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Refurbishing 30 year old speakers

Looking for advice on refurbishing speakers. I have owned a pair of KEF R107's since new. They are still some of the best sounding KEF speakers ever made IMO, but after 30 years they most likely could use some refurbishing. I'm not hearing any obvious deterioration of sound, but over time, I might just not be noticing the degradation. I would re-foam woofer surrounds, change ferro fluid in the tweeter, upgrade the crossovers, and possibly upgrade wiring. I'm Interested in anyone's experience and results with doing this. Did the refurbished speakers sound better than original, or even sound different? Of course the other option is to go speaker shopping and buy a modern speaker, but I have grown accustomed to the vintage KEF sound.....My only real beef with these speakers is the use of the outboard equalizer device called the KUBE which runs in the processor loop of the pre-amp. Never been real fond of having an active device like this in the system but admittedly the results still sound amazing. Thanks for your thoughts. 
dmiller01
erik_squires
15,861 posts
 
Don't change any coils or caps without an impedance meter like Dayton DATS or a jig made for Room EQ Wizard.

You must match, or compensate for, changes in DCR/ESR especially in any components that shunt to ground.
mastering92
870 posts
 
Buy a new one online (check out vintage hifi shops or ebay) or look into newer KEF speakers with the same nominal impedance.

From the sound of things, the repair would be time-consuming. Your time is more valuable than your money.
dmiller01 OP
16 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. Much appreciated. 
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,381 posts
 
If the surrounds need to be replaced (woofers and possibly the mids) it should be easy enough to judge such by a visual inspection - then do it.

If the speakers still sound good/great I would then stop there and listen to them for a year, or so, before changing anything else.

If you can do the work yourself it's an inexpensive project (<<<$200) for what I recall as being KILLER speakers I listened to in the late 80's).

Curious as to what you power them with, as I could write a book on what a friend went through and ended up using (modded Hafler 500's).

DeKay


dmiller01 OP
16 posts
 
Thanks for the thoughts DeKay. They were KEF's flagship speakers in the late 80's and early 90's and KEF really overachieved IMO. Large, heavily braced wood cabinets enclosing twin down firing woofers make it hard to do a physical inspection without some disassembly, so I have been waiting for an audible problem! FYI, I am driving them with a Classe Six preamp and a Classe 15 amplifier. This is the older Classe gear from from the same era as the KEF's. Really sweet sounding SS gear. I have upgraded my digital front end to an Innuos Zenith Mk3 and Playback Design Merlot DAC. The Classe and KEF combo sounds really musical. 
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