kef 104/2 drivers again (calling speaker dave?)

[mlloyd1]

for those of you out there with the older version (i.e. no biamping posts on the back) of the kef 104/2, any recommendations for replacement drivers? the originals have been NLA from kef for quite a while. other threads on the topic have died somewhat inconclusively.

speaker dave, if you have any insider info you could share on recommendations, i for one would appreciate it.

i'm not necessarily looking to tweak for improvement - no way am i even thinking about trying to get to the crossover , just looking for replacements for any of the drivers. the grandbaby likes to dance in front of them and once he did so when the grills were off ...



thx,
mlloyd1

[speaker dave]

Hi mlloyd,

Sorry but I'm not the best person to ask about spare parts for KEF. If you are talking about the woofer, I remember the unit well: 200mm trochoidal unit with foam surround and funny foam donut inner suspension on a plastic spacer (made room for the force cancelling rod). Try this KEF forum in the UK.

SpeakerTalk :: View Forum - KEF Speakers from the 1970s

There are a few ex-KEF personnel there that might know if spares are around. Certainly if your problem is a dead foam surround then you should easily be able to get it "re-surrounded". If it is more heavily damaged with a burned coil then you're in trouble, but you might talk to some of the guys that recone old radio speakers.

Mids were glued into the cabinet but were otherwise standard parts (SP 1057?), If I recall correctly. Was the tweeter a stock unit without a faceplate?

Best of Luck,

David S.

[alan-1-b]

Hi mlloyd1,

"Monacor" manufacture some drivers which are replacements for some of the KEF drivers.
It is possible that Monacor may have bought the old Kef tooling for those parts, OR, perhaps bought the Rights to those designs, OR perhaps pay a license fee to manufacture copies - I do not know for sure,
but they do have cone drivers that seem to be close copies of versions of Kef's B110 and B200.
{There were several different versions of both B110 and B200, and also of some the other Kef drivers.}

I recommend you find the Monacor web-site and read the specifications for those models.
I have forgotten what the particular Monacor model numbers are,
thus you will have to look through their on-line catalog.
The particular models are quite recognisable.

[mlloyd1]

guys:

thanks for the input! i will investigate your recommendations.

mlloyd1

[Ian Finch]

Hi mlloyd
Oh, woe! As I look at at my 104/2 KEFs I see something different to above descriptions. Maybe they refer to 104/AB from earlier times?

104/2 dates from 1985 and has B250 bass drivers coupled as you describe but has D' Appolito arranged custom 150mm rubber mount mids and 30mm tweeter. Sadly, these are constructed as part of a bolt-on assembly and no separate drivers exist (in my version and a later one I am aware of) with what appeared to be bi-amp connections .

I'd be interested to know if KEF did revert to component construction.

[speaker dave]

I was thinking of this unit (see pic) which is a 104/2 rather than 104 or 104aB. These have the mids built into the cabinet module. Surrounds are glued to the wooden baffle. Magnet structure is bolted to the back of the cabinet and there is only enough chassis to mount the inner suspension. (It seemed like a good idea at the time.)

I did just stumble across this ebay seller with used 104/2 woofers, if that is what anyone needs.

KEF 102/2, 103/4, 104/2, 105/3, & 107's woofers rebuilt - eBay (item 400090449189 end time Jan-31-11 12:44:57 PST)

I do recall that there was a revised version of the 104/2 but don't remember the details of the change. By the way, we sold tons of the 104/2 in the US. At one point it was our number one seller by units, far and away number one by dollars.

David S.

[mlloyd1]

speaker dave's picture looks like the units i speak of. i know about the much older 104ab - not what i have.

thx,
mlloyd1

[planet10]

The cutaway from the KEF brochure.

dave

[wojo411]

mlloyd,
Let me know what you find! I'm doing the same repair right now - repairing my KEF 104-2 midrange driver that was damaged by my nephew years ago. B110 is written on the back. I'm going to try Monacor and a couple of others Monday.

Let's keep in touch. I'm sure there's a way to do it. I just got started tonight.

[wojo411]

Hey a I found a guy in the Netherlands who offered to ask his supplier to find a cone for my B110. (The proprieter of goodhifi.com) It's a long shot, worth trying. The guy is very helpful, and he already sells the surrounds for the B110. He said he might have an offer next month.

Another tact, I don't know if you're interested, if you wanted to buy my mid frequency speaker assembly, I might consider parting out my speakers, and buyng new used KEF 104-2s off the internet. I could take pictures if you want. Or, the reverse, if you're interested in buying another set of KEF 104-2s, I would be interested in buying the other (good) mf driver assembly from your existing 104-2s. It would just help you out with the purchase price.

Hope you don't mind me making you an offer like this. I jsut don't want to give up on these wonderful speakers. Well, let me know what you think. See ya!
Wayne