SpeakerTalk

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

First post from a not too technically enlightened hi-fi enthusiast....

Hi all, great site!

My precious KEF Calindas, (originally bought in 1976 from ATLabs, Enfield) have been stored in a dry garage for the last c.25 years and I've recently got them out, blown away the cobwebs and wired them up to a basic SC EH600 Technics Stack System and they still sound great! The system cuts out after few minutes of full blast though!

I've just bought a Denon AVR 1800 Receiver on Ebay and would like to hear your more learned opinions on the pairing of this amp and the Calindas.

Also, is there anything nasty that must of happened or will deffo need doing to my Calindas after so long in storage and due to their age. I've read about rotating the drivers, that's about all!! (Cabinet restoration is intended, advice will be sought on here later on)

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Richie · Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:32 pm Post subject:

I cant really help with the Calindas other than they will probably need re-capping but others, more knowledgeable than me will be along to tell you all you need to know .... but welcome to the forum Walter Smile

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Still learning ......

SaSi · Senior Contributor 200+ Joined: 24 Aug 2008 Posts: 256

I got myself a pair of Calindas second hand. The drivers themselves didn't need any attention but the capacitors in the tweeter section of the crossover were way off and required replacing. They caused dull highs on one set and no highs on the other.

I would recommend a full recap - all the capacitors are of the same grade and era.

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

Have ordered these Crossovers from Falcon Acoustics, c.£22.00 inc P&P

Gary · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:06 am Post subject:

Wow. I had no idea they'd actually sell a complete set!

I'm going to upgrade mine, too - even though they sound just fine, I don't mind them sounding better! Cool

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Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charles M. Schulz (as Charlie Brown)

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

Gary · Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 10:17 am Post subject:

Thanks for the clarification. I also have a soldering iron somewhere but the best tip I ever got was to wear long pants when soldering. Just thought I'd pass this "tip" on.

Laughing

_________________
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charles M. Schulz (as Charlie Brown)

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

Got the replacement Crossover Set from Falcon, all ok but caps only though.

Opened the speaker and one cap had blown to pieces.

Replaced all the Caps and now sounds great but still no top end, I think my T27's are shot to pieces so am now looking out for replacements.

Got the Denon AVR 1800 Receiver today and wired it up and obviously it is a marked improvement on the Technics stack job. Bass is far tighter and better mid range.

So far, so good, and for small £ackers.

speakerguru · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:25 am Post subject:

Don't run your system with open circuit tweeters if you can avoid it. The tweeter part of the crossover when unterminated is a series tuned circuit across your amplifier output. If you hit that resonance frequency the resulting load resistance is very low and will draw a lot of current.

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

The very knowledgeable and helpful guy at Falcon Electronics reckons that the "Morel CAT 298 Tweeter KEF T27 Replacement" is the best c.£30/£40 replacement for the KEF T27.

I trust him, but your thoughts please.

He said he would throw in the L plan resistors for free too! Nice! Laughing

Walter Wallpaper · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 30 Dec 2012 Posts: 18

Update on progress so far -

Re-Capped the Calinda's crossovers.

Replaced shot T27's with Vifa tweeters (got 'em dirt cheap).

Replaced the speaker leads with something half decent, banana plug'd their amp end and hard-wired them to the Calinda's crossover.

Hard-wired the Vifa tweeters and the B200's with half decent cable.

Paired the Calinda's with some hard-wired KEF Celestes III's which boost the mid-range at lower end volumes.

Result - IMO - The Mutz Nutz. I'm playing tracks I know inside-out and the difference is amazing! Overall sharper sound, tighter bass, brighter treble and I can hear detail I've never heard before!!!

I'm one really happy Bunny, a lot of these improvements stem from reading this site's threads, TYVM.

TL 200 · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:09 am Post subject:

Congratulations, have a lot fun with them.
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Without music, life would be a mistake.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche,
The Twilight of the Idols, 1889