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Another great find. KEF 105/3!

The 105/3 tweeters used ferro-fluid and theres a good chance it`s part way dried up....reason why they may sound dull or worse case seized.
BTW the over-priced `special` 8" foam that came with the kit I ordered (4-8"/4 doughnuts) is identical in ID/OD, thickness, weight and flexibility to generic 8" foam. You can order just the 4 doughnuts alone and save a bundle.
 
Thank you joe

This project just keeps getting better! What did I get myself into? LOL. These speakers better be worth it.

I also got a pair of 101/3 and a 90c. I was going to sell them all off on the bay but it looks like at least the 101/3 (and maybe the center channel as well) have the same uniq driver as the 105's - and from the research I did previously this tweeter is difficult to find.

edit: After checking KEF's website neither the 101/3 or the 90c have the same uniq driver of the 105/3 (and more importantly they don't have the t25 sp1024 tweeter)
 
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The original tweeters for those (xx29?...i forget the model) are no longer available from Kef and most used units, if not refurbed with new ferro-fluid, will have suffered from the aged gummy fluid. There are apparently similar, more modern tweeters from Kef that will fit with some minor mods needed for seating them properly.
 
Surrounds and ferro fluid ordered. More photos and updates forthcoming.

Is there any reason I shouldn't get some wire clips so I don't have to solder in the woofer leads?
 
GTIanz said:
Is there any reason I shouldn't get some wire clips so I don't have to solder in the woofer leads?
Click to expand...

Given that one of the simplest upgrades you can make to any loudspeaker is to remove the push-on tags and solder the connections, I would say reversing this process would be self-defeating!

Push-on tags - truly the work of Satan IMHO.:nono:
 
Ok I have ventured into territory that is making me very uncomfortable. I want to try to replace the likely dried up ferro fluid.



But, these things are assembled like tanks. Some seriously tight tolerances and glue everywhere. Don't think these things were built to be serviced at all. On one of the cabinets I can't even get the aluminum cap off.



Does anyone know how to get the Uni-Q driver out of the damn cabinet?



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Edit: figured it out. The uniq and likely the midranges aren't even screwed in. They are coupled to the cabinet via the aluminum caps on the rear. The drivers themselves can be pushed out the front of the pod quite easily.
 
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I don't think you will need to do the fluid on those tweeters. They don't dry out like the 104/2 tweeters do
 
baco99 said:
I don't think you will need to do the fluid on those tweeters. They don't dry out like the 104/2 tweeters do
Click to expand...

Can this be confirmed? Honestly, I couldn't even find any information as to whether or not these tweeters have ferrofluid. What I did find is confirmation that 20-25 year old ferrofluid will likely have dried out by now.

Given that they are essentially unobtanium I think that I'm going to take your advice and simply put the one I uninstalled back in. Don't think I want to risk destroying this tweeter by taking it apart to find out.

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If anyone does decide they need to do this and wants to remove the tweeter it is pretty easy.
1. On the very back of the driver there is a plastic cap (alignment cap) and a screw - remove the screw and pop out the cap.
2. The black wire snaking out the back is the tweeter leads. Mine was glued to the magnet beneath some foam (also glued).
3. I had to cut the wire lose of the foam and then gently pry the wire lose from the magnet.
4. de-solder the tweeter leads as shown above (don't need to do anything with the midrange leads)
5. Now simply pick up the entire driver holding the magnet. Place your your fingers inside next to the tweeter. Somewhat gently push the tweeter out through the hole in the rear of the speaker.
Only thing holding in the tweeter after removing the screw/cap is magnetic force.

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I don't even know which section should be separated. I watched video's of the T33 tweeter and it looked pretty easy. Is there an exploded diagram of the T25 SP-1240 tweeter that anyone has seen?
 
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I ordered the refoam kit from Springfield Speakers off of ebay. Nice packaging.

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Spent a couple hours cleaning up the woofers last night and I still have a couple more hours of to go. Hopefully I can get the outer surrounds done today/tomorrow.

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Glue residue removal. The glue on these woofers is still sticky and refuses all attempts I make to take it off.

I got the edges easily simply using my fingers and a little water to clean my fingers. Easy on the edges but, it doesn't work very well when the glue can stick to the cone at the centers.

I have tried pure isopropyl alcohol, crud cutter , and windex. None are breaking down the glue. I'm going to try to remove a little bit more but more than likely I'll just use the old glue as a guide for the new donuts.

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edit: Taking extra time and being patient I was able to remove most of the glue with pure isopropyl alcohol. Using a q-tip I'd apply the alcohol to the glue - let it sit for 30 seconds or so and then slowly use my thumbnail to push/roll the malleable glue until it accumulated enough to pinch off. Rinse and repeat. Think it is impossible to remove all the glue and I'm not sure one would want to. The alcohol on a paper towel is also very effective at cleaning glue residue off the basket.
 
