Repair or replace 1987 KEF speakers?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

Back in 1987, I bought a pair of KEF speakers and an NAD receiver, and
their performance (in terms of what I can perceive as "good" sound)
has been fine. But a couple weeks ago, one of the tweeters fell out
of its mount, so I need to either repair or replace the speakers.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how to decide which to do.

Is repairing a 17-year-old loudspeaker like repairing a 17-year old
car: you can expect something else to go wrong a month later? Or
would it be like repairing a 17-year-old computer: the products have
gotten so much better since then, you might as well bite the bullet
and buy a whole new machine? Or is the cost of repairing old stereo
speakers generally low compared to the cost of replacing them with a
similar-quality model? Is speaker repair something that any hi-fi
store can do? If not, how can I find a good repair shop? (I live
near Philly, PA.)

Part of my decision is also based on changing needs. The KEF speakers
are about two feet high, and one food deep and wide. When I bought
them, I didn't care about their size. Now I'm married, and we have
the stereo in our tiny living room, so if we could find a tiny speaker
that sounded as good (or better), we might be willing to cough up the
dough to buy new speakers instead of replacing the old ones.

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

Regards,

John

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

Exactly what went wrong such that they need repair ? -- most KEF drivers
show up on EBay and there is nothing irrepairable in the crossover.

With respect to size -- there are physical tradeoffs between bass extension
and the physical volume of a speaker cabinet. There are no free lunches, no
matter what Bose tells you.

Jack

"j.stevens" <pushprogress@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ci5ab502luj@news3.newsguy.com...
> Back in 1987, I bought a pair of KEF speakers and an NAD receiver, and
> their performance (in terms of what I can perceive as "good" sound)
> has been fine. But a couple weeks ago, one of the tweeters fell out
> of its mount, so I need to either repair or replace the speakers.
> Unfortunately, I have no idea how to decide which to do.
>
> Is repairing a 17-year-old loudspeaker like repairing a 17-year old
> car: you can expect something else to go wrong a month later? Or
> would it be like repairing a 17-year-old computer: the products have
> gotten so much better since then, you might as well bite the bullet
> and buy a whole new machine? Or is the cost of repairing old stereo
> speakers generally low compared to the cost of replacing them with a
> similar-quality model? Is speaker repair something that any hi-fi
> store can do? If not, how can I find a good repair shop? (I live
> near Philly, PA.)
>
> Part of my decision is also based on changing needs. The KEF speakers
> are about two feet high, and one food deep and wide. When I bought
> them, I didn't care about their size. Now I'm married, and we have
> the stereo in our tiny living room, so if we could find a tiny speaker
> that sounded as good (or better), we might be willing to cough up the
> dough to buy new speakers instead of replacing the old ones.
>
> Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.
>
> Regards,
>
> John

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

pushprogress@yahoo.com (j.stevens) wrote in message news:<cid6kh07h6@news4.newsguy.com>...
> Bob and Jack, thanks for your replies. Assuming the cost of a
> comparable-sounding pair of speakers hasn't increased since 1987, we'd
> have to spend ~ $500 to replace the KEFs. If repair costs will run
> ~$75 plus parts, then reviving the KEFs could be less than half the
> price of new comparable speakers. In that case, I think we can learn
> to live with them in our cramped quarters.
>
> For what it's worth, our NAD receiver is rated at ~ 70W. As far as
> "hi-fi" recordings go, we like to listen to jazz, rock and reggae (I
> also like a lot of stuff that is low-fi, e.g., old blues recordings,
> but no audio equipment will make that stuff sound better than the
> limits of its recording). Also, we don't crave the kind of obnoxious,
> overbearing bass that seems to be in fashion these days. What would
> you recommend as good candidates for us in the $250/pr range? Or is
> that a question that's "off topic" in a forum that's limited to
> high-end audio ;-)
>
Obvious choices would be the PSB Alphas and Paradigm Titans (or Atoms,
if you want to go even smaller). Highly regarded by people who
wouldn't be caught dead with a $250 speaker. They're about half the
size of your KEFs, so they may not go as deep, but what they do may
well be cleaner. They're also available in a variety of finishes, so
you can choose a look that will blend into the surroundings better.

bob