks Spectral,
How do I find a persons first name as a moniker is not adequate to converse with people

Looking forward to what you come up with.

Best,
Bob

 

[Necrosuit]

Hey guys, Ive attached some pics of necrodad's Prodigy xovers since he thinks to post a picture requires years of space travel, meeting very advanced aliens that need to "probe" him with the correct uploading information.
Pics are of small format from phone.

 

[spectral]

Thanks Spectral,
How do I find a persons first name as a moniker is not adequate to converse with people

Looking forward to what you come up with.

Best,
Bob

The name is Peter - you can usually click on a member's signature to see his/her system, where the name is usually listed...

@necrosuit: can you post larger pictures? We can't really much...

 

[BobF]

The name is Peter - you can usually click on a member's signature to see his/her system, where the name is usually listed...

@necrosuit: can you post larger pictures? We can't really much...

Hello Peter,

I have resent a larger format to Necro-nerd from my I phone to see if that helps with the pictures

Best,
Bob

 

[spectral]

Hello Peter,

I have resent a larger format to Necro-nerd from my I phone to see if that helps with the pictures

Best,
Bob

Meantime, consider this wrt bass performance... ever since the upgrade with the CFC-14 inductors and MKP-type plus bypass capacitors in the woofer section - and despite measured resistance in the coils *far* below the stock's, as you will see in that thread - bass output dropped significantly, as evidenced in the graph I posted as well as by the shorting of the external 2.2 ohm bass attenuation network I had been using (see last picture in the thread) up until then. There is no other way to describe the bass performance transformation as simply startling - fast, taut and visceral.

 

[Bernard]

Hey Necropop, while you're at it, you may want to consider other tweaks posted, such as lining the cabinets with sound-deadening material, etc.

 

[BobF]

Hey Necropop, while you're at it, you may want to consider other tweaks posted, such as lining the cabinets with sound-deadening material, etc.

Hi Bernard,
Didn't even think of that but a great idea.

Will get into the upgrade work next weekend hopefully, work dependent.

Necrosun and I got back from the audio show in N.Y.
Just my opinion but the Sceana, Anats and Wilson Sasha's were my favorites.

I really enjoyed the Sasha's driven with VTL mono blocks.

Son took pictures and am sure he will get some out there.

Gotta love the cost in that city, 65 bucks for 5 beers.

Regards,
Bob

 

[Necrosuit]

Yup, show was fun. See post in off topic for pics and video links. Heres a bigger pic of the Prodigy Xover.

 

[Pcar928fan]

I had no idea how complex my Prodigy were if you opened them up...I think I will leave them all closed up... Some day I would love to fix my panel sag that I have on one of the speakers and maybe do a nice upgrade like this...

 

[spectral]

Yup, show was fun. See post in off topic for pics and video links. Heres a bigger pic of the Prodigy Xover.

So unlike the Odysseys, where the electronics are on a separate board while the crossover rests on its own, it looks like the Prodigy is more convoluted, and I suspect this will make things tougher. For one, I can't see how the Mundorf CFC coils can ever fit on there, and for the capacitors to even have a chance, they should probably be custom-sized. Otherwise, you need to find ways to mount them elsewhere in the cabinet. This is not as bad as it sounds, and I did it on mine for a couple of the caps, because I intentionally wanted multiple smaller caps in parallel to "eliminate" inductance and resistance (BTW, by virtue of the special construction of the Supreme caps, both of these parameters are very low out of the box).

BTW, are we certain this is the entire crossover, including the woofer section? Somehow, it doesn't look it... Suggest you get the diagram from ML.

 

[Wardsweb]

I'm suprised to see the layout of the inductors. Here is a layout of do's and dont's.

 

[User211]

I'm suprised to see the layout of the inductors. Here is a layout of do's and dont's.

View attachment 15387

Ahem....

 

[BobF]

So unlike the Odysseys, where the electronics are on a separate board while the crossover rests on its own, it looks like the Prodigy is more convoluted, and I suspect this will make things tougher. For one, I can't see how the Mundorf CFC coils can ever fit on there, and for the capacitors to even have a chance, they should probably be custom-sized. Otherwise, you need to find ways to mount them elsewhere in the cabinet. This is not as bad as it sounds, and I did it on mine for a couple of the caps, because I intentionally wanted multiple smaller caps in parallel to "eliminate" inductance and resistance (BTW, by virtue of the special construction of the Supreme caps, both of these parameters are very low out of the box).

BTW, are we certain this is the entire crossover, including the woofer section? Somehow, it doesn't look it...

Hi Peter,

Since my cdp is down I will probably pullout the crossover this weekend and see if i'm missing anything to this picture.
Give me something to do.

Best,
Bob