Removal of Old Wax Caps

[Rich W]

This may be straining at gnats, but is there any consensus as to whether or not to remove the old dual 50/150uF wax caps from older vintage AR-3a cabinets when replacing with new caps? Would the small volume it displaces have a measurable effect on performance? Later 3a's used much smaller NPE caps with presumably the same drivers and crossover, so I'm inclined to remove it.

Opinions?

Rich W

[RoyC]

Rich,

I would remove them as long as you aren't planning to sell them to a collector. They are heavy and do take up some volume. If you plan on replacing them with poly caps, that area is needed.

Roy

[Rich W]

>Rich,

>

>I would remove them as long as you aren't planning to sell

>them to a collector.

Thanks, Roy

I parted with a pair of 3a's back in 1976 and later regretted it - I won't make that mistake again! For what it's worth, any collector who'd have potentially gotten their hands on this pair would have been kept busy replacing midrange drivers . . . the wax cap on one measured 210uF.

It will be interesting to hear how the tweeters have held up once I complete the upgrade/restore.

Rich W