Mundorf cap in a Druid.

technobear · « **Reply #20 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 09:00 pm »

I have several such driver and bit sets with slotted, philips, posidrive, torx and hex heads - just no square ones

Don_S · « **Reply #21 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 09:31 pm »

Something like this? http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=282863-68082-282863&lpage=none&cm_mmc=search_gps-_-gps-_-gps-_-search_%20gps

or this http://www.antonline.com/p_375401OR-GP_392585.htm

or this http://www.allproducts.com/tool/witman/69-tool_accessories.html

technobear · « **Reply #22 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 10:07 pm »

Thanks chaps! I'm used to forums that display location. This one doesn't so you can't see I'm in the UK. I'll mention that next time

I found a set here:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=223280&doy=search&C=SO&U=Strat15

It includes square bits S0, S1, S2 and S3 so I hope that's what I need. It doesn't cost much anyhow.

jameshuls · « **Reply #23 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 05:51 am »

Funny, a fellow from Austria contacted me with the same problem. I had no idea Robertson screws were only a North American thing!

Don_S · « **Reply #24 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 06:04 am »

Quote from: jameshuls on 30 Apr 2009, 05:51 am

Funny, a fellow from Austria contacted me with the same problem. I had no idea Robertson screws were only a North American thing!

Yes, part of the payback for the whole metric/English mess. Who needs both meters and feet, pounds and kilograms? Such a waste. And the confusion--like ounces can be liquid or weight--16-ounces/pound but how many per gallon? And if I buy something from Great Britain and it costs 2.5 pounds do I pay two pounds and 8 ounces or two pounds and 64 ounces?

Just too confusing. I say we start all over and do it our way. I never liked Phillips screws anyway. And while we are at it, lets put steering wheels in the middle.

planet10 · « **Reply #25 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 06:39 am »

Quote from: jameshuls on 30 Apr 2009, 05:51 am

I had no idea Robertson screws were only a North American thing!

A Canadian invention. Still hard to get them in the US too (in Canada you can buy them in some grocery stores). I always ship a screw driver with any speaker going outside of Canada.

Once you start using them, hard to live with anything else.

dave

planet10 · « **Reply #26 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 06:45 am »

Quote from: technobear on 28 Apr 2009, 10:07 pm

square bits S0, S1, S2 and S3

Commonly called yellow, green, red, and black. (this interesting wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver) mentions an orange (00) -- i've never seen one of those). Speakers are most likely to use green (i use these for 120mm and smaller) or red (larger).

dave

jameshuls · « **Reply #27 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 07:00 am »

Quote

A Canadian invention.

I guess that is why,as a Canadian, I am so used to them. Personally, I think they are the best format, as you will rarely ever have problems with slippage. The less sides you have, the stronger the contact. A triangle driver might just even be better!

Bob_Brines · « **Reply #28 on:** 30 Apr 2009, 12:48 pm »

Interesting. Here in the central USA, deck screws and drywall screws come in Phillips and square drive. Never seen square drive in any other type of screw. I have not looked for a square drive screwdriver, but Walmart, Lowe's, HD and any lumberyard has the bits in 1/4" hex drive.

I'll never use a Phillips deck screw again. I wind up stripping the heads in 1 of 3. Never striped a square drive. On speakers, I use Allen head (hex) cap screws and inserts on all surface mounted drivers. Rabbited tweeters get Phillips, though.

Bob

technobear · « **Reply #29 on:** 7 May 2009, 11:15 pm »

I took delivery today of two Mundorf 1uF Silver/Oil caps and two 47 ohm Mills 12 Watt wirewound resistors. The resistors go across the tweeter terminals and damp the low-end resonance behaviour of the tweeter. With only a single cap for a crossover this 'supertweeter' is still plenty audible in the critical 1 - 2 kHz region where it's resonance will sour vocals and turn electric guitars ear shredding. To be fair to Zu, the Druid is the best speaker I have ever owned in this regard, being much less fatiguing than a typical speaker with 1 inch dome tweeter, but I still felt there was some 'dirt' in the midrange that it might be possible to lose.

I installed them this morning and they have been playing to themselves all day. Just sat down for a listen. Looks like I was right about the need for a damping resistor. It beats me why speaker manufacturers don't fit them as a matter of routine. Perhaps they think it's foo. Anyway, vocals are definitely cleaner and electric guitar solos now bring tears of joy rather than making me want to turn it down. And cymbals now go 'ting' and 'tissssssssssh'. I'm sure they always did that before but it's much more distinct now. And high piano notes have a life and sparkle that definitely wasn't there before. And the soundstage seems a wee bit deeper with more ambient cues. Soundstage is not a major strength of my system at the moment. I suspect the Transporter might be to blame and may be the next thing to get modded.

