[Jason72]

I recently replaced my upgraded Klipsch RP-504C to a Wharfedale Evo 4.C speaker.  Moving from 2 way or in this case 2.5 way to a 3 way made a big difference for vocals (for me). 



Of course I have to see what is inside the speaker and see if I can make it better.


The parts are not top quality but even more noticeable is the cabinet has no bracing and that insulation is just laid down in there.  It is better than other speakers insulation and the bonus is that if I add No-Rez, I don't have to scrape any glue.

Any suggestions outside of bracing and adding some insulation for this speaker?

[Kaiju2189]

You could upgrade just about everything but that is a ton of parts and space looks very tight. Looks like at least some poly caps. If it was mine I would try maybe some corner braces along the top and sides. No Rez may be a good idea as well.

For the parts on the board I would try upgrading the resistors to Mills or Dayton and see how much of a difference it makes. If you are planning on doing like for like on that PCB options look limited with space.

[Jason72]

Thank you.  I think if I dove in to swapping parts, there is enough room to split the crossover on either side of the connectors in the back. It looks crowded because I take crappy pictures.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

At minimum, change out those sand cast resistors for Mills or Ohmite Gold.

[Doublej]

I think the list reads like this:

Increase cabinet bracing
Install No Rez
Replace binding posts with tube connectors
Replace wiring with better wiring
Replace crossover circuit board with point to point wired crossover
Upgrade crossover components
Analyze graphs to identify issues and then change crossover design to address these issues

[I.Greyhound Fan]

My son has the Evo 4.4 towers and they sound great.  Changing too much in the crossovers may ruin the sound.  The speakers as is, sound fabulous. 

I can see changing the 4 sandcast resistors to gain a little clarity.  Also, switch out the binding post's to tube connectors will help with clarity.  Otherwise you may not want to change much, especially for a center channel speaker that has been tuned for good TV audio.

We recently upgraded the crossover parts in a pair of PSB B6 speakers and completely changed the sound.

Also, that ribbon tweeter was tuned not to sound bright and harsh.  You may ruin its sound with too many changes.  Caps really do sound different.

[Danny Richie]

Some of those parts are not too bad, but a lot of them are pretty inexpensive (to be nice).

If you want to just take them up a few notches then the tube connectors, new wiring, some No Rez, and better resistors are a given. Those are guaranteed improvements ever time.   

If you really want to take them up to their potential then replicate the crossover value for value with better parts. You will have to point to point wire them on a new board as the better parts will never fit on the old crossover board.

Also upgrading the parts value for value will not alter the speakers response balance or cause harness or brightness if good parts are used. This will only reduce smearing and allow for a cleaner signal transfer resulting in a cleaner sound and better resolution.