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Finished everything up and got the speakers put back together without too much trouble.

The good news:
All woofer re-foams went smoothly. No rubbing on any drivers. Probably not the prettiest job but not bad for my first re-foam IMHO.
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I had read somewhere else that 3 guides worked well for them. The voice coil gap is tight....I couldn't get a 4th piece in. Inserting the guides was also a bit of a challenge as the center post blocks direct access to the voice coil gap.
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I used a very small flat head screwdriver to nudge the bottom of the guide into the gap.

When gluing in the donuts large sockets are very helpful to hold down the center of the donut.

I'm also making progress on the grills. The glue supplied with the refoam kit is working very well.
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The bad news:
I hooked them up and noticed that I have a rub in the uni-q midrange. I'm betting that it is the speaker that I pulled the tweeter out of; likely my fault as I didn't notice any rub when I first tested them. So, I'll pull that driver when I get home tonight and hopefully get that issue resolved.

And earlier I complained about how difficult it was to de-solder the woofer leads inside the cabinet. If I were paying attention at all I would have noticed that the lower woofers can easily be removed without de-soldering!

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After noticing this I pulled the leads and re-attached outside of the cabinets. Made the re-install much easier.
 
I flipped the uni-q driver 180 degrees. It didn't fix the problem. I pulled the driver from the cabinet and inspected it. I couldn't identify what might exactly be causing the rub in the driver (it was not the driver I pulled the tweeter from - that speaker sounds perfect) . I'm going to have to take the "bad" driver to a local pro.

Is it possible the issue could be crossover related? The caps all looked good but, I didn't measure anything.

I did get a chance to do a decent listening session. The kef's are very precise and accurate. But, I'd classify them as "thin" sounding. Even though they have 6 drivers they don't lend the impression of being a "big" speaker. But, I heard something else that I never heard with my infinity's. Noise. Just turning on my system a I get a hum and audible buzz on the kef's. Swapping out the infinities those sounds are gone. Crossovers?

Comparing them to my infinity rsII's the kef's are much more accurate and precise. But, the infinity's present a much more immense soundstage. The infinity's sounded full, smooth, and well balanced.

With the Kef's I already heard some of the things that I miss with the infinity's. I was able to hear the children's dialog clearly in the background on Pink Floyd's the wall album (one of my speaker test albums).

Perhaps I have developed a taste for the infinity's. But, I have already invested a lot of time and a chunk of change into the kef's. I'll see this project out and give them a solid go. But, I think that for my space I already know which speakers I'll be keeping.
 
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GTIanz said:
I flipped the uni-q driver 180 degrees. It didn't fix the problem with midrange. I pulled the driver from the cabinet and inspected it. I couldn't identify what might exactly be causing the rub. I'm going to have to take the "bad" driver to a local pro.

Is it possible the issue could be crossover related? The caps all looked good but, I didn't measure anything.

Just turning on my system a I get an audible hum on the kef's. When I swap out the speakers the hum is gone. Crossovers?
Click to expand...

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? How should I proceed?
 
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If there is a hum, it sounds like there's a grounding issue somewhere. You might have pulled something loose or perhaps something is no longer connected? It's tough to say, a hum with speakers is very odd.

As for the Uni-Q it may not be seated properly. You may want to take it apart again and try putting it back together.
 
Try loosening the bolt thats holding the tweeter in place. Too tight, it (the tweeter`s grill portion) may be tugging on the mid`s cone enough pulling it....the mid`s vc, out of alignment. Also be sure the tweeter +/- wire coming through the rear plastic cap is seated in the little gap as it was originally.


GTIanz said:
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? How should I proceed?
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for the suggestions.

I pulled the uni-q driver and checked the tweeter alignment. This wasn't the driver that I had originally disassembled. I feel no rub in the driver and listening more closely it isn't a rub/buzz that I'm getting from the speaker. It's more of a resonance/distortion at lower frequencies.

Listening to some songs there is no distortion at all....on others it's frequent and persistent.

Dire Straits - Your Latest Trick causes a lot of distortion while Money For Nothing there is little to none.

I labeled all wiring before disassembling the speaker. I checked and everything looks to be in order. So I'm thinking that the floor noise is electrical interference and potentially coming from source components. The Kef's are very efficient at 93db. No way the RSII's are anywhere close to that. Could be a reason why the noise is audible on the kef's but not the infinity's? I also got a pair of kef 101/2's (came with the 105's). I'll hook those up and see if I can hear the noise from them as well (they are only 86db - bet I won't hear anything).

How are the 105/3's that efficient? They have a pretty elaborate crossover and 6 drivers. Interesting.
 
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I've read through the entire thread! Very impressive work! I hope they perform to expectations after all this work and you keep them.

This thread will be a great resource for others down the road.

Cheers, Glenn
 
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