I have 2 KEF 102/2 references that have been wonderful since 1992. Over the last year the woofers shutdown and when I finally opened the cabinets and removed them I found the foam surrounds dryed up and fell off. 1 speaker seems fine in terms of the rest of the cone/voice coil perspective, the other is seized and will not move in either direction. I called KEF and they said they actually had a pair of replacement woofers but they were not sure they functioned (being in a box since 1990) and they also said they were about 400 for the pair. Amazing thing is that these speakers which now live in my bedroom with my Nak AV-1 still sound great even with the woofers removed. Looking for any advice on if it would pay to try to have them reconed or just purchase a non KEF 4ohm, 6 1/2 inch woofer and not mess with repairing them. Thanks.

Basically, you have four choices - and picking one will depend on your need for a balance somewhere between two extremes:

1) Least cost, sound-not-important
2) Best sound, cost-not-important

Your four choices starting with least cost:

a) Buy replacement non-Kef el cheapo drivers
b) Have existing Kef drivers re-coned by professionals (eg Kef)
c) Have Kef replace drivers with "the right units"
d) Buy new speakers

I would not recommend a) as a worthwhile course of action unless you're really cash-strapped and just want access to your music collection again with no regard to sound quality. The cabinet design/dimensions/porting were all optimised for the Kef driver units and their specific specifications and characteristics, and replacing them with non-Kef units will result in a mismatch which will upset the overall sound and balance of the speakers.

Choice d) is a tricky one - if you really like the sound of those Kef 102/2 speakers, replacing them is not going to be a low-cost exercise.

That leaves b) and c)...

These two options offer a reasonable compromise between retaining the sonic signature of your 102/2s and costing less than choice d).

Re-coning by Kef versus Kef doing driver replacement? Well, re-coning should cost less than driver replacement, while driver replacement assumes that Kef have inventory of the exact same driver-units - not necessarily a safe assumption.

Personally, I'd go with option b) provided Kef (or some really reputable bunch) still offer this re-coning service for the 102/2s. (If it doesn't work out, you still have the option to go for c) and get Kef to do a driver-replacement....

I hope that is of some use....

Thanks for your reply. There is more to it. The replacement drivers from KEF are $250, my main concern is they have been in a box for 15 years. The KEF parts person said they looked okay but the warrenty is only 90 days. Since the voice coils have seized a rebuild by the KEF recommended tech is $350, and that is 100 more than the replacements. Tough call.

Hello,

It's a bit a late reply on this topic, but trough Google I found these. If you still have to repair you speaker, I may have the solution. If I'm correct you have this speaker:



The dustcap was for a time not available, but is now special made. The dustcaps are like original:



If I'm right these speakers are also used in the KEF RR103.4, the dustcaps are in al of the KEF speakers from that time, the RR102 till the the 107.2. However there is a little diverence. The RR102 doesn't (?) have a tube mounted in the centre of the speaker. So in theorie it's possible to mount a normal dustcap. The surround at the edge of the cone is rather standard.

Best regards, Fred