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Kef 103.2 blown driver?

TellMeWhy

TellMeWhy

Active Member
Hi all, recently purchased a pair of these in good condition. Yesterday had a couple of protection drop outs on one channel while playing quiet music. Now the bass cone is rubbing / scratching which is audible at low levels. The other speaker is free to move in and out with no scratching. Please don't tell me this means dead driver or re-cone is necessary? Any advice gratefully appreciated- I am losing heart with various unreliable vintage gear!! Cheers, Jon
 
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Try turning the speaker, a lot of those old kef drivers suffer from sag over time...many actually had to go back near new....you might get lucky though if its bad enough to kick the amp into protection at low volumes you might be in trouble
 
if that doesn't cure the problem..
swap speaker cables left to right to ensure its not the amp.
take drivers out and swap between cabinets to ensure its not a crossover problem or connection problem somewhere in the cabinet.
if its still not right, your cheapest option is probably sourcing another driver..
They can be re aligned, and thats probably all it needs, though the dust cap needs to come off and they need to be centered correctly, which can leave you with a miss matched look as the repaired driver wont look the same
 
Jon_Bawn said:
Thanks a lot. So I've tried rotating the driver. If that doesn't cure it is replacement the only option?
Click to expand...

Hi Jon, another option/possibility is that one of the capacitors in the crossover has leaked and started eating away at the board...I have a pair of Kef 103.2's and it happened to one speaker maybe 2 years ago...took it to a speaker tech and he repaired the board and replaced a few caps. Now, it's happened in the other speaker. I should have just done a complete re-cap 2 years ago, but I was being cheap at the time. I plan on doing a complete re-cap soon. There is a thread on here listing which caps/parts to buy...I think the total was around $50 to do both speakers.

The "symptoms" my speakers had/have are the same as what you describe...sort of a buzz/distortion...as if something is wrong with the woofer/driver...but at least with mine, the problem is solely in the crossover. Unfortunately that means the speakers will be down for awhile, while you do the re-cap...but it's a fairly cheap/easy fix if you can solder...if not, find a reliable tech...still shouldn't be that costly, maybe $100?

Don't lose hope, these speakers are worth repairing! How much would it cost to buy a new speaker that sounds as good? Definitely more than $100! (IMO, it would cost more like $1,000!)
 
Hawkeye83 said:
Hi Jon, another option/possibility is that one of the capacitors in the crossover has leaked and started eating away at the board...I have a pair of Kef 103.2's and it happened to one speaker maybe 2 years ago...took it to a speaker tech and he repaired the board and replaced a few caps. Now, it's happened in the other speaker. I should have just done a complete re-cap 2 years ago, but I was being cheap at the time. I plan on doing a complete re-cap soon. There is a thread on here listing which caps/parts to buy...I think the total was around $50 to do both speakers.

The "symptoms" my speakers had/have are the same as what you describe...sort of a buzz/distortion...as if something is wrong with the woofer/driver...but at least with mine, the problem is solely in the crossover. Unfortunately that means the speakers will be down for awhile, while you do the re-cap...but it's a fairly cheap/easy fix if you can solder...if not, find a reliable tech...still shouldn't be that costly, maybe $100?

Don't lose hope, these speakers are worth repairing! How much would it cost to buy a new speaker that sounds as good? Definitely more than $100! (IMO, it would cost more like $1,000!)
Click to expand...
Hey Hawkeye thanks for your reply. Turning one driver around has improved the situation quite a lot already, but I am tempted to recap them anyhow. With a good, serviced, recapped Marantz 2230 they sound good, but not brilliant. So, I looked for the thread with a list of caps, but couldn't find it. Also tried getting in touch with Falcon Acoustics but also no success. If I use the same Alcap in same values it should be OK, right? Just replace the electrolytics?
 
Look up Kef 103.2 woofer sag. It is a known issue with time, the weight of the cone distorts the surround and spider. Can be fixed by re centering and regluing. My local pro speaker guy has fixed a couple of Bexetrene Kef drivers for me. He has also fixed leaky caps in a 103.2 protection circuit but that results in no output. Rubbing sounds are a result of sag which is almost certainly what you have.
 
Raynald is certainly very knowledgeable about Kef, listen to that man!

With that said, I have had leaky caps result in a "rubbing" sound...must have eaten away at the traces in the board just enough to cause a weak signal? I'm no electrical engineer...I just know that my audio repair guy found a leaking cap, fixed the trace, put new caps in...and the problem went away...unless he unknowingly also rotated the woofer when he re-installed it and that was actually the fix! Although I tried that already and it didn't work for me...

Either way, I'm going to try rotating the woofer in my other speaker now, before I go ahead with the re-cap!
 
Hawkeye83 said:
Raynald is certainly very knowledgeable about Kef, listen to that man!

