Kef 104-2 speakers

I recently bought a pair of kef 104-2 but The woofers need some work and tweeters need new ferrofluid. Are those speakers good? I paid $350.00 including everything. I have to invest $$$. So please let me have your opinions.
Than you

 

Great speakers but re-foaming the dual bass drivers inside the cabinet are the achilles heel and they're difficult to remove/reinstall. They put butyl surrounds on the baffle mounted drivers but not on the 4 drivers inside! Price sounds fair but you will have some work ahead of you. Love these speakers though, but have not heard them since the 90's.

 

I've seen many advertised and they don't usually sell for much more money in good working condition - they are old speakers with known problems.

I don't see the sense of spending hundreds and hundreds on replacement drivers and I'm sure those tweeters aren't cheap to replace and if the fluid is leaking out, a pretty common problem from what I read, they can't be fixed but replaced.

Sorry to say but you should have done more research before you bought them.

What you do is up to you but research the prices for replacements and whether you have the skills to effect repairs.

 

I had/have a pair of Reference 103/4's which I had to work on after a cat jumped on one, knocked it over and froze the mid driver. These are not easy speakers to work on and as mentioned earlier, getting to and repairing the drivers they stashed inside the cabinet as part of the design will prove to be a miserable experience unless you like that sort of thing. Taking them to a good repair shop will end up costing you more than you paid for them and what you'll end up with are a pair of old speakers that function again but sound like decades-old speakers. Whether or not that appeals is up to you. I used those KEFs for a few years but at one point years ago home-auditioned a pair of PMC FB1i's against them ( good speakers but not exactly PMC's top of the line back then ) and realized how far speaker building had progressed since the 103/4's were current.

This might be of interest :

KEF Reference 104/2 COMPLETE Speaker Foam Edge Repair Kit, FSK-KEF104C

D.D.

 

I have these, got them for a little more than you paid. They sound fantastic in my setup. I haven't done the woofers or the tweeters at all. The woofers you can see have crumbly dust caps in there (the center part around the aluminum pole) but the bass sounds great. I think the surrounds are ok. The tweeters seem to be working fine to my ears so I'm leaving them alone for now.
I researched how to do the ferrofluid and it seems to me the hardest thing about these speakers is taking the drivers out. Look it up on youtube and you can see people doing it though.
Again, mine don't seem to need the work right away, I suggest playing them and seeing if yours are working good enough. These babies are loud and good. Good 3-way with midrange, seems to me. Cheers!

 

Thanks for your reply: i allready have the kit for the woofers and ferrofluid for tweeters. I'planning to spend my weekend the job. I do have eaxperience in electronics. I know is not a piece of cake working on those babys... But they will be done.
Thank you

 

They are very good and well worth the dollars to fix them up. Good luck.

 

IMO, you would have to spend over $3,000 for new speakers to equal the sound quality of what you'll end up with. YMMV of course.

 

I wish KEF gave their speakers names. 103.2, 102.3, 104.2. 102.4.. I can't even remember which pair I owned! (sounded beautiful).

 

True. Assuming that this is where the refurbishment needs of those KEFs end, one could certainly do worse if you like the sound of vintage KEF. Interesting to note that those speakers probably originally sold for around $ 3K new without the KUBE. Today you could find speakers for around that same amount that would give them a serious run for their money while the equivalently-positioned replacement for the 104's in the current KEF lineup would cost literally multiples of what these originally sold for.

D.D.

 

I hope you have time to write up your killer results! I have a feeling I will be obliged to do the same to mine one of these days. I'm blasting records through these beasts loud and digging it but sooner or later the age will catch up I'm sure....

 

Kef 104-2 allready fixed
After received all the parts to repair the woofers and tweeters and the capacitors kit from uk. Finally my kef 104-2 are doing great. They sound like i was expecting. Perfect, Crystal clear perfect imaging , very warm very detailing and aire. The job was tuff very but pay back. If any of you has problems with the kef 104-2 let me kno i will let you now all i have learn. They are superb. Speakers. I don't know how much i have expend to listen same quality speakers today days.
Thank you all.

 

Pictures please!

 

Congrats on taking the time to get a great pair of speakers back the way you wanted them. If you did take any pic would second on seeing them. Enjoy!!

 

Used to own a pair of Kubed 104.2's in the late 80's. Great speakers! Got the bug to upgrade and came THIS close to getting a pair if the, than, media darling Thiel 3.5's. Went so far as to have a dealer lend me a pair so I had 'em in my house, that's close! But once I heard my Spendor S100's, the choice was clear, still own them to this day!

 

I had a pair for 25 years. Great spearkers in d’Appolito configuration. Sold them when the woofers started to fail one after the others but took me a long time to find a replacement MG1.6.

Have fun!

 

I purchased my 104.2 Kefs in early 1985. I loved them for about 30 years until they finally wore out. I was not able to purchase any drivers since they were so old. I didn't want to replace the drivers with anything but original parts so my son uses them now as display stands for some art. The cabinets and grills still look great. With the metal rod connecting the 2 bass drivers I don't know if anyone would make such specialized drivers.

 

Just noticed this, I feel like buying them but...
KEF Reference 104/2 Speakers 200W Cherry

 

Not quite sure why anyone would have to replace the whole driver. Specialized repair shop are usually reconing them, leaving the spaker frame intact. In my case they also replaced the coil at that time. I might have exagrate a tad using the Kube!

 

Did you get the cap kit from Falcon?

 

Congrats! Enjoy your speakers!

I used to have a pair 105/2 which had a similar issue. Back then I used to live in Venezuela and wasn't able to find the parts to repair them. Shame as I had to sell them for scrap... yeah, I know.

 

Same model I have and enjoy listening to every day. If they work they are well worth the price. The donuts are easily visible (and photographable) through the front port holes.

 

I have a non restored pair and I like them but I wouldn't pay more than $300 for a non restored pair.

 

Which is a fair price... 10 Years ago, I sold mine $500 w/o the Kube.

 

Dear Ronm: Respect your opinion but yes i paid $300.00 for the kef 104-2 and around $150.00 for parts. They now sound as they should. Can you tell me what speakers i can buy today for $450.00? Those apeakers were $3000.00 back in the 80's. Trust me those speakers worth lots of $ today.