Help with kef r900 issue


I bought a pair of kef r900 speakers from kefdirect in April 2018. I enjoy them most of the time, but with some vocals, e.g., Alan Jackson, Allison Krauss and Mary Chaplin Carpenter, at nearly any level, they sometimes make a ripping, tearing or distorted sound that is hard to describe. Initially, I used a McIntosh MC202 with 200 rms, and now a Rotel RB 1590, with identical results. Initially, I used a very old Transparent Musiclink cable and now a Transparent Plus, again with identical results. I’m about to dump these unless I can figure it out since KEF has no one in the NW to repair them and they advise against paying to ship them (I agree). Before I write them off as a bad bargain, theories are solicited! Thanks
128x128maritime51
When I first started reading about your problem I thought that you should check that Link Connections are tight or replace the wire with thick basic OFC copper that can be bought for quite cheap price.

However when I read the last posts I can tell you it is the speakers you don't like and there is most likely nothing wrong with the speakers. I have one CD I personally like a lot and once I listened to that CD with a friend and he said that the female vocals on that CD are ear piercing for him and he can't stand it on higher volume. No one else hasn't complained about that particular CD but that one friend and I haven't experienced that at all with any of my CD's.

In my experience KEF's Uni Q driver is really accurate (I own R500 that has the same Uni Q driver as R900) and if you are sensitive to high frequencies you might face some uncomfortable situations with some recordings. Most likely the Logans you used to have smoothed the high frequencies and were more to your liking.
Sorry to hear about your situation - must be extremely frustrating. Hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.

BTW which particular mary chapin carpenter song is the worst affected?
3 months?  I had a similar problem once with new speakers.  After the second pair I realized my amp was destroying the speakers.  I believe your original equipment most likely caused damage to the crossovers.  Something happened in your system and the problem persists after driver change due to internal issues.  KEF seems reasonable.  The 3 month thing puts the spotlight firmly on you as well.  What condition was your original equipment in?  I know ML’s are a tough load and could have stressed your previous amp.
Go to your EQ settings then lower your 8KHZ and 16KHZ till the sound disappears. Had to do this with R900s and Q900s. Drove me nuts till figured it out.