SpeakerTalk

[T.O. Chef]

Hello all.
Has anyone had any experience with updating the crossovers or modifying the cabinetry of these towers?

I'm essentially a "Kef Man", with a small collection now of Corelli's with (mismatched woofers, please help if you can), 104aB's (my main speakers for over 25 years), Calinda's, and Ref 101's. I've also have, or have owned some IMF TL50 mkII's, small JBL nearfields, ditton 44's, ditton 33 series 2, kef 104/2's, 103/3's, and some others best forgotten.

But, I have been enjoying a pair of these early version Celestion 66 wonders for the last 6 months or so and find them very engaging. Seductive bass! Not Kef's ... different indeed, but there's something in them that cries for the volume pot to go clockwise, and they respond very well to you following the order! They are effortless with any genre and convincing at low volumes too.

Now, I have replaced all the capacitors on some Kef Calinda's with Solen polypropylene and am totally amazed with them! I have redone some 104aB's with the same treatment with good but less stunning results. I'm considering redoing at least the cap's in the dittons, and wondering about building from the ground up all new boards with air core inductors and poly-cap's using the spec'd values.

The kef's are run usually with a newer NAD C 352 integrated amp, or a vintage Luxman but they periodically make their way upstairs to the main system where the ditttons currently reside connected to an Aragon 4004 mkII.

My questions are:

1. Are changing the original cap's in the celestions going to seriously "alter" the tonal characteristics if I use Solens? Would a different make of cap be recommended?
2. Is my idea of building new C.O.'s with air cores at the original value's going to make for me "something other than" Ditton 66's? As in a new animal.
3. I note that the cabinets of the dittons are not particularly "beefy". There's no interior linings, not a lot of bracing, and a knuckle rap yields a surprisingly hollow sound. On semi loud passages you can feel (almost see) the cabinets vibrate. Would it be recommended to strengthen these up, or is the flimsiness part of the "magic"?

I really welcome any and all thoughts on this.

Robert

[tancrède]

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Hi

I'm not a specialist of Celestion. In my mind, you sould just replace the caps of crossovers and braze a bit or enough the boxes.

Tancrède