Anyway, so far for 70 pounds sterling this is definitely money well spent. Thankyou James for drawing this to our attention. I shall spread the word.

jameshuls · « **Reply #30 on:** 8 May 2009, 01:33 pm »

Glad to hear it worked out for you!

pj.singh · « **Reply #31 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 10:28 am »

Hi all

I was wondering if anyone could help me with regards to this modification.
I am a bit of a novice so please forgive my naive question!
I own a pair of Druids and wish to change to the mundorf cap however when i removed the tweeter i found 2 caps and 2 resistors (not what i expected after reading these posts)! i was wondering how i would wire up the new circuit.
I have attached some picture to help explain what i see.
I am not sure of the 1 resistor value (it is obscured by the glue), but one cap is 0.4uf one is 2.2uf and the other resistor is 7 ohm?

Regards

Pj

45triode · « **Reply #32 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 11:55 am »

hi, please refer to my post on page 1 of this thread, where i quoted sean casey?s comments. you also have the older network, just replace it with the new cap followed by the resistor going to the tweeter. if i should be wrong, pls someone correct me.

best, oliver

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #33 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 12:00 pm »

James et al,

Your findings parallel mine, even though my speakers are Bob Brines' FTA-2000s. Months ago I changed Hovland Musicaps and Mills resistors to Mundorf Supreme and Duelund resistors, a $200 investment, and really enjoyed the improvements.

45triode · « **Reply #34 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 12:08 pm »

hi, one more thing, as this thread concentrates on the HF behaviour of the druids. i originally used Zu Gede ICs, but changed them to DIY ICs made of Boenicke silver wire in cotton tubing with switchcraft plugs. quite a cheap affair, but massive change of sound all over. the metallic highs are gone, there is a much wider soundstage and bass increased, so that i had to reduce the druids gap height to the minimum. also my system became much louder, which for me is a sign of better signal transmission (but of course i could be wrong). i asked sean of ZU about this difference in ICs, but all he said was "isn?t it amazing what change ICs can bring?". be advised that my system is all tubed, a njoe tjoeb cd player, shindo claret pre and yamamoto A08s, so this might be different for you solid state guys.

technobear · « **Reply #35 on:** 12 Dec 2009, 12:29 pm »

I also found that the Druid did not mate well with Zu cable. The chap who sold me my Druids brought round some Zu Isis (I think that's what it was). I thought it made them sound top-heavy and harsh (this was before the cap upgrade). My regular speaker cable is Acoustic Zen Satori and this gives an evenly balanced performance but with all the speed, transparency and deep tight bass one could wish for.
Satori is quite expensive but if you see some second-hand at 1/3rd of retail like I did then I can well recommend it.

45triode · « **Reply #36 on:** 13 Dec 2009, 01:28 pm »

i do use ZU libtec speaker cable though. they work very well in my system. so i believe it has something to do with the electric properties of the ZU ICs in my setup, that i found them not fitting.

pj.singh · « **Reply #37 on:** 13 Dec 2009, 05:32 pm »

Went ahead and made this mod, left the system to burn in all day and i must say i am impressed with the change!
I left the old network in (just isolated it by removing the connecting wires) incase i change my mind!
Next step is the silver wire, teflon tubed IC's! I have a pair of Zu cables but want to use them for the method.

naggots · « **Reply #38 on:** 16 Dec 2009, 08:44 am »

I still love the modded druids after 8 -9 months.
I use Zu gede between my cdp and pre and Zu varial between pre and power amps which replaced Cardas Golden Cross. I was using Cardas Neutral Ref digital and X2 Digital on my dac but changed to Zu Ash, this was a major improvement. I now understand why people say Cardas is rolled off in the highs. Zu cables are also cheap on Agon compared to others.

I have tried Alphacore Goertz MI2 and Toumaline cables before the Cardas. I guess we all change

45triode · « **Reply #39 on:** 2 May 2010, 04:44 pm »

i finally got around to mod my druids. i used duelund 12 ohm resistors and mundorf silver/oils, where i removed the plastic coating and dipped the whole cap in beeswax (got the idea from dht rob). it sure is a nice smelling cap now. i also added large bybee purifiers right before the positive speaker ins and used audioconsulting silver wire back from the tweeter. the setup is playing for an hour now and i am happy it worked. the overall druid character of course did not change, but i do hear an increase in treble energy. if this means just simulation of more detail or real quality change must be decided upon further listening. i will post more impressions as things settle in.

keep tweakin´!

oliver