I remember the KEF 104/2s and others here have mentioned them. My question is concerning the reliability of these speakers approaching 20 years old. Are there concerns other than perhaps reconing that one should look out for? Thanks!
How much impact does this have? I have one of my 104/2s that the woofer foam has a few holes in it. Seems to be slowly rotting away.... Seems like they would REALLY hard to replace! SJ
KEF 104/2, 107's and 107/2's all use woofers with foam surrounds that can and do rot with time. Different climates will affect the rate at which this happens. They can be replaced with original equipment parts from KEF or refoamned from any number of repair houses. There is unique inner foam ring on these speakers that is difficult to replace. Have not been able to get the definitive answer whether this is really necessary or just a cosmetic thing.
Pbredi, you hit it on the head, I have lived in Texas and now in Nashville, and if they sit in the garage or attic long enough in Texas, the whole damn thing will rot,melt and fall apart, cause damn, it does get hot and humid in those places. No speaker on earth was designed for that kind of abuse. Nashville and such they just tend to come unglued,and some corrosion on terminals and such
I own 2 pairs of these nice sounding speakers. Over the last few years in my search for them, the only re-coning I have seen that was needed was when the cone, or the connecting part, was pulling away like what Jiva commented on. This pair lived down south and was exposed to a lot of humidity being stored in a garage ;-(...look inside at the woofer with a flashlight to get a status on them.
But the glue does age and lose its bonding abilities from the surrounds and from the area where the cone and spider meet,the actual stress areas and some of the rubber surrounds do fail and fatigue through the years, I just had that problem with a pair of b200 woofers and a pair of LS5 Rogers woofers
I have had a few pair over the years, was and still is a very good speaker for the money spent. IF they sound right to you, highly unlikely there are any problems other than the obvious, surrounds etc.
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