2nd Hand Kef Q65.2 Speakers Query

[NewPowerG]

I am thinking of purchasing these speakers from a friend second hand - $300 AUD for the pair. I believe they retailed for around $1800 AUD new. They are around 2 years old.

http://www.kef.com/history/1990_2/q_series/Q65point2.htm

Anyway, my friend has been kind enough to let me demo them at home and I must say I do like the sound they produce. Being a newbie, this probably does not account for much but suffice to say they sounds alot better than the $2 book shelf speakers I had been using.

One thing that has caught my attention though is that at the back of the speakers there is a "port" (excuse my ignorance) which is stuffed with a piece of foam. Is this foam meant to be there or was it part of the speaker packaging that was never removed !?

I have taken them out and I can't notice any difference in sound......

Thanks in advance and if you think I can spend my money better elsewhere I'd be more than interested to hear your alternatives. Although for the money I thought I can't go to wrong.

Cheers
James

 

[Leprkon]

One thing that has caught my attention though is that at the back of the speakers there is a "port" (excuse my ignorance) which is stuffed with a piece of foam. Is this foam meant to be there or was it part of the speaker packaging that was never removed !?

I have taken them out and I can't notice any difference in sound......

Cheers
James

putting foam blocks in ports was biggest in the late 80's. the idea was that you could use the foam to tune the speaker to your house. it controls how much bass is ported out the back and can be left in unless you use full volume all the time.

you can also pull the foam out and just tune the speakers by moving them closer to or further from the wall. i'd take the deal in a minute.

 

[gregz]

Many ported speakers do sound better to me with the ports blocked. It can help remove the upper bass boominess that some manufacturers design to make speakers sound "bigger" in the showroom.

Also, depending upon design choices made by the manufacturer, unported speakers can often sound tighter and less sloppy than some ported designs, especially with rock and jazz.