Mystery of KEF Reference 102 fasteners

[dakmensa]

Hi all,
I took apart a pair of KEF Reference 102s (the late 80s, two-way KUBE model) to service the tweeters. I couldn't get the tweeters reconnected without removing the woofers. The woofers are held in place at least in part by a rod that screws into the back plate of the magnet assembly on one end and to the cabinet on the other end. However, the machine screws that hold the woofer in at the baffle seem to have nothing to gain any purchase on when in place, as in they can't be tightened. I don't see or feel any sort of t-nut or other threaded insert on these speakers. Anyone else experienced with these speakers who might be able to tell me what's going on? Thanks a lot.

 

[Ds2000]

Curious, did the screws seem to have something to screw into/out of when the woofers came out to get to the tweeter connections?

 

[nerdorama]

I removed the woofers on my 102's about a year ago. If I remember, only the bar in the back holds it in the cabinet. The screws in the front flange only looked to me like cosmetic devices. In the picture I took at the time, the screws had captive nuts on the back of the woofer flange but didn't really seem to have an engineering function. My memory on this is vague so don't rely too much on it.
John

 

[dakmensa]

Curious, did the screws seem to have something to screw into/out of when the woofers came out to get to the tweeter connections?

As John says above (and I had forgotten as it's been a few years since I've tinkered with them) there were nuts in place on the back of the flange, but they didn't serve any purpose as far as actually fastening the woofer to the cabinet.

 

[dakmensa]

I removed the woofers on my 102's about a year ago. If I remember, only the bar in the back holds it in the cabinet. The screws in the front flange only looked to me like cosmetic devices. In the picture I took at the time, the screws had captive nuts on the back of the woofer flange but didn't really seem to have an engineering function. My memory on this is vague so don't rely too much on it.
John
View attachment 2217695

Thanks John, my memory of this was refreshed by your post and picture. I'll reassemble them with those nuts on the back of the woofer flange and test as well as I can for air-tightness. A very odd choice to design and manufacture these in a manner that leaves out one part (a threaded insert in the cab) that would have made for a much more (intuitively, anyway) secure connection to the cabinet.

 

[Dony]

I will try to refresh this thread to try and get some info on removing the woofers from my KEF 102. I would like to remove the woofers to allow easier access to the tweeter wires on the T-33 tweeters as I am going to cut them to avoid damaging the tweeter diaphragm connections during planned ferrofluid replacement.

So according to this thread there is a rod at the back of the woofer magnet that attaches to the cabinet. How do I gain access to the rod to loosen it to allow the woofer removal?

Hopefully the other Ak members are still around that created this thread or other members with info can chime in.

Thanks

Don

 

[nerdorama]

The rod is connected by a bolt which is located in the nameplate above the binding posts. I think it's a socket head screw. Don't remember the size of the allen wrench required. Metric for sure.
John

 

[Dony]

The rod is connected by a bolt which is located in the nameplate above the binding posts. I think it's a socket head screw. Don't remember the size of the allen wrench required. Metric for sure.
John

Excellent, I see the socket head screw. I will get my metric Allen wrench and remove the screw. Thanks very much for your quick answer John (nerdorama) ! This forum is great for audio folks!