Goodmans One Ten Amplifier and Kef Cadenza Speakers

[Stormtooth]

Hi all, this is my first time using this forum so I apologise if this posted in the wrong area or is formatted badly or I leave things out.

I have just come into possession of a Goodmans One Ten Stereo Radio - Amplifier and a pair of Kef Cadenza speakers.

I must admit a complete lack of knowledge when it comes to anything audio related, as this is my first pair of speakers and amplifier I have ever owned! (I dont think the small bookshelf cd player/speaker combo I had as a child really counts!)

I was mainly wondering if there is anything to look out for in regards to the Goodman as I have yet to test it other than plugging it in, to which it lights up. I was also wondering if there are any known good ways to replace the deteriated speaker foam as the Kefs bottom speakers have completely disintergrated.

I have attached some photos of the Amp and speakers, as well as the afformentioned foam, or lack there of I should say

Any and all information and help is greatly appreciated, and if this has been posted in the wrong area I will aim to fix that.

[chriswood1900]

Welcome to the forum.
There have been quite a few posts on the Goodmans 110 just use the search function at the top, you could start here https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=46056
With regard to your speakers they look like KEF B139 which have the foam rot, they are available new from Falcon at a price or second hand from a well know auction site, I don't think there are any replacement surrounds for this model, hopefully someone may know a source.
I had a 110 for many years and was very happy with it.

[stevehertz]

The Goodmans One Ten is a good receiver, I have restored and own a few of them. The first fault they often display is the mains filter that either blows up when you switch on, or it already has done. Either way, it's no real problem. Other than that, at this point in time I would clean the switches and pots with switch cleaner. If you don't have any switch cleaner then rapid operation of them may well help to cure any corrosion issues, but ultimately you're going to need that switch cleaner. The main 'issue' is how adept are you at working on electronic equipment? If not just remember that there are potentially lethal voltages within that set.

[paulsherwin]

KEF Cadenzas are very good speakers, but that woofer must be the roughest I've ever seen. I think you're going to have to fit replacements, which won't be cheap.

[Radio Wrangler]

That looks like the B139 shape of driver, and the expanded polystyrene cone is right, too. But all the B139s I've seen have had synthetic rubber surrounds which don't rot. I've never seen one with a foam surround. Maybe its a very early one?

Falcon have recently started producing B139 replacements and have gone so far as involving their original designer! but when I looked the price was around £200 each. They are a fabulous driver and really are worth the price, which is likely fair given the manufacturing effort needed and the turnover.

Even if replacement surrounds are available for that version, the polystyrene foam cone will defeat attempts to shim the voice coil to keep it central while the glue sets, and so this will have to be done from the back with the magnet disassembled, then the magnet assembly will need an alignment jig. This means re-foaming is not within the DIY range of activities and is likely to be expensive if someone has the jigs. Given the rarity of foam surround on B139s there may not be enough interest to make jigs. You might be forced into the expensive ones from Falcon, or into lookig for other speakers.

My main speakers use B139s. They're 48 years old and still going well.

David

[paulsherwin]

Although Cadenzas are good speakers, they're not that good, and I fear these may be BER, especially as the crossovers will also probably need work. One solution which will horrify the purists is to downgrade them with different, much cheaper woofers. This will obviously change the sound, but they should still sound pretty decent and it's better than just chucking them in a skip.

[mark_in_manc]

Second-hand B139 units seem to sell for about £20 - £30 each on the usual auction websites. But (Stormtooth) watch out - this shape was also used for an unusual thing called an 'auxiliary bass radiator' which has no magnet or voice coil. Don't buy one of those, it won't do what you need it to!

If you buy one second hand, ask the seller to try it with music, and also to carefully depress it by hand and confirm it does not 'rub' (the coil does not touch the magnet pole-plate as it moves in and out). Then if it comes and this is not true, you can ask for your money back.

EDIT: I am wrong!

It seems the Cadenza uses the auxiliary bass radiator as a Helmholtz 'vent' made of 'stuff', not made of air.

So OP - look up KEF SP1042 on ebay and you'll be able to buy what you need. These are later ones with a rubber rather than a foam suspension. I imagine the tuning of the enclosure will be close enought o be ok,

[Stormtooth]

Thank you all for the replies and the info and help, it is all really appreciated. I will look into getting replacements for the speakers. and at somepoint soon I will look into having a better look at the amp and what it might need doing to it if anything i needed.

[Edward Huggins]

Given some potential costs and headaches with the KEFs, if you find the Goodmans is working well, then for around £60-80 you will find some excellent 1970s/80s UK made speakers to partner it. Look for high sensitivity reflex type to better suit the amplifier.

[david freeman]

A properly functioning Goodmans 110 will be a very good performer. It was revisited in the December issue of HiFi News’ vintage equipment, and for a 50 year old design, given a great review. In particular, its FM performance was found to be extremely good by any standards.
Well worth sorting out, in my opinion.

[Cornwalltone]

I think that's an auxiliary bass radiator BD139 in the Kef Cadenza.

[Ted Kendall]

The Cadenza does indeed use a passive radiator, BD139, rather than a B139 driver.

[Radio Wrangler]

In that case, shimming should be possible if replacement foam can be obtained. I wonder if foam was chosen to get a different compliance to the rubber surround to tune the ABR's resonance?

The Cadenza, 1970-1976 certainly overlaps with the rubber surround in the B139, and with the larger Concerto with its B110 and a powered B139. Does anyone know if the Cadenza switched from foam to rubber somewhere along its production life? I'm wondering if there was a design reason for the choice or if the choice was one of availability.

I never took any serious interest in the Cadenza, I guess it just seemed wasteful to have so much of the B139 present and not to have a magnet and coil on it.

With B139s not being easy to replace surrounds on, and with BD139s being much rarer, it looks like finding replacement foam pieces could be difficult. You'd also need to be careful with adhesive choice because of the polystyrene.

Maybe tooling could be 3-D printed to press foam surrounds out of a flat sheet of foam as the originals probably were. Not much pressure or heat would be needed. There could be a DIY way out of the quandery.

David

[Jez1234]

Basically a lower spec version of the Reference Series model 104.
Indeed the foam would have been used to achieve a lower resonance frequency with reduced hysteresis. I've seen hundreds of B139's but don't recall seeing any with foam surround. I wonder if it was a very short lived version.

[stevehertz]

Ask Kef. OK, I realise that they're almost certainly not going to be able to provide you with replacement surrounds (you never know!), but there must be someone there who has knowledge of past products and is able to comment. It's free and it will only cost a day or so of your time. Link below.

https://uk.kef.com/pages/contact-us?...4aArHxEALw_wcB

[Ted Kendall]

I think Falcon Acoustics retain one of the original KEF engineers from that era - could be worth a try.