IMF owners thread!

[mpeterson]

Or just more generally, is there any way I can test the speakers to ensure that they are working properly, outside of hauling them to a shop? I checked the super tweeters with a paper towel cylinder and they work, assuming everything else is fine too, but of course would want to improve the performance if possible.

 

[IMF_Pioneer]

Bump.

 

[JB1962]

Anyone know what the difference is between the IMF 4/200 and the IMF 4/140F midrange's?

 

[smiles56]

Hello all, my apologies if I'm hijacking this thread but I think I'm in the right area.
Just recently picked up some original mint condition TLS 50s and need to know if and how the covers come off? I haven't tried for fear of damage but I want to check the condition of everything. I have a small vertical tear at woofer height and want to ensure it's ok.
What would my first restoration upgrade? I want to keep everything as close to original as possible.

 

[IMF_Pioneer]

Hello all, my apologies if I'm hijacking this thread but I think I'm in the right area.
Just recently picked up some original mint condition TLS 50s and need to know if and how the covers come off? I haven't tried for fear of damage but I want to check the condition of everything. I have a small vertical tear at woofer height and want to ensure it's ok.
What would my first restoration upgrade? I want to keep everything as close to original as possible.

Just use a butter knife with a piece of cloth over the blade and carefully insert it in one of the corner areas and lever the grille out. The grilles are held in with Velcro.

 

[quadmatrix82]

Wondering has anyone got experience comparing Imf tls-80 mk 2 vs rspm iv? Is one considered better than the other or just different?

 

[petervv]

hi Guys,

Just saw a pair of 8 Ohm HF1300 MkII's for sale on our dutch auction site: https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/audio-tv-en-foto/luidsprekers/m1822278199-celestion-hf1300-mkii-8-ohm

These are perfect for speakers like TLS80 & RSPM Mk4, filters were designed for 8 ohms 1300's.
I've already got a spare set.
I would be willing to buy these and sent them to you, but be prepared for high shipping cost to USA...

kind regards, Peter

 

[JB1962]

I have a pair of Super Compact 2 but my drivers are ELAC 4/200. The surrounds for these drivers have also deteriorated and require re-foam. I ordered a pair of new surrounds from a company called Good HiFi in Nederland. If you need details to make contact with them, please let me know.

Meantime while I am awaiting the surrounds in the mail, I have cleaned up the debris from the shattered old surrounds.
View attachment 2133730 View attachment 2133731

Careful with those, getting others is all but impossible

 

[mpeterson]

Just finally hooked up my 'new' Yamaha PF-800 TT to my set-up and these TLS 80's are really singing. The new Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge is really picking up every note - sounds fantastic. Speakers are finally breathing - improved imaging, deep natural bass, super tweeter picking up the cymbols. Could not be happier.

 

[beekeo]

Hello, I am officially a member of this group!
I won a pair of IMF TSL 50 II’s from an estate auction a couple weeks ago and they were delivered today.

They were listed as “house speakers” and I was lucky enough to think they looked familiar. I dropped a $50 max bid and won, $40 including auction fees and taxes, then after spending several days reading this thread, decided it was worth spending $240 to have them shipped from Indiana to Massachusetts.

Unfortunately they are R O U G H

I have to assume they passed through several hands of teenagers or goblins who have never heard of a soldering iron before they were picked up by the collector/repair shop that was the source of the estate sale.

Bad news:
One Audax tweeter is missing
The other Audax has broken leads and the plate is warped from over tightening or meth rage idk

one Coles tweeter measures open, is missing the plastic dome and makes no sound
The other Coles has a missing lead… it’s just snapped-off or something

due to the failed/broken/removed high frequency drivers, someone decided to drill holes in the back and run wires to an external tweeter that was screwed into the top of both cabinets

multiple threaded screw receivers are missing or pushed out, random assortment of hardware used to hold drivers in place.

Middling news:
The Kef drivers don’t match, but they work!
One of the Elac mids has a dust cap that says “Bose”

Good news:
They actually sound decent, despite having no measurable sound above 8k and the bass is flabby with open holes in the baffle — but I can hear the potential!

Weird news: someone took the grill off of an ADC 303ax, cut it down, turned it 90 degrees and attached it to cover their shameful handiwork. (I have two matching uncut grills already, so the coincidence is … interesting)

So far I have removed all of the weird wires spliced with electrical tape (except for one where the wires were cut too short, I’ll need to get crimp-on connectors there until I am ready to trace the wires back to the crossover and run new wire).

The plan is to get them sounding right, then figure out how to make them look better. Idk if they will require a full re-veneer or if sanding, filling and varnishing will be sufficient. Might make grills?

the Audax tweeters need to be replaced —
These ones from Madisound have a different model number from Falcon, but they look nearly identical?
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...-12x9-1-textile-dome-tweeter-with-ferrofluid/

the coles super tweeters: how likely are they to be repairable? Is it even something to consider? I have seen the comments about their fragility. Is the only source falcon, are there alternatives?

My target isn’t factory-correct, maybe factory-adjacent? They won’t be in the living room so, WAF isn’t strict.

