KEF owners thread

[rickb119]

You could become a subscribing member here (upper right corner of the home page). For $25.00 per year, you get access to Barter Town, where members buy, sell and trade with each other. People often place WTB (want to buy) ads. Don't know what shipping would be to your neck of the woods though. For the price of admission, it's worth a shot.

 

[mccarty350]

I am a member and I can tell you that it's totally worth $25 in my opinion. We all sell things to each other usually at a rate below what we list things for on other sites/cragslist/etc. You could also post a WTB ad and I bet someone will come out of the woodwork to get you a driver.

 

[Gustavsson]

$25 a year to support the community sounds fair.

 

[JohnnyNapalm]

Thanks for the pointer guys. I have just subscribed to the forum.

 

[uteman1011]

Hey, btw, aren't you happy with those KEF kits you bought? Or do you just need more?
I get it. My 105s are the most easy to listen to speaks I've ever come across. I'd love to have a stable full of KEFs, think I could be very happy ... and be able to sell everything else!

The KEFkit1's sound absolutely wonderful! I'm driving them on an old school Harmon Kardon 330A. They're smooth with a full, warm bass and decent highs. I can't be more pleased!
As for those C85's, they were sold by the time I got back to him. They were in Grand Junction, CO (I would be driving from Salt Lake City). Kinda bummed I missed them. but.... the quest continues!

 

[Swann36]

I've some LS50s which are great with such a big sound .... I suppose I'd better post into the LS50 thread too

 

[TomBig58]

Those C85's were intriguing looking. The C80 is a non-ported 3-way. The 85's look like a coax (uni-Q) driver with woofer and port. Newer than the 80s.

 

[JohnnyNapalm]

Has anyone listened to the C85’s? Cheers.

 

[rossm]

Hi

I picked up a pair of 104/2's a couple of months ago. Very impressed!

Just finished replacing the ferro-fluid (they were quite dry). A relatively easy procedure and rather fun to watch the drops move diagonally. I don't think I can tell any difference, but then my hearing is completely gone by 9K so who am I to say. At least I won't fry them now.

Also ordered and received the cap kit (all 10%) from Falcon and I'm a little disappointed. I measured several caps using 2 different Flukes. One is calibrated annually, but they both read the same. All 100u read between 114-117u.
The 120u,30u and 50u were all within spec, or close enough. The biggie was the 600u that read 490u, 499u, 557u and 667u. That's all I've measured so far, but will test the others at some point. (Not gonna be re-capping for a while.)

I'm seriously thinking of reordering the far out of tolerance caps from a different source. Any thoughts, viewpoints, ideas or suggestions?

Hi
Was wondering if you ever did anything with the caps ? Did you measure the esr of the new caps ?
Have you measured the old caps?
I am currently doing a restoration of 104.2 and measured the old caps within 10% and esr under .8 ohms so decided to keep old caps

I have done a couple recaps of various receivers and always measured old and new caps. Several times the old cap actually measured better than the new one and I always buy quality caps from Mouser

 

[rickb119]

Hi

Hi
Was wondering if you ever did anything with the caps ? Did you measure the esr of the new caps ?
Have you measured the old caps?
I am currently doing a restoration of 104.2 and measured the old caps within 10% and esr under .8 ohms so decided to keep old caps

I have done a couple recaps of various receivers and always measured old and new caps. Several times the old cap actually measured better than the new one and I always buy quality caps from Mouser

I was forced, more of less, to install the new cap kit when I accidentally installed a preamp tube one pin off. LOUD pop from the right speaker. The pre was turned off but the amp was not. No sound from the speaker after that.

I did measure each cap as I pulled it and all measured good. (My meter doesn't do ESR.) However, replacing the caps brought the speaker back to life again.

After the cap replacement I hooked them up and really can't tell any difference in sound. Could be (and probably is) my ears. However, I'm happy with them as they are and don't feel like going to the trouble to do it all over again with better caps.

 

[infullview]

I just acquired a pair of KEF 65.2 towers at the local Goodwill for a very good price. Got them home to find that the tweeters were out on both of them. A lot of mixed opinions on these speakers regarding the "Q" series as the tweeters have become problematic. Replacements are no longer available, and used components are very expensive and likely to have issues with the ferrofluid as well. I found a couple of very helpful threads on AK about how to restore these tweeters including links to perfect fitting aftermarket replacement diaphragms, and how to remove the tweeter, clean, and replace the ferrofluid.
I did hook them up to see how they sounded. They were very balanced (minus the top end) and found them to have much more bass than I would have given them credit for as the bass driver doesn't appear to have much surface area to move a lot of air. Bass was almost comparable to my Wharfedale W70Es. I can't fully evaluate these until I have all drivers working, but they sound like they have potential.

Now here's my BIG question. Why are there only a few threads on this model? Are these not regarded as "vintage"; are they to new? Does anyone in the KEF owners thread have a pair of these? Should I hold on to them or pass them along once they are restored?

