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KEF 103/3 Subwoofer Shot? What Now?

K

Kefowner554

New Member
Hi, I own a pair of KEF 103/3 speakers. One of the woofers works fine, and the other has a bad voice coil rub. The bad woofer is quiet and distorted. I read some things in the forums about fixing a voice coil rub, but the issue is that in these b200 sp1217 woofers, the voice coil gap is tiny and hard to get at because of how they are built. I tried working on it, but I can't get the rub to go away. I have laid out 3 possible options from here:

1) Try to find an OEM replacement (None Available right now). There is one available on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/256339349631, but it does not have the original rubber surrounds and instead, they replaced them with different shaped foam ones. It also looked like they did a sloppy job on the dust covers.

2) Find an audio repair shop (repairs might not be possible and it would probably cost more than it is worth)

3) Try to find 2 good replacement woofers that fit in my KEF 103/3's.

I think the best option is 3, but I have no idea how to find a viable replacement if one even exists. Any comments or ideas would be appreciated.
 
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#3- Finding replacement woofers that closely perform as the original is a roll of the dice at best. I have faith in 'The Speaker Exchange' for matching voice coil properties with original spec. If you can not find a OEM you may consider speaking to these people 813-237-4800.
I have a few JBL woofers that I purchased kits for and though one of my pairs had rubbing issues, I chose to recone both to insure a matched pair. These pair I presently are reconing are 30 years old and rebuild only one I thought wouldn't result in a good match. My 2 cents!
 
Your KEF 103/3 are serious speakers that were expensive when new and deserve a correct repair. Option #3 should not be an option.
Why bastardize them with different woofers? The correct drivers show up often on that big auction site. One sold in June, seller says he has multiples.
All the components in that speaker were designed to work in unison. Get the correct part.

BTW…….Have you serviced your 30+ year old tweeters?
 
Well- many of those B200s from both 103/3s and 104/2s, did have foam surrounds originally. So, the replacement foam may not be incorrect.

Fortunately- other than the surrounds, these woofers are generally identical. You could get the one with the foam surround, and it should perform identically to what you have.

And, if you desire- you could remove the rubber surround from the damaged woofer you currently have, and use that to replace the foam surround on the new one, so that both have rubber surrounds...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
DOBIEGUY said:
Your KEF 103/3 are serious speakers that were expensive when new and deserve a correct repair. Option #3 should not be an option.
Why bastardize them with different woofers? The correct drivers show up often on that big auction site. One sold in June, seller says he has multiples.
All the components in that speaker were designed to work in unison. Get the correct part.

BTW…….Have you serviced your 30+ year old tweeters?
Click to expand...
Yes. I changed the ferrofluid in the tweeters. They sound great. Thanks for the advice. I’ll look out for an OEM woofer.
 
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