Kef reference 104/2 seals

[WrineX]

HI there i bought a few of these units. and i must say midrange and highs are nice im used to electrostatics and i really enjoyed this soundstage. but ofcourse theres a BUT


well donuts are gone ofc zo i replace them doesnt seem that hard but i had few questions.

one has any idea how to remove the old donut glue? because the woofers are made from paper i can imagine there are a bit fragile.

second the bass , i dont mind they dont go that low wich is strange with such an amount of volume these cabinets have, but the trade off should be they where tight. and that they are not. it rumblles allong and i really think ive heard speakers of 100$ with tighter bass. so my guess there is something wrong.

i believe the 2 woofers are in a sealed enclosure, so i gently pushed the woofers down , but i cant feel that much ressistance. prob the seals are leaking? or are the paper woofers never complete air tight? also the donut is gone but now but the only way the air can escape is where the rod is bolted, a tiny hole with a bolt and a washer, not much air escapes trough that.

now it seems like i solved it already but my question is fdor people that either have a good working set , is there bass also sloppy as hell? and can you push ur woofer in easy without much resistance ? and for the people that resealed all was it much of an step forward ?

if all anwsers are no then i might just really really dislike the bass of the 104/2 wich is as shame for the rest of the speaker and my money

[chromenuts]

I was lucky enough to find a pair of KEF 104/2 about 10 years ago abandoned in a repair shop. Lucky because the original owner had dropped them off to have the foam surrounds replaced...the work was finished...and they were never picked up. So I was able to buy them for the cost of the repairs. Supposedly some crossover work was done as well, but I have never confirmed that. I know that KEFs quality control and matching on the crossover components was over the top. If something in the crossovers was changed it has not produced anything audibly disagreeable to me.

These speakers took me into another world of audio bliss...even though I was only able to afford an old Denon integrated amp that I picked up from the same shop for $100 at the time.

My system has since then changed...and my interests have brought me to DIY. I have had doubts about the KEFs tweeters still being what they should be, and have stock piled some possible replacements, but the KEFs have been a gift from the audio gods.

The word is always thrown around the industry, but I have to consider them my benchmark. Anything I could build or buy now and for the last 10 years has to beat them. I personally haven't found anything yet. I would never have been able to afford these speakers new and I doubt I could even consider anything in the same quality league from a contemporary speaker builder.

I was very surprised to find out that the 104/2s were only designed to go down to 50Hz. I listen to all kinds of music, and I have had friends and family who own pricey speakers over my house listening to everything from Miles Davis to Led Zepplin. My wife listens to Black Eyed Peas. The KEFs have always produced extremely impressive bass that is very clean and tight.

My KEFs are not as pretty as they used to be when I found them. I wish I could find someone who was a KEF guru to completely restore them to original perfection...and actually be able to afford the bill!!!

I have come across many sources for foam surround/doughnut kits for the 104/2s while doing research on them in the past. Strangely, your surrounds are not rotted like your inner doughnuts are. I have to say that although you do not appear to have the inverted outer surrounds, that your outer surrounds do not appear to be like the foam on mine, but look more like rubber in the picture. I wonder if they have already been replaced with some other aftermarket kit?

After reading your questions about the cone behavior on the woofers I pulled off my speaker grills. I found it difficult to determine the behavior of the woofer cone in relation to whether the volume of sealed air behind it was offering resistance. However there was a noticeable damping to the woofer cones motion back to its resting position after I compressed it along its stroke...very similar to a gas charged shock absorber being compressed and then allowed to re-expand...sorry, that's the best analogy I could think of as I'm a car nut too.

I found this video on You Tube as well...although the replacement is done on a set of woofers with the inverted surrounds, the doughnuts look to be the same.

Replacing the Inner foam doughnuts on a pair of Kef104/2 - YouTube

best of luck...I hope you are able to enjoy them

[WrineX]

Thx for the long reply!maybe not visable I do have the inverted rubber surround all stock even the foam around the pole is allive. My set is Also in awful condition someone did not like matched real wood vineer so he painted them I might fervor all iff with paint remover and allot of sanding an care . If it fails I do s propper paint job. But first I have to solve the sloppy bass