KEF owners thread

[halkaloogie]

The 102/2's are fine speakers, and will give you the classic KEF sound. They are a bit thin on the bass without the KUBE and are designed to go with the KUBE 100 or 200. Like all KEF speakers of that time they are power hungry and sound best with higher wattage amps pushing them. They are different than the B&W and the JBL, as each has their own sound to them. Speakers are very personal and it's hard to say which is better. If you are aware of the certain sound each company provides all of those are fine examples. I would listen to each of them if possible and make up your own decision. I personally like the KEF sound and would lean towards that if it was me, but as I said that's just me.

 

[jay fisher]

Thank you. How much power I need? Most of my amps are around 30w per channel…not to mention a couple which are 20w… my 555a and nad 3020..

 

[montrecott]

KEF recommends 50-200 watts into 4 ohms. More info here

I have model 103.2 which are 8 ohm speakers but which also like power. That's trues of many KEFs.

 

[halkaloogie]

Thank you. How much power I need? Most of my amps are around 30w per channel…not to mention a couple which are 20w… my 555a and nad 3020..

30 watts will work fine, but to really make them bloom, you'll need at least 100 watts. Personally I prefer mosfet amps with that vintage of KEF, it gives them a very pleasingly warm and enjoyable sound. They are not overly analytical speakers, but there are lots of of us who really like them for what they are. I currently have quite a few pairs of them, and just came into possession of a set of 107s.

 

[Buanadha]

Anyone have any insight on the KEF 101/2 Reference speakers? I have a chance to pick some up for a decent deal. I don't really need another set of speakers, but they appear like they'd be an upgrade on any of the smaller sized speakers I have.

I have plenty of amps that can drive 4 ohm speakers and my main listening setups are both with 103/4's, so I'm pretty sure I can find something that I have to push them nicely.

Any thoughts on quality compared to other things available in that size?
Any thoughts on how to put them into a space (I'm assuming a bit away from the walls on some stands?)
Typical maintenance/fixes that would be needed?

thank you in advance!

 

[Ken Mitchell]

I had taken home the KEF Egg (active) speakers I had there on my CAD/CAM workstation bench in the R&D/prototype machine shop of a medical device manufacturer where I work.

The KEF Egg are now "computer speakers" on my desktop at home, because I had dismantled the killer LS50 Meta/NAD M10 setup to fund Reference 1's in my listening room.

The new Q150's are the result of a barter with a friend who won them in a contest. I sent him an unused "open box" Bluesound Node 2i, he sent me the speakers and a little money. I got a little Kanto Sub6 today to stick under the bench, behind the footrest bar. The speakers are driven by my old Bluesound Powernode 2, hiding behind the LH monitor. I probably now have the best-sounding stereo system ever heard in a commercial machine shop.

 

[mccarty350]

Soliciting some help from the active KEF community. Blowing T33 tweeters in KEF 107's has gotten old. Has anyone inserted a tweeter protection device or fuse in front of this tweeter successfully?

I prefer a fuse so as to not impact audio quality etc. but I'm unclear on what value to use or what has been successful. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Lou G]

Did you replace the ferrofluid in the T33s? Dried up ferrofluid can lead to overheating of the tweeters and subsequent failure.

 

[mccarty350]

Yes. Several times. Recapped refoamed ferrofluid replaced. Last blown t33's were destroyed doing a umik sweep in REW to help others in the forum replicate the impact of the KUBE using dsp or equalization. They are just fragile even with ferrofluid. Leveraged the same AGP fluid that KEF recommended after contacting them. I have just never undertaken elective fusing to know effective values that would blow when necessary versus blowing at only moderate values.

 

[nolasally]

picked up these gems for a song today... Very nice for some non reference Kefs....

 

[rickb119]

picked up these gems for a song today... Very nice for some non reference Kefs....

Sweet!

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Soliciting some help from the active KEF community. Blowing T33 tweeters in KEF 107's has gotten old. Has anyone inserted a tweeter protection device or fuse in front of this tweeter successfully?

I prefer a fuse so as to not impact audio quality etc. but I'm unclear on what value to use or what has been successful. Any advice would be appreciated.

Don't see a response here, and I don't know how to do it. If you're a Facebook user, my KEF Enthusiasts group has about 7,000 members. Maybe one has input?

 

[mccarty350]

Great suggestion. What is the actual group title? Literally KEF Enthusiasts?

 

[Robint]

Kef Carlton lll? I would rotate the woofer, the pair I have one woofer started scraping and I had to have a pair shipped from England.

 

[nolasally]

@Robint Yup. Already done the rotation... Not new to Kef triangulated woofer baskets. Had to do same thing to my 105's as well.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Great suggestion. What is the actual group title? Literally KEF Enthusiasts?

Yep. And it appears you found us.

 

[mccarty350]

I did. Common theme everywhere us curiosity about how they blew.

 

[Bassman79]

Proud owner of some Kef R101 from 1980. I got a good deal on them because they had been painted over grey long ago. After a couple days work I've managed to bring them back to their "original" state. Replaced the capacitors in the crossover with a set from Falcon.
Next project will be replacing the speaker terminals with some better ones. The original terminals are not great quality. The A speaker was cracking and falling in and out intermittently and after so investigation the fix was cleaning the speaker terminals thoroughly with de-oxit. work like a charm and no more problems.
The r101's are fantastic! can't stop listening.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Proud owner of some Kef R101 from 1980. I got a good deal on them because they had been painted over grey long ago. After a couple days work I've managed to bring them back to their "original" state. Replaced the capacitors in the crossover with a set from Falcon.
Next project will be replacing the speaker terminals with some better ones. The original terminals are not great quality. The A speaker was cracking and falling in and out intermittently and after so investigation the fix was cleaning the speaker terminals thoroughly with de-oxit. work like a charm and no more problems.
The r101's are fantastic! can't stop listening.

Had you also replaced the tweeter's ferro fluid? They commonly need that.

 

[Buanadha]

Anyone tried the powered KEF KUBE subwoofers? I was looking at a Kube8 300 watt subwoofer and wondering about pairing it with a set of 103/4's.