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IMF owners thread!

Chevelosm, not original suppose to be EMI mids with plastic surround who is almost flat,and thé tweeters have been change for a more recent version
 
Mart Mccall said:
I just joined the IMF owners club. These pair of TLS Mk1 arrived this morning.
Sorry about the light in the photo, it is unusually sunny here today:



I've never heard any IMF before. First impressions: refined, polite, clean in the mids, impressive bass response. Effortless, but deep and tuneful too.
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Those look great! Your impression is spot on :thmbsp:
 
Mart, you should verify the tube behind the mid,by unscrewing the 4 inch mid speaker carefully, check if the tube is not separate from the baffle.This model during transport can provoque a crack between the tube and baffle.if it's the case just put some caulking on the crack to solidify the tube,resealing the tube from the transmission Line
 
I'm also new to the IMF owner's club having just graduated to these TLS 50 MkIIs from my trusty Wharfedales. Cabinets are absolutely beautiful and I was lucky to get the original stands with the purchase.

They tend to run a tad bright to my ear so maybe I'm just getting used to their sound. My bare wood floor and wall placement may not be doing them full justice either. The previous owner explained that the crossovers were recently recapped and that the Coles super tweeters are very recent replacements supplied by Falcon Acoustics so maybe they just need some running-in?

The mids are superb, very creamy, yet robust. The low end is very natural sounding.
 

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I believe the new production Coles are a bit different than the old production models - I would contact Jerry Bloomfield at Falcon and inquire what crossover modification needs to be made to allow them to integrate properly. I remember when I bought mine for my TLS 50 IIs he instructed me to make a change to the crossover (just a small one).

Also, there should be an attenuator by the speaker terminals - try turning that down and see if it helps. Could you post a picture of the front with the drivers? There's another thing to consider as well.
 
Thank you. Both attenuators are set at the central position so I'll try backing them down a degree at a time and see if that helps.

Unfortunately imageshack seems to be down at the moment so I'll just post these driver pics as attachments...not sure why they are being rotated after uploading.
 

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Oh there we go, that explains your brightness problem. You have the re-issue Audax tweeters, not the re-issue Coles. I can tell by the black dome for the tweeters (I bought them too). Some folks found them a bit on the bright side - my recommendation would be to speak with Jerry and find out what other customers of his have been recommended. I myself did find the new Audax tweeters to be brighter, but I preferred it that way. You might need to add a resistor in line with the tweeter to tone it down a little for your ears.
 
Yes nice speakers the TLS50's. Congrats on your purchase
The brightness is just an adjustment to the ears. You may find going back to certain other speakers after listening to the IMF's you may not like how they sound. Also I didn't think the TLS50's came with stands but only with floor plinths? Those stands are for the reference series (sm) as they are little wider. I made wheel trolleys for mine so i can carter them around.

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Doh. That's right. Now I remember the previous owner saying that they were Audax. I'll reach out to Jerry and see what he recommends.

I didn't realize the stands were for the reference series! They slot into these almost perfectly but now I see how the original ones should look. I wonder if the original stands turn up on *Bay now and then?

Oh well. I'm extremely happy with these after only a few days of cohabitation. Ha. Just some little niggles aside about the treble character.

Thank you all!
 
ongaku said:
Doh. That's right. Now I remember the previous owner saying that they were Audax. I'll reach out to Jerry and see what he recommends.

I didn't realize the stands were for the reference series! The plinth slots into these almost perfectly but now I see how the original ones should look. I wonder if the original stands turn up on *Bay now and then?

Oh well. I'm extremely happy with these after only a few days of cohabitation. Ha. Just some little niggles aside about the treble character.

Thank you all!
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You're not the only one that found that when installing the new Audax tweeters in the TLS 50 II. The others who found them bright added a resistor and it fixed the problem for them, so I imagine that's all you need.

The TLS 50 II didn't come with stands, actually. Only the TLS 50 IIa and Studio (the later model from the 80s, not the original Studio TLS) did. They would be rarer than hens teeth so a set could turn up but highly doubtful. I'd say just stick with what you've got there.
 
Yvan_donald said:
Mart, you should verify the tube behind the mid,by unscrewing the 4 inch mid speaker carefully, check if the tube is not separate from the baffle.This model during transport can provoque a crack between the tube and baffle.if it's the case just put some caulking on the crack to solidify the tube,resealing the tube from the transmission Line
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Thanks for the advice - the previous owner had overhauled them by fitting new tweeters and replacing the non-standard mids with the correct EMI units so they are pretty much 'as new' condition throughout.

They are one of the best speakers I have ever heard, and not that far off a £10K pair of JBLs I heard demonstrated at a show recently.
 
Question regarding the IMF TLS50, both Mk. I and Mk. II, and maybe any other B200 containing IMF speaker (not using IMF/ELAC driver of similar appearance:

Yvan_donald said:
Hi,owning a pair of these,the original woofers are KEF B200 .SP-1014,if you need any of the original parts you can contact me,even the original fabric I really think I have tear piece from prof.MKIII should be big enough.Just to say, Yvan.
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Radfordman said:
That's lucky, the B200 SP1014 is probably the easiest Bextreene coned B200 to find.
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Now I'm not so sure of whether this information is correct. I just looked at my two pairs of TLS50 Mk II's - unfortunately one pair had the original woofers blown and they were replaced with Fried sourced Carboneau drivers (original owner was a Fried distributor and confidant of I. Fried), while the other pair has KEF B200 SP1039 woofers, with handwritten labels added that read 10/77, and the mounting bolts/washers and frame have slight rust oxidation which suggest they have not been opened for a long time, if ever. However, this pair was bought from the original owner's son whose father was a tinkerer in Electronics while working for Hewlett-Packard way back when.

Not sure if the original TLS50 Mk I version used the SP1014, and if the later Mk. II version may have sourced the SP1039, or the SP1039 is a useful upgrade (higher power handling, larger magnet = better BL magnetic product, and possibly better bass control and response). The SP1039 was specified for the KEF 104/104ab and 103.

Can thread readers check their TLS50 versions to see what model KEF B200 they had, and report back here and in the IMF owners thread? Give us the model of TLS50 and the model of KEF B200 that is installed and whether it looks like its original. Same for any other B200 type IMF use like the original Studio, etc. I'm going to cross post this to the IMF owners thread too.
 
Hi,I'm no expert in X-over,but I don't thing we can substitute for a SP-1039 the original SP-1014 without modify the X-over,don't we?
 
The TLS 50 IIs that I had used the Kef B200 SP1022. I have also seen them use the SP1039.

The SP1014 was used in the bookshelf models, i.e. the Super Compact.
 
Hi,But on the MK I serie the SP-1014 was use on almost all 8" speakers,the MK II serie is another story.Do you agree?
 
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