KEF owners thread

[Buanadha]

So you heard the same regarding those tweeters, what I heard wasn't an uncommon statement? That's a disappointment, I've never heard them, do you like them? I've listened to a lot of KEF but almost all of it has been vintage with the exception of the LS50 so I missed all of that innovation and progression in that interim period of what....30-40 years?

Yeah I get it, it's like every KEF from the era of ferrofluid and beyond is frought with crazy sh*t to correct and design eccentricities. But they sound so damn good it's hard to avoid.

KEF 103/2? Woofer sag.
KEF 105? Woofer sag.
104/2? Tough refoams, ticking timebomb ferrofluid tweeters, ticking time bomb KUBE
KEF 107? Tough refoams, ticking timebomb ferrofluid tweeters, ticking time bomb KUBE

They are like the german car of speakers. Perform stellar when working, horrific when broken. I will advise that if you like the sound of KEF you'd also likely like the sound of IMF and Fried products. Cut from the same cloth. Fried was my gateway drug to KEF and IMF.

I like the German Car comparison

To be fair, I went looking for the bad things, so I'm not sure that's an indication of just how bad/prevalent the problem is. They seem to have sold a ton of those speakers over the years and there are bound to be issues over 30 years or more. I did find a KEF/speaker place in Florida that can do a "custom in-house tweeter replacement" at a high cost (165). Wouldn't seem justified if I spent 100 on a set to start, but if that's a worst case scenario it's better than dumping the speakers for parts if they go bad. And, if someone is doing that, then it's likely other shops are doing it also (there were a LOT of those speakers out there).

Sound is so good though, that it's worth a bit of hassle. To my ears, their speakers just work so well with my NAD amps!

 

[mccarty350]

100% agree man, that's why we all have these things, they sound so damn good when you've overcome their complex designs. I can't cut them too much slack, though, as you say, there are bound to be issues after 30 years or more but there are so many other vintage designs that DON'T have issues that remain rock solid. But then again most of them don't sound as good as a pair of KEF's!

Sadly I have a second pair of unobtanium T33 tweeters in a service shop in Canada of all places getting their voice coils replaced and ferrofluid replaced. They've sadly been there for over 3 months.

 

[Buanadha]

100% agree man, that's why we all have these things, they sound so damn good when you've overcome their complex designs. I can't cut them too much slack, though, as you say, there are bound to be issues after 30 years or more but there are so many other vintage designs that DON'T have issues that remain rock solid. But then again most of them don't sound as good as a pair of KEF's!

Sadly I have a second pair of unobtanium T33 tweeters in a service shop in Canada of all places getting their voice coils replaced and ferrofluid replaced. They've sadly been there for over 3 months.

Hopefully your T33 tweeters come back soon! That's a long time to be away.

I ended up picking up both pairs of KEF's and he tossed in a pair of refoamed A40 Boston Acoustics. Been looking for a pair of these to possibly give to my parents, so it was a nice bonus to get a refoamed pair essentially for free.

All sounded good and the Q70's looked absolutely mint, but the Q50's were missing grills and one is missing a dustcap on the regular driver and what looks like a small dent on the Uni-Q metal tweeter cover.

After getting them home, I haven't been able to hear if the dent/dustcover is making a difference or not, but the Q50's may be a low risk way of trying out a local speaker shop (do they have a part supply, can they change out the ferrofluid, etc). My thinking was that the Q50's have the same tweeter, so if I need to I might have backup for the Q70s. Either way, I would have paid more for the Q70's alone, so I'm fine with getting the more beaten up Q50's as spare speakers.

I set up the Q70's in our living room (a pretty big room maybe 17 x 30 with 10+ft ceilings) with a NAD C352 and they filled the room nicely and were really, really good. Even got the big thumbs up from my wife on the Q70's listening test (former competitive classical pianist in her youth, so she has a better ear than me)

Want to do a side by side when I get the set of 103/4's back from the shop

 

[Thoft8]

Ok enviously not enough people know... b110 and b139 are made now by falcon acoustics because the person that designed those drivers works at falcon acoustics iirc.

 

[Thoft8]

Anyways I’m looking for the b110 sp1274 for my kef 104/2 bi-wore version anyone got spares? The falcon acoustics isn’t the correct variant. And what is the difference between all the sp variants? Does anyone know?

 

[rickb119]

Anyways I’m looking for the b110 sp1274 for my kef 104/2 bi-wore version anyone got spares? The falcon acoustics isn’t the correct variant. And what is the difference between all the sp variants? Does anyone know?

Discussions of buying, selling, trading, and maybe even free stuff is limited to the Barter Town forum. You need to be a subscribing member (upper right corner of the home page) to access it. $25.00 per year, but then you could place a WTB ad.

Not trying to be a spoilsport, just don't want you to get in trouble with the powers that be.

Hope you get them up and running. They are sweet!

 

[Buanadha]

Anyways I’m looking for the b110 sp1274 for my kef 104/2 bi-wore version anyone got spares? The falcon acoustics isn’t the correct variant. And what is the difference between all the sp variants? Does anyone know?

