[dcg]

I went a bit overboard a few months ago with Telarc's "The Big Picture" cd and blew out a mid on one of my Kef Coda 9s. Not great speakers by any stretch, but still it sucked. I bought these speakers from Bryn Mawr stereo (now Tweeter) a few years ago, and of course they no longer carry Kef. Well, the folks at Kef have finally responded to my emails, with the great news that YES!, they do in fact have replacement drivers, and I can have one for a small pittance - $90 plus shipping!

Umm, come on guys - I paid $300 for the pair of speakers a few years ago, and each speaker has three drivers. Now, anyone familiar with this model knows that Kef certainly didn't spend a lot of money on the cabinets, but give me a break.

These things are worth, at an absolute max, $30, probably closer to $15. However, I believe that Kef makes their own drivers, so I guess I'm out of luck on other sources for replacements. Any suggestions?

 

[Duncan]

I'm not really a speaker person, my Cyrus 751s have been sitting pretty for about 7 years now, so I may be speaking out of context here...

But, the driver thats blown... what size is it? 5cm? (with a 3cm tweeter?) wouldn't the cross-over to a certain extent control how the midrange unit sounded? as long as something of equivilant quality (or not as the case may be??) was used in place of the defective driver?

...And to think that KEF made the best bass drive unit (un-ported) ever...

 

[dcg]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan I'm not really a speaker person, my Cyrus 751s have been sitting pretty for about 7 years now, so I may be speaking out of context here... But, the driver thats blown... what size is it? 5cm? (with a 3cm tweeter?) wouldn't the cross-over to a certain extent control how the midrange unit sounded? as long as something of equivilant quality (or not as the case may be??) was used in place of the defective driver? ...And to think that KEF made the best bass drive unit (un-ported) ever...

It's a 6.5" driver. Unfortunately, you can't just shove an equivalently sized replacement in there (even if it's a higher quality driver, which for $90 you could certainly find). The T/S specs of the new driver would have to match, or it would probably sound pretty bad. Different drivers need different box sizes/xovers/etc.

 

[raymondlin]

It's not uncommon to find spare parts expensive, try to get any Sony spare parts and you'll see, £90 for that inline remote when the minidisc is only £125 ! they must be joking!

On the other hand, they can charge what they want, you need it, they have it. It depends how much you want it. I would get a new pair of speakers and an amp with a protective circut like NAD to stop you blowing any further speakers.

 

[dcg]

Quote:

Originally posted by raymondlin On the other hand, they can charge what they want, you need it, they have it. It depends how much you want it.

I certainly understand that. They're a business, and they need to make money. I don't expect them to sell it to me at cost, and as the owner of an R50 and a d-25s I'm well aware of sony's prices

However, I still think it's a ****ty policy, even from a business standpoint. Does KEF honestly expect me to continue to buy their products when I know that they're going to screw me if I ever need replacement parts? Not likely.

If it were a situation where I had to send the speaker out for repair and there was labor and shipment of whole speakers involved, that might be different. However, all I'm asking for is a single driver that I can easily install myself. Guess I'm out of luck. I'm still trying to decide whether it's worth it to buy...

 

[gerG]

Check with Madisound. They used to carry some of the KEF drivers. They may also have something that is a close match.

Driver replacement is damned tricky. In most cases the crossover has been specifically designed for the original driver . Replacing only one side is even more tricky.

Before you start experimenting, be advised that this is another slippery slope. This is how perfectly sane people get infected by the speaker building bug.

Either way, sorry about your wallet.


gerG

 

[dcg]

I've managed to avoid the speaker building bug by building a set of DIY speakers that sound like pure ass.

There are, however, several kits that I've been very interested in for a few years now coughNorthCreekBorealiscough

 

[gerG]

Well, there you go. It is a sign from above. Time to build a kit! I mean, who ever heard of blowing a midrange? Tweeters get fried and woofers get shredded, but midranges are tough to take out.

Definitely a sign.


gerG

 

[dcg]

Quote:

Originally posted by Greg Freeman Well, there you go. It is a sign from above. Time to build a kit! I mean, who ever heard of blowing a midrange? Tweeters get fried and woofers get shredded, but midranges are tough to take out. Definitely a sign. gerG

hmm, do you think? Funny, I myself commented that it was strange that the mid blew.

Unfortunately, no kits for me at the moment - 4 Axiom M22tis and a VP150 (slightly damaged.

)arrived yesterday! If only Outlaw would get on the ball and ship the 950, I'd be in HT heaven.