[flavo]

I've got some encores that I would like to upgrade and not sure how far I should go with them. They have just been used as surrounds for my HT until last night.
After listening to Ron's NRD review of the upgraded kit he got, I decided to push my $7K EP4.8s out of the way and give these an actual listen for the first time. I really really enjoyed them.
Being fed through an EL34 Jolida 6802, DSPeaker antimode X4, power conditioners and nice wires. The front end is a bit pricier then the speakers, haha.
I love the tonal balance but would like a LITTLE more sparkle floating around the sound stage.
It looks like the pair Ron got were above and beyond what Danny typically sends out.
What's even available and what do you think I should do here? I'd like to fix these up and spend a LOT more time with them.
I did buy them used and someone had changed a few parts at some point.

Added a pic below of the Otticas I built a few years ago just for fun and to show the challenges of the room. 

[mlundy57]

I've got some encores that I would like to upgrade and not sure how far I should go with them. They have just been used as surrounds for my HT until last night.
After listening to Ron's NRD review of the upgraded kit he got, I decided to push my $7K EP4.8s out of the way and give these an actual listen for the first time. I really really enjoyed them.
Being fed through an EL34 Jolida 6802, DSPeaker antimode X4, power conditioners and nice wires. The front end is a bit pricier then the speakers, haha.
I love the tonal balance but would like a LITTLE more sparkle floating around the sound stage.
It looks like the pair Ron got were above and beyond what Danny typically sends out.
What's even available and what do you think I should do here? I'd like to fix these up and spend a LOT more time with them.
I did buy them used and someone had changed a few parts at some point.

Added a pic below of the Otticas I built a few years ago just for fun and to show the challenges of the room. 

The upgraded X-LS Encores Ron reviewed had these crossover parts:all caps were Sonicaps. All Sonicaps had by-pass caps. The tweeter circuits had Sonicap Platinum by-pass caps and the woofer circuits had Miflex KPCU by-pass caps. All resistors were Mills. All inductors were copper foil.





Sonicap Platinums are no longer available in the size needed for a by-pass cap, so use all Miflex KPCU by-pass caps. You could also use Path Audio copper resistors.

Mike

[tortoiseman2542]

So lot's of things you can do for the network... if you have X-LS Encores.  You have X-LS Classics.  The classics were the first iteration from AV123 and have a different network and a different tweeter than the Encores. 

So you have a couple of options here depending on how much you want to spend. 

The good news is you can reuse the cabinets you have for Encores but they do need some custom work.  The Encore tweeter is slightly smaller than the Classic. So you would need some custom ring to fill in the gap.  I had a local machine shop do mine out of black plastic.  I also had them do the second modification needed while they were at it.  You have to cut out the slot for the Encore tweeter terminals.  They are shaped differently and oriented differently.  I had them do this and it coast roughly $250.  You might likely find a cheaper alternative but this is what I had to do to get mine Piano Rosewood classic X-LS's ready to become Encores.

You will obviously have to but Encore tweeters from Danny whenever they become available.  The woofers are the same and you can reuse them.  So roughly $100 or so for tweeters.

Now on to the fun stuff.  I did Alpha Core Inductors, Path Audio Resistors, Danny's Sonicaps, and Miflex Copper bypass caps.  Roughly $400-500 depending on parts chosen. 

You can really get creative and different with the bypass caps.  Miflex Copper are hard to beat for the money but there are more expensive byapss caps you could do.

Hope this helps.  Don't be afraid to keep an eye on the used market for X-LS Encores.  They do pop up if you watch closely.

Thanks,
Robert

[flavo]

Oh my goodness. I totally thought these were Encores. 
That really changes things, huh?
Hopefully Danny actually gets the tweeters back in.
Rather then try and rework these cabinets, I'll just build new. Or of course keep looking for a use set.
Thanks so much guys.

[Danny Richie]

The pair that you have is one of the Classic versions.

It looks like someone as already made some parts swaps on them. The original resistor was better than the sand caste resistor that is in there now. The black poly caps were likely a lateral move too.

I would swap out the resistor and swap the tweeter cap for a Sonicap. That will help them out a lot.

You could add a by-pass cap to the woofer circuit (on the cheap) or replace it with a Sonicap.

You can replace the binding posts with a set of tube connectors and that will improve clarity across the board.

All of those are pretty easy tweaks.