KEF 105.1 restored and upgraded

[Audiobiker]

Hi guys


I've just finished the restoration and upgrading of my lovely 105's. I've done many improvements in xovers, cabinets and aesthetics with success.

The crossovers are new, with solen caps 2% suplied by falconacoustics (they calculated for me the ESR), Mundorf M resist resistors from Hificollective, Supra binding posts and van del hul Royal Jade and Magnum hybrid wires.

The bass cabinet have been reinforced with the same internal volume and new front pannel for the bass driver.

The sound now is far better than ever.

 

[Audiobiker]

Hi guys


I've just finished the restoration and upgrading of my lovely 105's. I've done many improvements in xovers, cabinets and aesthetics with success.

The crossovers are new, with solen caps 2% suplied by falconacoustics (they calculated for me the ESR), Mundorf M resist resistors from Hificollective, Supra binding posts and van del hul Royal Jade and Magnum hybrid wires.

The bass cabinet have been reinforced with the same internal volume and new front pannel for the bass driver.

The sound now is far better than ever.

 

[CopperTop]

Could you post some more pictures of their exteriors? I love these speakers!

Browsing the Kef site, they have the original brochure online - they certainly knew how to do a good brochure in those days.

http://www.kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/70s/Reference_Series_Model_105_r.pdf

The trapezoidal angular design, the half cloth half wood-veneer exterior, the no-compromises size (castors!), the separate boxes concealed behind the grille, they're fantastic.

Being of a certain age, large 70s speakers like these have a peculiar effect on me: I positively lust after them. For me they represent something of a peak in civilization. My new DIY speakers bear a strong resemblance to them, but not nearly as good looking.

Tell us more about how they sound!

 

[Audiobiker]

Hi CopperTop


Now my speakers are not the ones you described above. Go to Home> Member Galleries and search: Audiobiker and you'll see.

They had some problems in comparison with modern speakers.

The xovers failed with it's aged electrolitics caps, that makes the sound less clear and with a bit of hursh in high frecuencies. The Solen caps 2% solved the problem.
The wires and binding post were not very good.
The bass cabinet made some coloration with it's removable and thin front pannel. It have been improved with a new fixed and thicker one, and some reinforcements.
The heads had some cracks due to the age.

I thought that these speakers were marketed a bit unfinished in aesthetics and sound, and had an enormous potential.

My goal was to improve all of that without losing the KEF 105 essence.

Now the bass is clearer and with a lot of detail. The mids and highs are more detailed too and smooth. Now are really lovely, far better than ever.

I've tested them in direct comparison with KEF 207/2 and they were the logical loosers, but they were very good contenders with all the improvements. The 207's are only a bit better, with a bit more of detail, air, bass, definition and sensitivity.

The 105's need very big power to control them. LUXMAN L11 (2 x 100 watt ) didn't do that very well. Primare A 32 (2 x 250 watt ) did it very good, but McIntosh MC 402 sound wonderful.

 

[Audiobiker]

Could you post some more pictures of their exteriors? I love these speakers!

Browsing the Kef site, they have the original brochure online - they certainly knew how to do a good brochure in those days.

http://www.kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/70s/Reference_Series_Model_105_r.pdf

The trapezoidal angular design, the half cloth half wood-veneer exterior, the no-compromises size (castors!), the separate boxes concealed behind the grille, they're fantastic.

Being of a certain age, large 70s speakers like these have a peculiar effect on me: I positively lust after them. For me they represent something of a peak in civilization. My new DIY speakers bear a strong resemblance to them, but not nearly as good looking.

Tell us more about how they sound!

 

[Audiobiker]

One photo...

I don't know how to atach more

 

[Audiobiker]

My system .....

 

[WPM]

Audiobiker,

Your KEF's look absolutely fantastic! What a beautiful job. I am just finishing up a restoration to my 105.1's and hope (fingers crossed) to have them completed this weekend.

The heads on yours look awesome (as do the entire speaker). Did you use automotive paint on them? It must be at least 10 coats thick. Very cool and very retro.

I'll post a few pics of mine when they're done. Cheers!

William

 

[Audiobiker]

Hello William

Thank you for liking my speakers. It was a very hard work to do that. I've painted them with automotive paint, with only few coats. The color is Volkswagen's Golf GTI Carbon steel grey LA9W. It is a beautiful color.

Try to change the caps to PP's like Solen's ( as I did ), Mundorf.... The improvement in sound is night and day comparison. And the wires too. After a lot of investigation I found falconacoustics and asked Jerry ([email protected]). He will help you.

Good luck

Marcos

 

[WPM]

Hi Marcos,

Thanks for the information on the paint. Here is a pic of one of my heads. I went with the Falcon Acoustics Alcap electrolytics and basically did a one for one swap with each of the original Elcap caps. I would have loved to go with something more exotic but didn't want to take a chance. Maybe at a later time.

Copper Top: Show us some pics of your DIY speakers; we'd love to see them...

William

 

[Audiobiker]

Hi William

Very nice photo. I did use Alcaps for the bass section of my second pair of 105's. In the future (and in another home with more space) there will be a 5.1 Home Theatre KEF 105 system with a shorter but wider KEF 105 central speaker that I'm starting to build.


CopperTop, please show us your work...

 

[Audiobiker]

Here is the Dalek's Army.....

 

[Richiebuoy]

Great stuff and great pics, I have a pair of early 105's that I would like to re-cap, I did my 104ab's with Solens with great success. As the Solens are a lot bigger (size) do you know if they will fit on the original pcb and still fit in the original enclosure ?

 

[Audiobiker]

Hi Richiebouy

Is a very good idea to go Solen's way, but you won't have enough space in the heads, as you can see on the photo. There plenty space in the bass cabinet, but not in the Pcb, and if you put those caps inside you will loose bass response due to the extra volume of the xover. You'll need an external enclosure or a new basement a I did.

Show me your work when finished, please. Good luck !

 

[east electronics]

anyone with a correct schematic 105.1 ?

 

[Audiobiker]

Hello east electronics. Sorry for the late


There are two versions of crossovers. There is an early version with more components, and a second version with some caps missing and other small changes, both in the same board.

You can see it on the schematic. The first version is the black one, and the second version is the one with the red corrections. Both are correct.

Good luck