[se-riously]

I'm rebuilding two pairs of X-LS Encores.  They started life as stock ones from AV123, but when I tried to upgrade them by taking out the old felt, it was such a pain (an obscene amount of glue was used) that I decided to (a) build new cabinets myself and (b) help Gary Dodd out by building some flatpacks from Ruben.  If you didn't already know, Ruben's work is way kick-ass and even the braces included in the kit are rounded over.  Everything is perfectly cut, with sides and top/bottom being 3/4" industrial MDF and front/rear baffles 1" industrial MDF.  Each cabinet weighs a ton!

I'm building these on a budget, since they'll be used for surround duty only.  I'm using DIY NoRez substitute (floor tiles w/ 1" of foam) to keep costs down, although I do have enough NoRez from my N3S build to do the rear baffles of all 4 speakers.  Keeping in mind costs and that these speakers will be for surround duty, would you choose Erse Pulse X caps or Clarity Cap PX's, or something else?  I just want something "decent" in the event I move a pair to a small bedroom system, office, etc.

Both are in my budget, and I've had experience with the Erse's, which I would consider to be "good for the money".  Many thanks in advance.

[Jerrin]

Would Sonicaps or Clarity Cap ESA be out of your budget?   Those are both very nice caps for the money.

[Rclark]

ClarityCap MR's are fantastic. You dont need to bypass them, they come kick-ass stock. Very crisp, clear, transparent sound with a touch of warmth.

[se-riously]

Would Sonicaps or Clarity Cap ESA be out of your budget?   Those are both very nice caps for the money.

I should have clarified in my first post that I've done Sonicaps w/ bypass caps on an X-LS Encore before too, twice actually.  One pair was for myself, the other for someone else.  Sold my pair though. Very nice indeed, but beyond my budget for this specific project.

I even had the X-LS classic with No Rez and Sonicaps before.  There's no reason to get the classics over the Encore version for those considering one kit versus the other.

[corndog71]

ERSE caps should be fine if you're budget minded.  I've redone the crossovers of most of the X-series speakers and do not recommend Clarity Cap ESA series caps for them.  They just don't mate with the encore tweeter.  I haven't tried the MR caps in a speaker as they get really pricey at those sizes but they sound fantastic in my tube preamp.  Even though you're only going to use them for surround duty I would still suggest using sonicaps over Erse because someday you may not want to use them for surround duty.

[emac]

You can also consider Obbligato caps, which also sound pretty good for the money.  Haven't tried them w/ Danny's speakers, though I'd imagine that they'd sound good.

[se-riously]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions.  I ended up ordering the Erse Pulse X's.  If I ever take a pair out of surround duty and want that extra "something" (like I won't), then I'll just replace the caps again at that time.