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Kef 104.2 Speakers. Suggestions Discussion Forum

KEF 104/2 SPEAKER OWNERS.

Lets have a tips and suggestions forum on how to improve these wonderful speakers.

Topics could include speaker placement, speaker tweeks, best speaker cables (interconnects, power cords etc), best amps (receivers, cd players etc), best compatible center and rear surround speakers, care and maintence, repair shops and more.

Here is a review (see below) that I found on the web concerning KEF 104/2 Speakers.

In over 10 years of doing high end audio reviews, enjoythemusic.com has given out a total of 59 awards for product excellence. The KEF 104/2's were among them. Out of those 59 awards, only 5 were to speakers and that includes speakers in the $10,000+ catagory. The editor has a section he calls "my personal list of products that deserve to be heralded as something truly special" and the KEF 104/2 speakers are included.

The Review summary: Back in the 1980's KEF was a wonderfully British company making their own drivers with a top-notch team. While their top range model was the 107 that produced deeper bass (down to 20Hz), after careful auditioning the KEF 104/2 was the obvious winner. KEF's 104 model saw various versions and the 104/2 was the final result of the product's evolution. This relatively high sensitivity loudspeaker, at 92dB/W/m at 4 ohms, produced frequencies from 55Hz to 20kHz (+-2dB) with five drivers. The tweeter is KEF's T33 25mm (1") silk dome with slight horn loading. It was flanked above and below by the B110 100mm (5") doped Bextrene midrange cone in a D'Appolito technique. Bass was produced by a pair of coupled cavity B200 200mm (8") paper cone drivers with their center magnets connected by a metal pole.

The midrange/tweeter/tweeter panel (weighting about 25 lbs) is completely removable from the woofer cabinet (at nearly 45 lbs) and both loudspeaker cabinets are very rigid. Each midrange is enclosed in its own sealed section to reduce any interaction while the tweeter is press fit to the cabinet via a rear screw. The internal woofers' output exits via a flanged port the same size as the midrange units. And thus the brilliance! The tricks up the 104/2; proverbial sleeve is that the sound wave of the midrange and the bass drivers is the same size, plus add in the point source-like output from the midrange/tweeter/midrange D'Appolito configuration.

As for sound, the highs are smooth and midrange is very well presented. Bass down to about 50Hz is excellent and tuneful. Do not use the KEF Kube, an external box said to enhance bass down to lower frequencies, as this clouds the sound. If you need lots of bass below 50Hz get a separate subwoofer. The soundscape thrown by the pair of 104/2 is remarkable! When present, not only is the sound totally enveloping, but you get height information too.
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I welcome and look forward to your input.
buyfast1
rdeckard
9 posts
 
I have a circa 1990’s pair of non-bi-wire KEF 104.2’s that I purchased recently. I have wanted a pair since they came out and was able to obtain them for a steal.
Of course, I wasn’t aware of all the caveats involved with owning a pair of these until after I had them for a while.

I have already replaced the rotted inner surrounds on the woofers (the outer surrounds are rubber). I also had to scrape the dried-up ferrofluid from the tweeters, which increased the high-end sensitivity, but of course has most likely changed the response from the original spec. I ordered a pair of replacement tweeters from KEF but have yet to install them.

I have read that replacing the caps in the crossovers is the next step in restoring these speakers and will be a better match with the new tweeters.

Does anyone offer a kit to replace the caps? If not, can anyone recommend what and how many to get?

Any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Greetings KEF 104/2 owners past and present.

I'm wondering if any of you have explicit instructions on how to remove both of the internal woofers inside of the KEF 104/2s that you can send me or post here? My uncle has a pair that sound great but when I took a flashlight to look at one of the internal woofers in the port hole with him the dust cover of the driver looked rotted out. The upper one may be rotted as well. If the 104/2s still sound good should the internal woofer still be replaced? Thanks
rambus_king
2 posts
 
I contacted KEF (at sales@kefamerica.com) and received a quick response and attached was a copy of the "Installation Manual" (aka, Owner's Manual).
Contact me (or KEF) to get your copy...
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hello again to KEF 104/2 owners past and present as well as fellow A'gon members. I'm in need of some thoughts again. A pair of KEF 104/2s that I got were dropped off to SG Custom Sound in NY for a check up and inner foam repair of the interior woofers. (I tried to do it on my own but it was too daunting for me when I inspected the internal woofers.) Now SG Custom Sound got back to me and said that the internal woofers had really bad issues with the voice coils. When he tested them he found they were shot. The voice coils were rubbing together and they may have been overpowered previously. Since they are beyond repair does anyone have any recommendations regarding replacements for the internal woofers from either KEF or other reputable manufacturers? Again your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks
glenn6478's avatar
glenn6478
6 posts
 
This should cover a number of questions in this blog.
I recently established a listening room for my old KEF 204.2 (Now about 20 years old) and they sound fantastic. I'm powering them with the Emotiva mono-blocks 500W/side (emotiva.com) and the added power cleaned up the sound stage. My room is not ideal as it's about 13 ft square. The ideal speaker placement for me was on the 8-5 line; 60" from the back wall to the face. Tape a diagonal line on the floor out from each corner intersecting a point 5' from the side wall and 8' from the back wall. Then plce the front center on the line, 60" from the back wall to the tweeter face. For me, that's about 8.5' between the speakers. The sweet spot is also 8.5 feet back making a equilateral triangle. Now, a laser line shot across the top of the speaker (center) should intersect just 2-3 feet behind the listening chair.
Once speakers were set, I had to trim the KUBE. Some advise not to use it but I found sound was MUCH better with; without everything went flat. However, I run with Bass Extend OFF and trim the bass to -2 (db?). This opened up the sound stage.
Tweek1: Sound dampling panels on the side walls at the first and second reflected sound points (a mirror leaned on the wall ans positioned between chair and speakers shows 1st point on R wall when you can see the R speaker; second when you can see the L speaker will be closer to chair. Same for L side. My cheap panel was a 2'x4' T-bar ceiling panel made of fiberglas insulation; plastic face.
Tweak2. I had 12 ga wire and I doubled up with a new 10 gage speaker wire-Python2 brand; really opened sound stage.
Tweak3. I added sound traps in the front corner. My cheap panel used (2) 2'x4' T-bar ceiling panel (made of fiberglas insulation; plastic face); glued together, framed and suspended at a 45 degree angle; 4" out of the corner and 4" down from ceiling; suspended by 30# fish line; long side up and down.
Tweak3. I took my Paradigm Sevo-15 sub into the room but timmed it to only enhance below 50 Hz. Phase needs to be set first with a sound meter and test tones.
The process took several months but I have been richly rewarded.
Recently I auditioned speakers in the 10-15,000 range and did not notice a compelling improvement!
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