Kef 103/4 Need help in overhauling,No bass at all

Hey Alex,

I am glad to meet another 103/4 owner, salutatios.

You did what? Remove all the bass UNITS? You mean the dual 6 inche drivers in the chamber? You GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!

I own a pair of 103/4, and I used to think I needed a sub as well. I did a lot of minor tweaking, positioning, and cable upgrades, and now the speakers doesn't need a sub, unless you want 20 hz.

One of the best features on the 103/4 is the push pull dual 6 inch drivers. They control the low mid bass like no other speaker I've heard. I prefer them over the 104/2 because the 103's have no midrange coloration. It is a pity you took them out.

Regarding positioning, these speakers need a lot of room. I place them 5 feet from walls, and I even elevated them 1 foot off the ground. The bass fills my 20x25 livingroom, no problem.

What equipment are you using?

One tweak that made all the difference, lower frequency wise, is when I "floated" my amp. I placed a phone book underneath my amp. This greatly improved lower frequency bloom. I kid you not!

If you have to go with a sub, I've heard the KEF with a 10 year old model Klipsch subwoofer, 15 inch. They absolutely synergize. Second recommendation would be ULD-15 from velodyne. The latter is smoother sounding, but the Klipsch really brings out the 3 dimensionality of the KEFs. The improvements are staggering.

Removing the bass drivers and crossovers does not sound like the correct procedure. If you add a sub, you will have to cross it over so high that it will sound very muddy and will also make it easy to localize. I think you should leave the original drivers and xover and add a sub if need be. Do not run the KEFs through the xover. Let them roll off on their own and set the sub for the lowest xover setting that you feel gives you the bass needed. This allows you to position the speakers where they image the best without trying to re-enforce bass frequencies. And not running the KEF's through a xover keeps them purer sounding.

Robert Wear

Yup, I totally agree.

When I set up the 103/4 witht he Klipsch sub, the KEFs were running full range while the sub was xovered at 80hz. Placement was best directly facing the speakers, directly behind the listener. The midhighs to highs will have an errie effect with this set. Very 3 dimensional.