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Kef 104/2 question

A

Astryxxx

New Member
I've found a pair of KEF 104/2s for sale locally and I've got the guy down to $350 for the pair. I read up on here and kmow they're great speakers but there's a lot that can go bad on them in time. Just wondering what you guys think about these speakers in terms of condition. Also, anything I should look out for when I'm looking at them? Lastly, is $350 a good price for what I'm getting?

Thanks,
Ian
 

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If cosmetically clean, $350 is a great price.

As you may have gathered from AK threads, things to look out for:

1) Rotted out foam donuts around steel rods between woofers. The second pictures seems to show at least one is in good shape, a nice start.

2) Rotted out woofer surrounds. Some were rubber, you may catch a break there.

3) Dried out ferrofluid in the tweeters which kills their output. For that you will have to listen to them on music or with a test disc and check for lacking high frequencies

After that it is just the usual stuff to check for as with any used speaker, blown drivers, signs of abuse, etc. Fun speakers, but not simple to work on so you want to get a good pair. Keep us posted.

FYI, very early ones had plastic red and black five way binding post knobs, later changed to all metal ones, the last series were bi-wireable I am told but that was after my time selling them. The 104/2 was in production for many years, there were a few running changes.
 
Raynald said:
If cosmetically clean, $350 is a great price.

As you may have gathered from AK threads, things to look out for:

1) Rotted out foam donuts around steel rods between woofers. The second pictures seems to show at least one is in good shape, a nice start.

2) Rotted out woofer surrounds. Some were rubber, you may catch a break there.

3) Dried out ferrofluid in the tweeters which kills their output. For that you will have to listen to them on music or with a test disc and check for lacking high frequencies

After that it is just the usual stuff to check for as with any used speaker, blown drivers, signs of abuse, etc. Fun speakers, but not simple to work on so you want to get a good pair. Keep us posted.

FYI, very early ones had plastic red and black five way binding post knobs, later changed to all metal ones, the last series were bi-wireable I am told but that was after my time selling them. The 104/2 was in production for many years, there were a few running changes.
Click to expand...

I think this pretty much covers everything.$350 is below what I have seen them usually go for.
 
Thanks so much for the advice, guys! I'm gonna head up there Thursday to check them out and hopefully buy them. I'm pretty excited as this is my first forte in the high end audio world and I hear these speakers are phenomenal. I will definitely keep you guys updated!
 
If the ferrofluid in the tweeter has become so hardened that by pulling the voice coil out for servicing can actually pull the vc wire off the former, then you are fckd.
 
If the ferrofluid is that hard would I be able to tell by the sound of the speakers (ie distortion etc.) or is it something I'd have to take speaker apart for?
 
Perhaps there are replacements from Kef.Interesting as I have a pair of early 104/2 that I picked up for $300.The tweeter freq is still there.
 
As I understand it. Kef has a replacement tweater (not the same) which requires a little tweaking of cabinet. I've never heard or seen them. I have seen a bunch of threads with people cleaning out and replacing ferrofluid. That shouldn't be a make or break issue
 
All SP1191 T33 tweeters (the tweeter in Kef 104/2s) need their ferro fluid changed. I have yet to see one with the fluid hardened so much that it ruined a coil, but it could happen.

They will certainly still work, but they will not play at the appropriate SPL which will of course make the 104/2 sound dark and a bit dull. Even if they sound fine, as a precautionary measure, it's imperative to change the fluid. However I'd be very surprised if changing the fluid made no difference in the sound.

It's an easy job and also is pretty inexpensive so there's no reason not to do it.
 
FWIW, somebody has a pair of those KEF's on the DC Craigslist.

He posted them several months ago at $400.00 firm. Several weeks ago, he lowered the price to $350.00 firm.

I have no idea of the condition of the speakers.

So, do whatever you want with that bit of info.
 
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If the tweeters need doing, I or someone else here can do them for you if you send us/me the tweeters. Done it a dozen times now.
 
Good to know.

baco99 said:
If the tweeters need doing, I or someone else here can do them for you if you send us/me the tweeters. Done it a dozen times now.
Click to expand...

Tweet repair is an important thing when hard to source originals you can trust!
My son just blew my JBL E23s' and have decided not to trust the modern Chinese remakes.
 
I tried one of those Chinese JBL diaphragms once on a project and it straight sucked.

But the KEF ferrofluid is rarely terminal. Especially on the 104/2. The older 107 or 105/x dry up a lot faster.
 
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