SpeakerTalk

g8xlh · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 13

Hi All,

I have been a fan of KEF speakers for many years and currently have Chorale's and Cresta's in hifi systems around the house.

If goes according to plan after the weekend I should be the proud owner of two pairs of speakers. The first is a pair of Q80's which I believe to be fully working, and the other pair is 103/4 which I understand has dead tweeters and foam rot on the internal B160 surrounds (Not sure about doughnuts).

Can you offer any advice as to suitable restoration. I understand both speakers use the NT25 tweeter, and are pretty rare. If I decide the 103 are the keepers, Would I be able to use the Q80 as tweeter donors and get a refoam kit for the 103 inner bass units.

I see there are two main suppliers of re-foam kits from the USA and Netherlands, are there any preferences ?

Rather than swap just the tweeters can the complete uni-Q units be exchanged from the Q80 to 103 ? (until I see both sets of speakers I am not sure of the Uni-Q sizes.

Regarding the NT25 tweeters, I have replaced some tweeters in the past on the Uni-Q speakers for a friend, and it was just a matter to extract the tweeter from the front of the speaker chassis by removing the large "nut" from the rear of the magnet. Will this be the same on the 103/Q80 ?

I currently use Rega RS5 in my current system, but would like to give the larger KEF's a try. I have tried the IQ50's and Q300 recently but did not "float my boat" plus I had reliability issues, so they were repaired under warranty and then sold on.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

Alan

audiolabtower · VIP Contributor 500+ Joined: 06 Jan 2009 Posts: 686

The tweeters should be interchangeable. The B160s should fit but unfortunately the Q80 was an 8 ohm system and the 103/4 a 4 ohm, so I don't think a straight swap is on the cards. The bass response should be around the same so if the parts were available I would restore the reference myself.

jagster · Junior Contributor 10+ Joined: 11 Feb 2014 Posts: 12

That depends entirely upon the size of your purse, and how much money you can allow to indulge your hobby. I have restored dozens of speakers and get a lot of satisfaction in doing so. Of course, I have become quite 'picky', and will only restore highly regarded brands. As to KEF's, right now, most any model appeals, if only I could come across more of them locally. Thus far, only my 103-3's have appeared, sans Kube and power supply. Without the add-ons, they sound a bit 'thin', but punching the loudness button wakes them up. (please, no cringing!), I know better.