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Refurbishing 30 year old speakers

Looking for advice on refurbishing speakers. I have owned a pair of KEF R107's since new. They are still some of the best sounding KEF speakers ever made IMO, but after 30 years they most likely could use some refurbishing. I'm not hearing any obvious deterioration of sound, but over time, I might just not be noticing the degradation. I would re-foam woofer surrounds, change ferro fluid in the tweeter, upgrade the crossovers, and possibly upgrade wiring. I'm Interested in anyone's experience and results with doing this. Did the refurbished speakers sound better than original, or even sound different? Of course the other option is to go speaker shopping and buy a modern speaker, but I have grown accustomed to the vintage KEF sound.....My only real beef with these speakers is the use of the outboard equalizer device called the KUBE which runs in the processor loop of the pre-amp. Never been real fond of having an active device like this in the system but admittedly the results still sound amazing. Thanks for your thoughts. 
dmiller01
rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
Dear @dmiller01 :  ""   Did the refurbished speakers sound better than original, or even sound different? ""

My first hand experiences are that the speakers quality performance levls goes higher for the better not different at all.

I did it with my vintage ADS L2030 where I changed the internal fiber-glass damping foam ( the L2030 has a true bix box. ) by long-hair virgin wool, I rewired internally with all silver KCAG KK, I take out of the speaker the crossover and this crossover is totally hard wired from the drivers internal wiring all over the amps outputs.

Over the years I made and test several different caps, inductors and resistors going from boutique caps as Duelund, Jupiter, V-caps and the like and finished with the best  ( really the best, no matters what. ) caps that in my case are Wima FKP-1 along Kemet caps, Vishay resistor and pure silver ribbon inductors..

Outstanding changes success.

So, go ahead.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
I once cleaned up and then soldered the heavily pitted driver tags on a pair of 1970s Celestion Ditton 44s for a friend who had kept them in storage for too long.

We both felt that the sound was noticeably better afterwards. Cleaner, more dynamic, with a faster bass. Just more 'modern' sounding.

On the other hand I also felt that some of that warm vintage sound character (coloration?) had been lost in exchange for the extra clarity.

Unless you have a very good memory it will be difficult to do a before and after comparison - unless maybe you do one speaker at a time.
elliottbnewcombjr
5,772 posts
 
Cones as well as surrounds need to be evaluated. Not sure what your's are made of.

I just re-coned one of my 15" woofers made in 1958 for the 3rd time since I got them in 1973. The one nearest the heater vent dried out, very small cracks ready to get bigger. It's twin brother on other side of the room was like new. They are again a mighty duo.

The impregnated domes of the horn's drivers can last forever, amazing.
jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
https://www.simplyspeakers.com/KEF_bymfg_63-0-1.html

a go to source... not sure if they have parts for your specific vintage kef...
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
The sound you like is largely down to the pleasing colorations of the cabinet and cones. New surrounds will not affect that much, if at all. If all you do is replace crossover components with somewhat better quality parts this won't change the sound you like very much other than to make it a little smoother and more detailed. You might actually want to be careful with caps as the really good ones can be so liquid it might actually take away some of the grain that is probably part of that vintage sound that you like. 


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