Kenwood KL-888A Speaker

[Ferderko]

Hey all! New here!

I’m working on rearranging my setup because I inherited 4 of these KL-888A speakers. I only have one hooked up right and it’s wired into an RCA adapter and plugged into my receiver which my tape deck is hooked up through. The speaker sounds fine (no rattling or anything wrong with it) also have looked at them and they look fine as well.

That being said, there is absolutely no bass no matter what I’m playing. I have the bass all the way up and treble all the way down even. Is there something wrong with the speaker or is it because I only have 1 speaker hooked up? Or something else?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Yodathedog]

 

[goodolpg]

Can you try one of the other 3 speakers hooked up the same way?
If you have bass then, it's most likely the first speaker has a problem.

 

[Ferderko]

Ok. I’ll take some when I get home from work today

 

[Ferderko]

Can you try one of the other 3 speakers hooked up the same way?
If you have bass then, it's most likely the first speaker has a problem.

Good idea. I haven’t tried it yet just because the other 3 are kind of buried. I’ll try that when I get home from work today.

 

[turboyam]

Or,,, your receiver has some dirty pots and switches???.

 

[Ferderko]

I don’t think it’s that because my old bookshelf speakers were hooked through that and they had some bass. I assumed it’s the KL-888A’s but I’ve never had speakers like this before so I’m a little unsure. About to hook in another one to see how it sounds

 

[Ferderko]

Can you try one of the other 3 speakers hooked up the same way?
If you have bass then, it's most likely the first speaker has a problem.

So I was only able pull a second one out so far but it’s the same thing. No bass but otherwise sounds fine. Here’s a picture I took of the speaker, the other one looks exactly the same as this one.

 

[Ferderko]

 

[wmgwizard]

Kabuki ....Japanese speakers with large woofers and multiple midranges and tweeters. Not known for their bass but very efficient.....lots of sound coming out with just a few watts going in.

Despite their efficiency, they tend to work best when fed with some moderate to serious power...50 - 125wpc; comparable to the receivers and amps available when they were new.

Great speaker for the garage or backyard party but there are much better choices for more serious listening.

 

[Ds2000]

The cloth surround on the woofer may have gotten stiff. Push lightly on the woofer cone and see how resistant it is. Press lightly on the surround too, it should be pliable. If it’s very stiff in either case, that’s likely the bass issue. Surround rejuvenator is available on eBay from vintage_ar.

 

[Ferderko]

The cloth surround on the woofer may have gotten stiff. Push lightly on the woofer cone and see how resistant it is. Press lightly on the surround too, it should be pliable. If it’s very stiff in either case, that’s likely the bass issue. Surround rejuvenator is available on eBay from vintage_ar.

oh interesting! I’ll check it out tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[wmgwizard]

Those woofers are usually very stiff, they may loosen up a little with use but they will always be stiffer than you think they should be.
Treating the surround is not recommended unless they were "treated" at the factory like AR and older KLH woofer surrounds.

 

[FluxT]

Like what wmgwizard said, these speakers just cannot produce deep bass. There's a rule in speaker building called "Hoffman's Iron Law", which states that there is a tradeoff between high efficiency, small enclosure volume, and deep bass extension. You can get extremely deep bass out of a 15" woofer without a lot of power, but it requires a gigantic cabinet that would have made them cost-prohibitive to ship and stock (let alone purchase). Likewise, you can get deep bass from a small 5" bookshelf speaker, but it will require much more power to produce the same volume levels as a larger or more efficient speaker. The Kenwoods, with their stiffly suspended 15" woofer and small cabinets, are designed for maximum efficiency (and visual appeal) at the expense of deep bass reproduction, similar to a PA speaker. Their spec sheet lists them as 97dB efficient (they will produce a 97dB tone when fed with one watt of power), with a respectably flat frequency response chart that drops like a rock at 80-90Hz. Assuming you like everything else about the speakers, I'd pair them up with a decent powered subwoofer to fill in the bottom end, and enjoy the music.

 

[Ds2000]

Those woofers are usually very stiff, they may loosen up a little with use but they will always be stiffer than you think they should be.
Treating the surround is not recommended unless they were "treated" at the factory like AR and older KLH woofer surrounds.

Curious. I thought I saw a shiny coating on them. Also it is a sealed system, acoustic suspension. Wouldn’t there have to be a sealant on the half-roll? They do look like cloth.
Understandably, these are not bass blasters. But no bass? Seems something is going on to make that (not) happen.
As I said, curious.

 

[wmgwizard]

As far as I know those surrounds were not treated like others with "coated" surrounds, but there is also a lot I don't know.

I doubt you would make matters worse by trying.

As you have noticed this on more than one speaker I would then begin to look at the equipment. Be sure you are keeping the connection phased properly ie + from amp to + on speaker for BOTH speakers that are connected. If your "test" speaker is out of phase with your "regular/main" speaker your bass will suffer. Also if you are using a low powered amp/receiver to drive them, despite their efficiency the current limitations of the amp will minimize bass output. A large speaker needs some "juice" to move its considerable mass.

 

[Ferderko]

As far as I know those surrounds were not treated like others with "coated" surrounds, but there is also a lot I don't know.

I doubt you would make matters worse by trying.

As you have noticed this on more than one speaker I would then begin to look at the equipment. Be sure you are keeping the connection phased properly ie + from amp to + on speaker for BOTH speakers that are connected. If your "test" speaker is out of phase with your "regular/main" speaker your bass will suffer. Also if you are using a low powered amp/receiver to drive them, despite their efficiency the current limitations of the amp will minimize bass output. A large speaker needs some "juice" to move its considerable mass.

perhaps that’s my problem then. My receiver seems very basic. It’s a “Motorola Solid State” receiver. I checked the speaker stiffness and it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. I’m not looking for any major bass but would like at least something there to sound out the sound of the music.
I’m completely unfamiliar with sound equipment. What kind of woofer should I look for to pair with the speakers? Any recommendations are appreciated. Preferably something budget friendly as I’m not at a point where I can really appreciate the nuanced differences

 

[Ferderko]

Like what wmgwizard said, these speakers just cannot produce deep bass. There's a rule in speaker building called "Hoffman's Iron Law", which states that there is a tradeoff between high efficiency, small enclosure volume, and deep bass extension. You can get extremely deep bass out of a 15" woofer without a lot of power, but it requires a gigantic cabinet that would have made them cost-prohibitive to ship and stock (let alone purchase). Likewise, you can get deep bass from a small 5" bookshelf speaker, but it will require much more power to produce the same volume levels as a larger or more efficient speaker. The Kenwoods, with their stiffly suspended 15" woofer and small cabinets, are designed for maximum efficiency (and visual appeal) at the expense of deep bass reproduction, similar to a PA speaker. Their spec sheet lists them as 97dB efficient (they will produce a 97dB tone when fed with one watt of power), with a respectably flat frequency response chart that drops like a rock at 80-90Hz. Assuming you like everything else about the speakers, I'd pair them up with a decent powered subwoofer to fill in the bottom end, and enjoy the music.

View attachment 2651895

Thanks for the info. Any budget friendly recommendations on a woofer to pair them with?

 

[wmgwizard]

There are used subwoofers available all over the place; BarterTown, CraigsList, Facebook marketplace, eBay, garage/yard sales etc. Many can be had for $100 or less.

Look around, post some info about what you found and we can help you decide.

 

[hopeless]

Experiment. Let the speaker play and walk around the room. You may find a place where there is bass.