 

[halkaloogie]

Just wandered into a pair of 104/2's and I have a question about the t33 tweeters. One sounds OK but one is distorting a bit. They have had work done recently but obviously didn't do anything with the tweeters. I know I need to clean them out and replace the Ferrofluid, but the one that is distorting, is it OK or do I need to replace it? The distortion is faint, but obvious when you listen for it, the previous owner hadn't noticed it until I pointed it out.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Perhaps replacing the ferro fluid will cure the problem?

Nice speakers! Photos?

 

[halkaloogie]

Perhaps replacing the ferro fluid will cure the problem?

Nice speakers! Photos?

They are a little beat up, but not bad considering.

 

[bigx5murf]

I just acquired a pair of KEF 65.2 towers at the local Goodwill for a very good price. Got them home to find that the tweeters were out on both of them. A lot of mixed opinions on these speakers regarding the "Q" series as the tweeters have become problematic. Replacements are no longer available, and used components are very expensive and likely to have issues with the ferrofluid as well. I found a couple of very helpful threads on AK about how to restore these tweeters including links to perfect fitting aftermarket replacement diaphragms, and how to remove the tweeter, clean, and replace the ferrofluid.
I did hook them up to see how they sounded. They were very balanced (minus the top end) and found them to have much more bass than I would have given them credit for as the bass driver doesn't appear to have much surface area to move a lot of air. Bass was almost comparable to my Wharfedale W70Es. I can't fully evaluate these until I have all drivers working, but they sound like they have potential.

Now here's my BIG question. Why are there only a few threads on this model? Are these not regarded as "vintage"; are they to new? Does anyone in the KEF owners thread have a pair of these? Should I hold on to them or pass them along once they are restored?

I have a Kefs from this series, and the previous one. These I believe these would be considered the 5th generation Uni-Q, I believe they're up to 8th gen now. I also own a number of the previous iteration, 4th gen Uni-Q (Q90, Q10, Ref 200C).

I believe your Q65.2 are an early 2000s model. I have a pair of Q15.2 myself, which I use for my PC setup. I opened up the tweeters in mine to check the condition of the ferro fluid. Both were still good, but one had only half as much fluid as the other, likely a QC issue. So I replaced the fluid in both anyway. I like these so much, I'm pretty sure I'm keeping them for the long run, so I've been planning to recap them soon, possibly with a low dissipation cap on the tweeter network. You'll likely have difficulty flipping this series, it's like the red headed step child of the Uni-q series, and so many regard the the older Reference series to be better. I've heard Q300 from a friend who's using them in a setup similar to mine. I actually prefer my Q15.2 more, the Q300 does seem to have more high end detail, but it also comes off a bit bright. I find the Q15.2's tweeter less fatiguing.

 

[DOBIEGUY]

@halkaloogie
Replace the ferro fluid ASAP. Don’t push the speakers hard until this is taken care of. Great long, step by step video on YouTube. F/F available on the bay.
T-33 tweeters are getting hard to get—— don’t jeopardize yours!
Enjoy you KEFs

 

[halkaloogie]

@halkaloogie
Replace the ferro fluid ASAP. Don’t push the speakers hard until this is taken care of. Great long, step by step video on YouTube. F/F available on the bay.
T-33 tweeters are getting hard to get—— don’t jeopardize yours!
Enjoy you KEFs

I know the need to have it done, but do I need to be worried about the distortion in one of them. I was under the assumption that once you could hear it the damage was already done.

 

[DOBIEGUY]

You wont know until you change the 30+ year old fluid. The fact that it produces sound is a good thing.
Damage the coil with its’ hair thin wires and you’ve got real problems.
Change the fluid, go from there.

 

[halkaloogie]

You wont know until you change the 30+ year old fluid. The fact that it produces sound is a good thing.
Damage the coil with its’ hair thin wires and you’ve got real problems.
Change the fluid, go from there.

I ordered the fluid as soon as I got home with them, so we'll see. I'd still like others opinion on if you can hear distortion in the tweeter the damage is already done. That way I can start keeping an eye out for another one. There are a few on the Bay that aren't too much but most likely need fluid too.

 

[Lou G]

The tweeters are very easy to remove. Just remove the 4 metric bolts holding the front black enclosure and unclip the 6 wires going to the tweeters and midrange drivers. The enclosure is pretty heavy (25 lbs) so try to have your speakers laying on their side. At that point you can measure the resistance of the tweeters, they should be close to 4 Ohms. Assuming they measure ok, than you can remove the tweeters and replace the ferrofluid. The process is fairly straightforward and shown on several youtube videos. You have to clean out the old dried up ferrofluid with paper strips and isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips first. You can get replacement ferrofluid at Parts Express. You need 2 tubes for 1 inch tweeters.
If your tweeters don't measure close to 4 Ohms, they may need to be replaced.