Biamp SM/23 active Crossover - Before

[OldiesButGoodies]

Some "before" pics of the SM-23 I am rebuilding.  Nick recommended this x-over as a good choice from his experience w the VMPSs.  $30 on ebay,  but in terrible shape.  Still,  with all its ugliness it sounded pretty darn good,  so I am rebuilding it.  New caps, repainting the case,  new knobs, and perhaps new op amps (this last one may not come to be as I think the ones in there already are pretty good).  Will post "after" pics later.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Just finished recapping the SM-23 with gorditas Dayton Audio caps.  Making them fit was a bit of a shore,  but the point was to have a blast doing it and that I did.  New power cord and control knobs, cleaned pots and I am set to go.  Will compare it against the Peavey after burn in.  Sounds good so far.   











The Infinitys are off maintenance and back on duty:   



The Mexican Recapper

[MacGeek]

Looks like you moved the Infinitys closer to the rear wall.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

The xover looks good.   I have a whole bag of knobs I pulled from an old Peavey board a friend was trashing.   I would have given you what you needed in my last care package had I known.

[OldiesButGoodies]

The knobs I bought are ok but not ideal.  Set by a hex screw vs. striated,  and [more irritating] the skirt does not get down far enough (close to the face plate) to look original.  Can I pop by and steal a few knobs from ya?  I am off today. 

THANKS!

[Jim Pittsburgh]

very nice....  I'm sure that the new speaker positions give a more integrated sound too.

[Reticuli]

What would you say was the benefit sonically of recapping the SM 23?

[OldiesButGoodies]

What would you say was the benefit sonically of recapping the SM 23?

Apologies for the pictures not showing - the hosting vendor is holding them hostage unless I pay some ridiculous fee they never disclosed before offering me a free version. 

The benefits of recapping are little to none if your SM23 has working caps and you intend to replace them with normal caps.  However,  if you recap it with better film caps in the signal path, it really makes a difference, especially after some burn-in time.   In my case, more defined tighter bass and better separation of instruments.  Noise floor lowered a bit as well. 

I imagine one could continue the upgrade craze in many ways but had I kept mine the next step would have been better pots- Alps or something like that - to replace the stock cheapies.   

OBG