Would agree with rickb119 that a subscription and Bartertown is the right way to find out if people have things and to see what other members have for sale on the board. Subscription is pretty cheap and a nice way to support the board as well.

Beyond that, I'm also interested in different ways of dealing with the KEF Tweeter issues after they have been discontinued and supplies are scarce.. Not to mention that over time all the replacement supplies are going to be older and older as well. So in a perfect world, I'd love to find some alternatives that aren't relying on buying a really old part that you hope works well and lasts a while.

I've seen a few posts on how the UniQ's can be fixed by people who know what they're doing, and at least one place that says they can do a custom, in-house tweeter replacement.

https://reconingspeakers.com/produc...weeter-replacement-service-for-sp1530-driver/

https://willys-hifi.com/products/kef-t33-tweeter-refurbishment

While these aren't for the sp1274, it might be worth reaching out to see if they can help out. I'm guessing that if they can refub the SP1530, they might be able to do the 1274 also.

 

[mccarty350]

I have a place that replaced my voice coils and did the ferrofluid in my T33 SP1210's however I can't recommend their name because I still don't have them back and it's been over 3 months. So it appears that it's doable i.e. a full restoration from the ground up at certain shops.

 

[Buanadha]

I have a place that replaced my voice coils and did the ferrofluid in my T33 SP1210's however I can't recommend their name because I still don't have them back and it's been over 3 months. So it appears that it's doable i.e. a full restoration from the ground up at certain shops.

I'm very interested in hearing how they turn out! Even if it's a long wait, it'd be worth it to have a solid option for restoration.

 

[Lou G]

Anyways I’m looking for the b110 sp1274 for my kef 104/2 bi-wore version anyone got spares? The falcon acoustics isn’t the correct variant. And what is the difference between all the sp variants? Does anyone know?

I don't think the b110s in KEF 104/2s are replaceable. They are actually built into the enclosure housing the two b110s. I believe you would have to replace the entire enclosure assembly.

 

[mccarty350]

I'm very interested in hearing how they turn out! Even if it's a long wait, it'd be worth it to have a solid option for restoration.

We'll see. I have to get it back to know if it was worth it

And the owner is terrible about answering emails, etc.

 

[rickb119]

I'm very interested in hearing how they turn out! Even if it's a long wait, it'd be worth it to have a solid option for restoration.

They do show up on epay, from time to time. I've purchased 2 in the last year or so. Both needed the fluid replaced, but were fully functional, and are in use now. I think they were each around $50 (plus shipping).

 

[mccarty350]

They seem to be more up into the 75 dollar and up range with ferrofluid already done as of late but yes, he's had mine so long that I bought two others off of ebay that I am currently employing.

 

[ProfP3PP3R]

I don't think the b110s in KEF 104/2s are replaceable. They are actually built into the enclosure housing the two b110s. I believe you would have to replace the entire enclosure assembly.

AH now that's interesting, I've just picked a pair of these up in not so great condition for £150 as a wee project for me while I'm out of work. Annoyingly a couple of the MF-drivers have had the centre dome's pocked in. Of course I know I could do the old tape-a-rooney trick was just wondering if you could get new replacement drivers but that answers my question.
If anyone can confirm this too

 

[Thoft8]

I don't think the b110s in KEF 104/2s are replaceable. They are actually built into the enclosure housing the two b110s. I believe you would have to replace the entire enclosure assembly.

I bought an assembly with perfect midrange drivers. The old one will be sent to be reconed. Will be a picky job for the speaker guy but he’s done some crazy stuff and this will probably be just fine. The one midrange functions just fine it’s just completely torn somehow.other than that amazing sound. Soon these and a pair of cs 3.5 (they will be rotated) will be on. And adcom gfa 5800 which if you don’t know has two sets of binding posts per channel for bi amping.

 

[Thoft8]

My phone had a stroke I think.

 

[Lou G]

I bought an assembly with perfect midrange drivers. The old one will be sent to be reconed. Will be a picky job for the speaker guy but he’s done some crazy stuff and this will probably be just fine. The one midrange functions just fine it’s just completely torn somehow.other than that amazing sound. Soon these and a pair of cs 3.5 (they will be rotated) will be on. And adcom gfa 5800 which if you don’t know has two sets of binding posts per channel for bi amping.

I will be interested to see how you compare the Thiels to the KEFs. I had a pair of Thiel CS 2.2s for a while in one of my systems. They were too bright for me and I ended up selling them. The CS 3.5 has a soft-dome tweeter while the Cs 2.2 has a metal-dome tweeter so the 3.5 might not be as bright. I am partial to soft-dome tweeters. Currently I have KEF 104/2s, KEF Reference Model Ones and KEF Calindas in my 3 systems.

 

[Thoft8]

I will hopefully find out this weekend. Assuming the thiel tweeters don’t need any ferrofluid (the kefs don’t thank god) and that my examination making sure the thiel crossovers were ok due to the 100 watt lack of power abuse they went through. Almost every thiel driver failed. I got them for 100 I’ve spent 600 on them easily. I can say the general sound of the imf and kef are similar. The imf have deeper bass (15hz). I honestly wanna say the midrange and highs are the same.

 

[Thoft8]

The kef bass is tighter as expected.

 

[Thoft8]