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KEF 103.2 - what to expect?

I was looking through my father's basement and discovered his old KEF 103.2 speakers gathering dust. From what I have read on the web, these are great speakers.

My current system uses an Arcam CD73 player, paired with an Exposure Super XV integrated amp, hooked up to a pair of Wharfedale Pacific Evo 8 speakers. I've spent a while developing that budget system and like it very much for listening to classic jazz.

I was thinking of using the KEFs on my "second system." I have a NAD 320BEE integrated amp laying around, along with an Exposure CD player (don't know the model, doesn't say) or a NAD 521 CD player.

3 questions:

(1) Is the NAD integrated amp powerful enough to run the KEFs? I noticed the KEFs are 8 ohm speakers, which I believe means they are harder to drive.

(2) One of the KEF speaker tweeter's looks slightly damaged. Not torn, but there is a fold/crease in the tweeter fabric. I haven't listened to them yet, but is there anything I should listen for to see if the tweeter is damaged?

(3) Anyone ever used an Exposure CD player (probably from the same time-era as the Exposure Super XV integrated amp I have)? I presume it is a step up from the entry level NAD 521 which served me well for many years.

Thanks,
David
dmloring
dmloring OP
34 posts
 
Thanks all for your responses. Greatly appreciated. I thought 8 ohm was more difficult to drive than 4 ohm; obviously shows how much I know.

I played around with the KEFs last night and hooked them up to the NAD 320BEE integrated amp, and the exposure CD player with some basic van den hul speaker cable and cheap interconnects. Very different sound than what I am used to from my arcam/exposure/wharfedale system. A larger soundstage than my current system, but extremely bright, fatiguing even (even my wife noticed it; and she thinks that there is no difference between a sony boombox and hifi...). Nothing sounded "wrong" or "broken" but the tweeter is very unforgiving to subpar recordings. I actually wondered if it was the exposure CD player (as that was the first time I had used it). I hooked up my old NAD entry-level 521i CD player and the sound became much warmer and less forward. Not as detailed, but surprisingly I think it might pair better with the KEFs than the Exposure CD player, despite the massive price difference between the 2 CD players.

The KEFs' speaker cable inputs are the size of pin-holes. The van den hul cable I have is exposed/bare wire at the connection points and it is very difficult to secure a connection with the speakers. Is there a pin or some type of speaker connection piece that I can put onto my bare speaker cables to make the connection more secure to the KEFs? Sorry if that makes no sense, I don't know all the terminology.

Thanks,
David
dmloring OP
34 posts
 
I suppose an appropriate followup question would be that if the speaker cables cannot be retrofitted, so-to-speak, do people have a recommendation for a decent "second-system" inexpensive speaker cable that they would recommend, with a "pin-type" connection? Any recommendation for a cheap but decent interconnect?
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I would think that they are probably for Banana plugs. Go to the local Radio Shack and check. You can fasten them to the ends of your speaker wire, get the non solder ones,
xiekitchen
821 posts
 
"Extremely bright" "fatiguing" ?? sorry that doesn't seem right.. cables? cd player? don't know why it should sound that way to you..
Yes they should accept bananas fine.
dmloring OP
34 posts
 
Xiekitchen -- why doesn't that seem right? The sound is open, yet thin and sharp, without the warmth I am familiar with in my current main system.
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