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KEF 104aB recap and restoration

leesonic

leesonic

Captured on security camera...
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UPDATE : I had one of the moderators (thanks Celt) change the title of this thread. It used to be something like "Finally got myself a pair of 104aBs". Since I'm now restoring them, and this thread has a bunch of pictures already, it made more sense to just add to this thread, rather than start a new one.

Well, I finally got myself a pair of KEF 104aBs, a speaker I have been after for a long while. To cut a long story short, they were on eBay for local pickup only in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I asked around on a car mailing list I am on, several people responded, and someone was able to pick them up, pack them, and ship them to me.

They are in really nice shape. All the drivers are present, correct and working, and in good cosmetic condition. One of the bass radiators has a few little dings in it, but nothing that affects the sound. The cabinets are nice, when I get some time, I will remove all the drivers, and give them a rub down and sanding like I did with my Advent and Bose speakers.

I connected them up as soon as I unpacked them, and they sound great!

Lee.

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Nice looking speakers there!, looks like they would put out some great sound, congrats! :thmbsp:
 
These were always on my short list to get, if I see a pair locally I will snap them up.

The AB's are the preferred model because of crossover enhancements.

Nice find, when you get tired of them sent them to me.:D
 
Another great Karmic story! Cool how you got someone from a "Car forum" to help you out! Love it! And love da KEF's! Those 104's look to be in awesome shape! Again, nice find! :thmbsp:
 
I just cannot say enough about my aB's! Have had them for nearly a year now, and they have earned a life sentence with me.

Came to me w/o the foam grilles (likely dust anyway), so I made me some cloth ones, got correct badges, and lovin' every inch of 'em as well.

Enjoy your romance

Tyler
 
Outstanding speakers! I am using the same drivers in my Tri-Amp set up and the sound is nothing short of spectacular. Very dynamic, chrystal clear, just everything one would want in high quality sound. While time has marched on and better components have been made, suposidly, my ears are locked square to to the great sound these produce.

You are indeed fortunate to have a pair, you will find that they do grown on you anmd make you want to explore your music collection to great depths!

Take care and do offer us a review if you can. I want to make sure another owner is hearing the same excellence I am hearing...
DC
 
Some of the drivers made in that era were very well constructed to stand the test of time.
 
I finally got around to doing some restoration work on these speakers. This sudden bump in activity is also due to that fact I just got another pair of these, and thought about running them stacked. I'm ashamed to say they haven't seen much action since I started this thread three years ago, partly due to the fact they don't have any grillls, and I didn't want my little monster to push in the domes on the valuable T27s and B200s (big magnet versions). She's good with speakers with the grills on, but I don't want to chance little prying fingers doing some rearrangement of the drivers. I'm going to make some grills so I can start using them on a daily basis, but they needed some TLC first.

The cabinets are in good condition, but tapping on the back edges, you can hear how the glue joints have dried out. I managed to open them up with some small flat head screwdrivers and squirt some glue in there with a syringe. Once this was dry, I turned to the inside and glued in some strips of 1/4 round molding. The pictures below show the molding gluing in place.

One thing with these speakers is the cabinet walls were lined with these bitumen sheets, stapled in place to cut down on resonances. Over the years, I guess the heat has taken it's toll, and not one of these sheets was in full contact with the walls of the enlcosure. The top piece had fallen away completely, and was resting on the foam damping that lines these speakers. I removed all of this in order to strengthen the cabinets, I'm just wondering now what to replace it with? I thought about some Dynamat. Anyone else replaced theirs?

Lee.

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I did some more work on these KEFs yesterday. I replaced the stock terminal plates with some I bought from Parts Express years ago, they have been sitting in a box for all that time, I knew they would come in useful some day.

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Here are the T27 tweeters and B200 woofers...

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You gotta love those big magnet B200 SP1039 woofers. They were only used in the models with the passive radiator like the 104 and 104aB, I think they might have used them in one another model as well. They had a special big magnet, short coil and long gap motor assembly, presumably to give them more extension.

All back together, and I have them set up in my front room. I didn't even attempt to tidy up my daughters toys and stuff all over the place to take the pictures.

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Lee.
 
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Nice job on your restoration. I would just glue the bitumen panels back where they were, they add mass and damping to the panel they are affixed to. Dynamat or similar could also work but at more cost. Wasn't there an acoustic foam lining also?
 
mech986 said:
Nice job on your restoration. I would just glue the bitumen panels back where they were, they add mass and damping to the panel they are affixed to. Dynamat or similar could also work but at more cost. Wasn't there an acoustic foam lining also?
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Yes, I put the acoustic foam lining back in. The bitumen panels had warped so badly, they were hardly in contact with the panels, and therefore not providing much damping. When I tried removing it, it broke up into pieces. :( I am still investigating the Dynamat option, but that stuff is expensive. Eastwood sell their own brand which is about half the price, but still expensive as you have to buy a whole pack of nine sheets.

Lee.
 
Lee, you might consider a WTB/WTT in BT, someone might have some leftover or whole damping that they don't need. Technically, you could make your own out of roofing felt but you'd have to glue some together and the appropriate glues holding a 1/4"-1/2" thick panel or to the cabinet have solvent that would be liberated inside the cabinet unless cured for some time outside - could cause problems for woofer driver (ABS like bextrene plastic cone and rubber surround). I'm familiar with this stuff since I ordered a bunch from England back in the 70's when I built a DIY English design, and some DIY LS3/5a's.

Do you recall how thick the stuff was/is that you took out?

If a modern domestic option doesn't present itself (like Dynamat or similar), you could inquire at Falcon Acoustics in England who used to supply this material. Cost and shipping internationally may be a problem. https://www.falconacoustics.co.uk/

Here is some info from competitor Wilmslow Audio, another DIY outlet in England, they have dedshete, a similar material, in 2 and 3.5mm thickness, not cheap either per sheet.
http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk/dedshete-panel-standard-285-p.asp
http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk/dedshete-panel-heavy-duty-286-p.asp

Or check Madisound, Parts Express, or similar Domestic DIY speaker supplier, even Ebay.
 
I did up a pair given to me by AK'er Gruvin. Eerily natural close monitoring speakers. Keep the tweeter at ear height for best effect.
I did the crossover upgrade with a kit from Falcon Acoustics. What the crossover cap replacement kit gives you is smoothness between drivers. It returns the center point and slopes to their factory settings.
I gave them to a lifelong friend.
 
On the bass drivers, I'm not sure if there's more than on SP designation.
I know that at one time I had a pair of B200s in a Fried (Bud Fried of IMF and then Fried) model H transmission line subwoofer. It was the most inert, impractical, space hogging, lovely sounding stereo subwoofer one could ever enjoy. I had to use a Crown VFX2A active crossover and separate power amp to pull it off.
 
Hey all, sorry to bump a preeeetty old thread here, but I'm looking to refinish the cabinets of these same speakers. No crossovers or anything, just a nice aesthetic improvement (I love the sound already). Mine are the identical finish of the OP's. I've never done work to speaker cabs before, so hoping for some guidance. I think I want to try staining these a nice darker color? I believe these are veneered, so I'm not sure the best approach since it's not eing applied to wood directly. Any advice on what my options may be would be really appreciated!

http://www.kef.com/html/en/explore/about_kef/museum/1970s/Reference_Series_104/index.html
 
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