With that said, I have had leaky caps result in a "rubbing" sound...must have eaten away at the traces in the board just enough to cause a weak signal? I'm no electrical engineer...I just know that my audio repair guy found a leaking cap, fixed the trace, put new caps in...and the problem went away...unless he unknowingly also rotated the woofer when he re-installed it and that was actually the fix! Although I tried that already and it didn't work for me...

Either way, I'm going to try rotating the woofer in my other speaker now, before I go ahead with the re-cap!
Click to expand...


Thanks for the kind words and sharing your experience, a bad cap could certainly cause some odd noises which is why I said it was "almost certainly" sag. You can never be 100% at a distance.

It might be easy to tell without going further. Gently pushing in the woofer will produce rubbing if off center. Also, if you hear the sound as it is playing and applying a slight pressure at 12 o'clock on the cone makes it go away your problem is a sagging and off centered cone.

Recapping is a good idea regardless. My speaker tech claims the caps that go off are badly under spec for their application. Maybe that explains why we hear about so many failures? As with most Kef Reference, getting them apart is a bit more involved due to their relatively complex construction compared to cheap speakers but the 103.2 are not so bad. 103.3, another story...
 
I had the same problem with rubbing woofers on my 103.2s last year. Sent them to Van L Speakerworks in Chicago, and within a couple weeks the woofers with their recentered spiders came back and have been trouble free for a year now. It wasn't outrageously expensive and I would do it again in a minute. Good luck with yours. I am real happy with mine.
 
+1 on Van L Speakerworks. I had the voice coil problem on my 103.2's fixed there several years ago and they've been fine ever since. I would think any good speaker shop could do the job, and also check them out for any other issues. Definitely worth it as they are GREAT speakers. As far as amps go, I would opt for something other than a Marantz 2230. It's a fine receiver but those speakers need power to make them sing. They are only 86db and recommended amplifier power for them is 30-150 wpc which puts the 2230 at the bottom of that range. I think you'll notice a big improvement in sound with something like a Marantz 2285. I've had good luck powering mine with vintage Yamaha and Sony amps/receivers that are 80-100 wpc. I would not use less than 50 wpc in a small room or less than 70 in a larger room. Just my opinion.
 
Raynald said:
Thanks for the kind words and sharing your experience, a bad cap could certainly cause some odd noises which is why I said it was "almost certainly" sag. You can never be 100% at a distance.

It might be easy to tell without going further. Gently pushing in the woofer will produce rubbing if off center. Also, if you hear the sound as it is playing and applying a slight pressure at 12 o'clock on the cone makes it go away your problem is a sagging and off centered cone.

Recapping is a good idea regardless. My speaker tech claims the caps that go off are badly under spec for their application. Maybe that explains why we hear about so many failures? As with most Kef Reference, getting them apart is a bit more involved due to their relatively complex construction compared to cheap speakers but the 103.2 are not so bad. 103.3, another story...
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone. I did what Raynald suggested and gently pushed the woofer and indeed that produces rub around 60% of the radius, the other 40% being fine. The other woofer is 100% good but this one certainly needs repairing. So seems that my problem is woofer sag. I am in Berlin, Germany and will look for a speaker repairer here. Thanks again!
 
montrecott said:
+1 on Van L Speakerworks. I had the voice coil problem on my 103.2's fixed there several years ago and they've been fine ever since. I would think any good speaker shop could do the job, and also check them out for any other issues. Definitely worth it as they are GREAT speakers. As far as amps go, I would opt for something other than a Marantz 2230. It's a fine receiver but those speakers need power to make them sing. They are only 86db and recommended amplifier power for them is 30-150 wpc which puts the 2230 at the bottom of that range. I think you'll notice a big improvement in sound with something like a Marantz 2285. I've had good luck powering mine with vintage Yamaha and Sony amps/receivers that are 80-100 wpc. I would not use less than 50 wpc in a small room or less than 70 in a larger room. Just my opinion.
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Thanks Montrecott. Actually I was aware of that but had the 2230 before hand and don't really want to sell it on... I even found that running the pre-amp out into a cheap 100w Samsun Servo 260 studio power amp resulted in a better sound, but then figured it was kind of sacrelige ;) I would love a higher power Marantz but just don't have the cash...
 
Montrecott is right on regarding your Marantz 2230. It will produce good sound, just not lots of it . I sometimes have my 103.2s driven by Marantz 1060, which i believe is the same as what you have without the tuner. It sounds fine in my small sunroom, but they sound much better when driven by my Sansui AU-9500, which outputs 80 wpc. Don't worry about it, just don't try to crank it up TOO much. Great speakers, great amp. Enjoy!
 
Woofer sag. Very common. If rotating doesn't work, gently peel away the rubber surround, align the cone and re-glue. Done it a dozen times.
 
Helps if you can shim the voice coil before you reglue to get good alignment too! Geez KEF's are the fussy ones alright. Between woofer sag, cap leakage, ferro-fluid drying out I can see why folks get dissapointed with them. BUY when they are working- they do sound really good! I have had no less that 4 sets in my shop over the last 2 months!
DC
 
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