Ah crap.. right Kef 104/2 tweeter is distorting!

Tweeters came today, and immediately I reflowed the fluid. For anyone curious, the process is identical for how you do it on the T33 SP1210, so feel free to follow the pics I made if you want to know how to do it to the T33's on the 104/2 (SP1191).

Anyway, I managed to get one speaker finished. It was a lot of work, and luckily I saved a lot of time by having the speaker already pretty much taken apart. Of course, the biggest question I had was will the recap be worth it?

Without a doubt. What a difference!! I'm doing A/B's with the all original speaker, and holy smokes. The sound woke up. They sounded pretty good before but, the restored one sounds fantastic!

So now that I know this, I know that my 107's will likely benefit from a recap. Looks like the 107 restoration is next on the list. Now I just have to restore the AR3a's I have here on loan, restore the other 104/2, and I can be finished major speaker projects for at least a little while..

Any questions, feel free to ask.

canuckaudiog said:

Any questions, feel free to ask.

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Where are the pics? I'd love to see pics of the restoration process. I'm sure others would too. :yes:

Interesting to know the recap made a difference.

Canuck,
What was the condition of the donut rings on the top woofer compared to the condition of the rings at the bottom of the pole i.e. the visible one from the port?
Were the unseen donut rings as bad as the visible ones on the bottom? Mine are shot.
Thanks!
Robbin

I'll be taking pictures (or maybe a video) of the restoration process when I dive into the other speaker. Main reason being the first one was already half disassembled so it would have missed a couple things.

baco99, I was surprised to hear such an improvement. But, considering there are 16 electrolytic caps, if they have all pretty much degraded then it makes sense it would make that much of an improvement. I think it may also depend on the usage and of course age of the speaker, the models from the 90s I'm not sure if they would need to be recapped yet.

icenine, the top one was in better shape but not by much. It needed to be replaced as well. Contact Rick Kobb for the foam donuts if you need em.

Thanks for the info !

canuckaudiog said:

icenine, the top one was in better shape but not by much. It needed to be replaced as well. Contact Rick Kobb for the foam donuts if you need em.

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on the ones i just parted out, all four donuts were deteriorated. Doesn't seem to matter whether they were exposed to the elements or not. It's very easy to do and you don't have to worry about realigning the woofer unless you have RCEs with foam surrounds too.

All right guys, other speaker is finished. I am done restoring the 104/2's!

As requested, I did get some pictures of the disassembly. Reassembly is the same as disassembling but.. backwards.

I'll put them up in a bit, for now, I'm gonna bask in the glorious sound of the 104/2's!

Incoming!

Step #1: The speaker itself. Lay it down on its back, being careful with the speaker terminals.


Step #2: On the bottom, take out the 8 screws and get the bottom piece off. May take a bit of force to do it, but it will come off.



Step #3: Take out the foam, and then you have access to the bottom B200.


Step #4: First unscrew the 3 nuts holding the driver to the cabinet. Next, unscrew the bolt in the middle of the magnet of the B200. Personally I unscrew it all the way, I find this makes it a bit easier for me.


Step #5: Now the B200 will come out. Watch for the 3 washers for the nuts. Next step is to cut the wires.



Step #6: Next step is to get into the upper portion of the cabinet. Start by taking off the 4 bolts holding the front of the speaker with the mids and tweet.


Step #7: Disconnect the 6 wires leading from the mid/tweet enclosure to the crossover in the cabinet. Make sure you note which is the bottom and top of the mid/tweet enclosure, unless yours is marked like mine.


Step #8: Next, take off the six screws. This may again take some force if it hasn't come apart before, but it will come off.


Step #9: Take out the foam once again.


Step #10: Follow the same procedure for the bottom B200, take off the 3 nuts and then there is a bolt in the center of the driver where the rod connects, take that off. My advice, instead of trying to unscrew it from in the middle of the B200, take the rod out of the cabinet instead. To do that, you need to pry it off the wood its glued to and then unscrew it. This also makes reassembly much easier.

Step #11: The top B200 will come free now. Make sure to watch for the 3 washers for the 3 nuts.


Step #12: Disconnect the B200 by taking off the crimp connections from the crossover. Note the location of each wire so you don't wire it up wrong.


Step #13: Now it's time to put the new donuts on the woofers. Here's a before and after.



Step #14: While the woofers are drying, this is a good opportunity to get the crossover out if you are going to replace the capacitors. I don't know if the pictures display it well, but basically there are 6 nuts holding the board down, as well as 4 wires with crimp connections on the bottom of the board and then there is what looks like a computer connector connected to the upper right portion of the board. Take the connections off, then the 6 nuts, and the board will come out. Just make sure you note the location of what goes where for the wiring on the bottom of the board. There will also be little washers that are underneath the nuts, make sure to find them and save them.



That's it! Reassembly is identical to disassembly so no need to show pictures of that.

Sonically, I'd definitely have to say the effort was worth it. These 104/2's sound great.

Perfect. But if you just want to do the donuts, you really don't have to take the woofers out. Can just undo the nuts holding the metal rod, remove the rod, replace the donuts and then put it all together. Right?

Also a trick to hold the donuts in place while they dry. Get a Dixie cup, or eq., and fill it with loose change. Put the cup on top of the donut while it dries. That will keep the whole woofer and donut assembly in compression. About 7 or 8 quarters is enough weight.

baco99 said:

Perfect. But if you just want to do the donuts, you really don't have to take the woofers out. Can just undo the nuts holding the metal rod, remove the rod, replace the donuts and then put it all together. Right?

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Not sure if I follow what you're saying. For me it would be much easier to remove the woofers than attempt to replace the donuts inside the cabinets - one thing I had to worry about was getting old surround into the voice coil, something I don't see being very doable strapped into the cabinets.

Well guys, I've been giving the 104/2s a proper run-in.

I gotta say, I'm really impressed with how these speakers turned out. Going from the non-original, Vifa tweeters in their all original condition, to having the complete restoration done with the right tweeters (thanks Tinkerbelle!), I can definitely say everything was worth it. These speakers are just awesome to listen to! They're different than the 107s, but in terms of quality of midrange, detail, all that, they've got it. I almost wish they made a Kef 107 voiced like the 104/2, but then again I've got the IMFs to fit that bill.

Anyway, I'm happy I did the whole shebang, caps, new donuts and ferro fluid, they all made a difference for the better. These Kef reference series speakers are a massive bargain.

Nice job!

Kef T-33 ferro fluid rebuild option

Greetings fellows, Please visit the following site for an affordable solution for the kef t33 problem I have found here. I have mastered the art of replacing the T-33 and restoring it to its original performance as long as the voice coil is still 100% intact and not damaged. I am happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the rework.

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luminousaud said:

Greetings fellows, Please visit the following site for an affordable solution for the kef t33 problem I have found here. I have mastered the art of replacing the T-33 and restoring it to its original performance as long as the voice coil is still 100% intact and not damaged. I am happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the rework.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/sp...ferrofluid-2013-09-23-vintage-equipment-23229

Feel free to use audiogon or reach out me direct re: additional info. My best, Tim

Click to expand...

I don't believe offering services for sale is allowed on the public forums of AK.