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Has anyone lost a KEF tweeter?

Wednesday I had a beautiful sounding system and Thursday morning the right side was so much louder and the left side was muddy sounding. I switched interconnects.  I switched speaker cables. Then I pulled out a test disk and played a 10khz tone.  Yep the tweeter in my left KEF Reference 5 speaker isn’t working.  I called KEF USA and they told me to call a couple of places for service.  The first place hasn’t worked on speakers in 4 years and I’m not sure the second place had even heard of KEF. One thing the guy from KEF said, was that all the speaker cables are soldered on the Reference 5’s. I checked the wires on the back plate and they were fine. So it either the crossover (s) or the tweeter part of the UniQ.
 

Grrr!

128x128curiousjim
jetter
3,033 posts
 

Jerry

But may people think doing technical stuff is for other people that they’d prefer to pay--implying that such stuff is beneath them.

This may be more the way you think about it. I think most are thinking they 1) don’t want to void their warranty, if applicable and 2) don’t want to screw up an expensive speaker if removal of the driver is more than just turning a few screws, which is likely the case here.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,501 posts
 

If you can't source the correct driver from KEF, you may not have many options. There are many different types of the Uni-Q driver. You may have to buy complete replacement units. Call KEF again and inquire about the cost of replacement units. I would also talk to someone in tech help and see if you could use drivers from one of the other cheaper loudspeaker systems and replace the pair with those. Finding someone to repair the Uni-Q driver might be quite difficult or impossible.  

prighello
53 posts
 

Ask Kef if they will replace the uni-q. Or if out of warranty sell you one. The way these things are constructed, if the tweeter is gone, it will be very hard to replace just that part. When folks have blown their uni-q drivers on the q series or LS50, I’ve seen them get replacements of the whole unit directly from Kef by supplying a serial number of the speaker in question. One used to be able to just buy the drivers for diy but Kef put a stop to that about 8 years ago.

At for how to get it off, I am guessing it is front mounted and the trim ring is glued over the flange. Kef should be able to verify this.

Also, one should be able to test the crossover electronically with a meter to rule that out. Good luck.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim OP
4,689 posts
 

@prighello ,

I bought them new 10/21, so I’m hoping to have them send me a new Uniq.

And how to get the old one out. The drivers have a five year warranty.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim OP
4,689 posts
 

@jetter 

I’m with you. I’ll remove a few screws and un-solder and re-solder something and (I’m sure that’s more than a lot of people would do), but that’s about it. I’m also expecting (🤞) something more than lip service from them as well!

 

Now where is my silver solder???

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