Kef B110 upgrade for Concertos... Monacor SPH-135AD?

[Marintz]

Hello,
any experiences with swapping Kef B110 drivers for Monacor SPH-135AD? I was wondering if they are actually an upgrade and if they would improve the sound of Concertos. I compared Concertos to SBAcoustics Troels 3-way classics and Troels speakers were better, more natural sounding, specially in midrange frecuencies giving a clearer, fuller, more pleasant sound

Thanks

 

[planet10]

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

I’d take things a bit further. Loss the T27 too (good B110/T27 are worth some money on the market). Sub a midTweeter in. Mark Audio Alpair 7.3/7ms, Alpair 5.2/3 (even CHN50), P7HD. Much easier to do if you can biamp.

The midrange enclosure might need some work.

dave

 

[Xoc1]

Have you serviced the crossovers - or are they still original? The Concertos are definitely old enough for the capacitors to be way out of spec I have found some of these that have completeley died or are leaking. Had a lot of improvement with crossover mods on my Concertos.

 

[planet10]

Very good point. The factory XOs are not very good to start with and if the 40-50 years old they would be at this time, the caps have long past their use by date.

dave

 

[Marintz]

Thanks for the answers!
Crossovers were changed for a Falcon Acoustics kit, they gave a bit clearer high end resolution
Thing is i'm giving a listen to them now and I feel they sound great on their own! 😱 I think there were a few difficult recordings were the Troels SBA behaved better (less harsh) when I made the comparison some time ago.

I take note of the tweeter option too in case I bother making any changes... in any case I think I would start with the mid drivers

 

[planet10]

… Sub a midTweeter in...

Given teh cabinet width probably 350ish to 350ish would be good). If you can get it lower you can filter more of th ebig lump the B139 has at about 1kHz.

dave

 

[Marintz]

I forgot to ask... does anybody know if the Monacor SPH-135AD would requiere crossover modifications in Concertos? According to Wimslow Audio it "is now widely known as the first choice replacement for the KEF B110."

 

[markbakk]

That depends on what your goal is. I think upgrading such an old system doesn't bring you what a newer design with better directivity control could. Exchanging drivers always requires modding the X-over from a technical point, but again, what would be your goal?

 

[Mattes]

Hi,

Don´t blame the KEF drivers... the fact that you are comparing these old speakers to something more modern shows their value still today. I wouldn´t exchange anything if not broken. A crossover modification might be a good thing, though.

If you like Troels´ speakers better, that´s a valid point. But before trying any modifications to the KEF in order to make them "better", building Troels´ speaker and maybe selling the KEF seems a lot easier to me and will provide a more predictable result - you know the speakers already...

All the best

Mattes

 

[weegenaar]

The B139 bass driver while amazing in its time is now a bit slowish in comparison to today's good bass speakers .TheT27 and b110 are a good match to each other . An upgrade to the crossover as mentioned would be a good upgrade and Falcon did make good crossovers . the speakers is best as the sum of all its parts and about the same quality overall and I would not try to replace drivers unless they are damaged .I would leave them and just build new 🙄🙄 speakers

 

[Marintz]

Thanks everybody!
Goal would be to get a better midrange presentation... although as said when I listened yesterday the Concertos on their own I found them all right! So I may leave them just as they are as you recommend... it's the itch of "what if" the Monacor drivers make them a notch better

The crossover is Falcon's "No.33Mc R40 FALCON MF & HF UPGRADE SUPER POWER VERSION - improves the performance of the original B139/B110/T27 units fitted to the KEF Concerto by (A) increasing the roll off of the B110A (SP1003) at high frequencies from 12 to 18db per octave and (B) incorporating a simplified version of the Acoustic Butterworth section for the T27."

I fear that the "increase of the roll off frecuency of the B110" in Falcon's crossover might not be good for the Monacor drivers

I built the Troels myself, great speakers, a lot of work involved! I don't have them in the same place to make further comparisons

 

[fatmarley]

Looking at some measurements of the B110, it looks quite different to the Monacor. The B110 looks like it has a more linear frequency response. I'd stick with the B110.