SpeakerTalk

[audiolabtower]

http://www.falconacoustics.co.uk/drive-units-1/falcon-b110-t27-drive-unit.html

However these are the LS3/5a B110s (SP1003), not the rather better high power later versions used in the Reference series with the superior pvc surrounds (SP1057).

[willem-57]

That's great, looks as an original Kef
Let's hope they gonna make more of this, also B110 SP1057, T33 SP1076, the B200 serie's and off course the B139B. But i think that is out of the question, or....

[audiolabtower]

Well, we can dream....

Falcon was started by Malcolm Jones who was the first employee when Kef was first started by Raymond Cooke. He is said to have designed the original B110, but then left to start his own business - Falcon Acoustics - which he ran for many, many years before retiring quite recently and selling the business to new owners, who are luckily continuing in the same tradition. They have persuaded him to contribute to the new B110/T27 with his unrivalled experience.

It is entirely due to worldwide interest still in the LS3/5a which has gained a reputation beyond the rather better BBC monitors of the day among general audiophiles, probably because of the nostalgia of finding the first tiny box ever to project such a lifelike image at the time.

Sadly the market for other Kef bextrene drivers is not going to be anywhere near as large, nor as willing to pay the prices for such small production runs it would entail. And with modern speakers from Harbeth, Spendor and Stirling I doubt it is really necessary anymore...

[speakerguru]

I don't think we'll ever see a B110 SP1057 replacement from Falcon, or anyone else, because I know from first hand experience how difficult it was for KEF Electronics Ltd. to get hold of the rolls of non-standard Velbex, in the 70s and 80s, to the required material and thickess specifications and in reasonable quantities. I also remember how difficult it was to vacuum-form into woofer surrounds and dustcaps, all the rejects and all the wasted inner and outer material...

[audiolabtower]

Fascinating. Is Velbex the type of pvc used then? I seem to remember the drift problem with 1003 was the neoprene surround, so this was changed to a more stable pvc in the 1057 when the power handling was increased significantly. Was the dust cap was the same material as the surround, I never knew that?

It would be interesting to know what they are using in the Falcon 1003. Logically I would go for the C version with the simpler crossover matching, but that would not be a drop in for the 1003.

[speakerguru]

Velbex was the trade name of a plasticised pvc. The main use for Velbex was to make shower curtains and plastic pants to go over the old style terry cloth nappies. Those used thin sheet material. The variety KEF used for surrounds and dustcaps was much thicker and particularly heavily over-plasticised.

SP1003 used an off the shelf rubber surround and cloth dustcap, both made by Kurt Muller GmbH. They probably still make them and that's most likely what the Falcon unit uses.

SP1003 and SP1057 have different sensitivities and surround dip response, therefore needing different xover equalization.

[audiolabtower]

Very interesting, thanks