KEF 107 - opening them? + other questions

You may have to do some research but there are plenty of shops that do re foaming and crossovers etc.,for old Kef speakers..Unless you know what your doing you could end up making a mess of a perfectly fixable pair of quality speakers..My suggestion is to spend some time on the computer and or call a local Stereo Shop ( a good one ) and get some referalls...You are not the only one to have this situation come up.......Get it done right the first time.......It will cost more but it will pay for itself with years of enjoyment....

If you can read a schematic and solder, crossover updates are easy. I would leave refoaming to the pros though.

Dump them, repair is not cost effective and the sound will not please you.

I just did a pair. Try Orange County Speaker for the foam surrounds, remember the have TWO per driver with TWO woofers per speaker for a total of Four drivers. Orange county sells a complete kit with all eight foams and glue for under $100.00. The drivers are accessable from the bottom and top panels, remove only the outside screws on the top as the crossover for the woofers are attached to the panel with the screws in the center. Both chambers are full of foam and stuffing and it must be removed takeing care to remember how it needs to be reinstalled, The woofers have the posative terminal marked and are push on connectors, if confused by polarity use masking tape with notes on the wire to remember how to reattach. the drivers are attached with nuts that have some resistance to them as they have plastic locking nuts. Remove the bolt in center of one driver so that it maybe removed from the cabinet, after you have removed the first woofer then remove the center bolt from the second woofer and remove the connector rod from the cabinet. The woofers are orentiated so that the wire will hookup better if you note the direction of the woofers as the wire is not real long and is easier to reconnect if the woofers connectors face the same direction as before. If you have patience and dexterity the refoam is not to hard if you don't I think Orange County Speakers offers the full service plan at $70.00 ea. woofer. Considering you will be restoring a Classic and expensive speaker that's not bad.

As far as the cap's I will leave that to a better qualified KEF kind of guy.

Tubeking

To the guy who suggested dumping them, that's laughable. These speakers are a total classic and sound incredible.

Tubeking, Orange County Speaker is exactly who I went to, they had the complete kit: surrounds, center doughnuts, adhesive, instructions and brushes.

The speakers came apart pretty easily, I labeled all the wires and foam positions for reassembly.

Once I got the drivers out, 2 of the 4 woofers had holes in them about the size of a dime... this was the source of my bass loss.

The surrounds were as brittle as a burned piece of paper. The slightest pinch broke it apart. I pinched my way around the surround until it was off, then took a pocket knife to the outer edge to remove all the gunk. I tried a razor, fingernail, and a few other tools but the knife was by far the best.

The inside surround came off very easily with a fingernail.

Be careful, these things will damage easily.

For the doughnut, tilt the driver so none of the old surround can get in the voice coil and use compressed air to make sure nothing gets in there, this old foam is like gum when its compressed. I used my fingernail very carefully here to get all the stuff off.

First I glued the inside of the outer surround, let it dry, then the outside and at the same time the doughnut.

Check carefully that the voice coil is aligned well --> no scraping!

With patience, this was very satisfying work.

I changed my terminals while I was in there and put everything back together.

RESULT:

WHOO HOO!!! My KEF's are back... bass is snappy and tight, deep, just like they used to sound. REALLY glad I did this and would highly recommend to anyone with a pair of 107's!

I know it's a very old post but wondering if anyone who has opened the 107s can help me.

I am unable to get the wooden plank out after removing the screws. It seems as if the plank is glued down. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Any idea? 

Heres a tutorial if its helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw6FHeUgfG4

Another parts carrier for Kef is here, kit for the 107's is $81 http://www.simplyspeakers.com/search.asp?keyword=kef+107