 

[beekeo]

Whelp… started explaining research and options to my wife, she just rolled her eyes and told me to get what I need to make them work, “otherwise I’ll see you bidding on some other speakers in a couple months. And make sure you get them looking better while you’re at it”

so: Audax and coles tweeters plus a crossover set has been ordered from Falcon.

 

[montrecott]

Whelp… started explaining research and options to my wife, she just rolled her eyes and told me to get what I need to make them work, “otherwise I’ll see you bidding on some other speakers in a couple months. And make sure you get them looking better while you’re at it”

so: Audax and coles tweeters plus a crossover set has been ordered from Falcon.

I ordered the Coles super tweeters from Falcon for a pair of B&W DM4 a few years ago. I had a couple of questions before ordering, and their customer support was very helpful. The tweeters shipped out promptly and arrived surprisingly quickly. Hopefully your experience with them will be excellent as well.

 

[beekeo]

Bleh
I was replacing the missing t-nut threaded receivers that hold the woofers in place and I noticed that both midranges have Bose dust caps

crap

pulled one out and yup, more crappy wiring to fix and another pair of drivers to source. At least the Bose make noise.

looks like Falcon’s Monacor replacements are on back order until July, so I don’t feel bad that I didn’t order them with the rest (currently at DHL in Boston, so I might be able to get the installation started this weekend!).

If you need woofer hardware, Hillmans 10/32” T-nuts are available at Lowes. I was able to use a large pair of channel-lock pliers to gently press them in.

 

[beekeo]

Actually, looks like DHL will deliver today!

while doing some research, I found this thread comparing the Elac originals and the Monacor replacements that Falcon Sells:

KEF B110 Replacement
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Nominal Power RMS 50W
Vas ( l) 19.00 l
Nominal Free Air Resonance Fs 35Hz
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 86 dB SPL
Nominal Rdc 6.5 ohm
Qes 0.24
Qms 3.57
Qts 0.23

Monacor Elac 4/200 Replacement
Nominal Impedance 8 Ohm
Nominal Power RMS 50W
Vas ( l) 4.00l
Nominal Free Air Resonance Fs 85 Hz
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 89 dB
Nominal Rdc 6.30
Qes 0.55
Qms 1.98
Qts 0.43

and then I found this comparison: http://www.loudspeakerdatabase.com/MONACOR/MSH-115
which brought up a comparable but inexpensive option from Dayton: https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-PC105-8-4-Full-Range-Poly-Cone-Driver-295-160

I'm going to listen to what the Bose 103342's sound like, not going to jump straight to buying a different non-original driver. Probably will start haunting Bartertown and Ebay to gamble on old Elac's of unknown condition :-/

 

[beekeo]

Got my delivery from Falcon, drivers look great, caps look like what I expect (didn’t take an inventory)

The Audax connectors are affixed with hot glue, so you have to work quickly with the soldering iron or get crimp-on connectors (I think I saw this mentioned elsewhere).

BUT the original coles tweeter had a teeny magnet and a correspondingly teeny hole cut in the front baffle.

I have a set of hole saws, but I’m going to need to get one that is slightly larger.

 

[Nashou66]

^^^ there is a pair of coles on the bay right now for $50 each .

Nashou

 

[beekeo]

Wow ok got all of my drivers installed in the TLS-50s and a new set of speaker cables built so I can A/B them against the ADC 303AX’s that I have owned for awhile (and otherwise been pretty happy to own) with some CDs that I know really well and I have this big stupid grin on my face

Everything sounds full and lush and I’m really getting the “disappearing act” where I look at a speaker and my brain says “nope, not over there, the Civil Wars are standing right in front of you.”

AND I haven’t recapped the crossovers yet, so there’s no signal from the Coles (continuity at the wires soldered is good, so the problem is elsewhere)

AND the midranges are from Bose 901s, so that can be improved

AND the Kef drivers don’t match, one is dark plasticy, the other is more like paper — I’ll take photos when I have them out for the crossovers, the magnets and baskets are identical, maybe a recone?

I’m planning to fix all of the cosmetic issues with the cabinets, but for now I’ll just call it “patina”

also still running them on the HK 460i with its 30w per channel into 8ohm (can’t find a listing for 4ohm), I’ll likely shift them to the HK 870 with 100w per channel into 8 ohm (150 into 4)

 

[Nashou66]

Nice!!! Once you get them to close to original you'll really love them.

If the one woofer was re conned then it isn't coated with the black "plasticky" stuff you mention the other one looks like.
One of the experts here will let you know what to use to coat the cone.

Athanasios

 

[cpt_paranoia]

AND the Kef drivers don’t match, one is dark plasticy, the other is more like paper

The RH one doesn't look like the shiny Bextrene cone of the B200 of that era. Dust cap looks wrong, too. I suspect, like you, a re-cone.

 

[Nashou66]

The RH one doesn't look like the shiny Bextrene cone of the B200 of that era. Dust cap looks wrong, too. I suspect, like you, a re-cone.

Ahhh that's what the material was.....But I think the paper cone can be coated to make it more like the Bextrene cone, I think some have done that before.

Athanasios