Issue with Kef iq7''s

[Kruz]

Hello,

Look for some suggestions to remedy an issue I have with my kef iq7's. A couple of days ago my wife was listening to the speakers (watching tv at a regular not loud level) and the low end of the sound just disappeared. Both speakers still work but the sound sounds almost hallow and there is a serious lack of bass from them.

A couple of facts:

The speakers are almost 10 years old and are rarely driven hard.

We think the change happened at once for both speakers. I'm wondering though if I would have heard a big difference if one stopped producing bass a while ago and the second one just failed now.

I first thought it was a connection so tried different sources and switched out cables with no luck.

Next I thought it was the receiver so I picked up a new one at bestbuy and hooked it up. No real change in sound. The old and new receiver were a pioneer vsx-523-k (or similar).

Is there anything I can still try other than having a repair man look at the speakers?

Thanks for having a read.

 

[Pyrrho]

I would check the jumpers used in lieu of bi-wiring the speakers. If there is a bad connection, then you may not be getting the bass if the speaker wires are connected to the higher frequency portion. You can plug into the lower frequency portion to see if you get bass, and if you do, then this is the problem.

This, of course, is going with your idea that maybe there was a problem with one of them before, and was just noticed now when the second one became a problem, as it is unlikely that both would suddenly stop being well-connected at the same time.

 

[Kruz]

Pyrrho, thanks for the reply. Can you elaborate a little as to how I check the wiring? Right now there is a left and right (black and red) portion of the cable using banana plugs.

I would check the jumpers used in lieu of bi-wiring the speakers. If there is a bad connection, then you may not be getting the bass if the speaker wires are connected to the higher frequency portion. You can plug into the lower frequency portion to see if you get bass, and if you do, then this is the problem.

This, of course, is going with your idea that maybe there was a problem with one of them before, and was just noticed now when the second one became a problem, as it is unlikely that both would suddenly stop being well-connected at the same time.

 

[Pyrrho]

With your speakers, there are two sets of binding posts (for a total of four: Two black, and two red), not just one set (a total of two: one black and one red), right? The manual shows this:

http://www.kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/00s/iQ1_iQ3_iQ5_iQ7_iQ9_iQ2c_iQ6c_iQ8ds_Installation_Manual.pdf

In order for you to get sound from all of the speakers in each speaker cabinet, your wire has to be somehow connected to both red and both black connectors (that is, your red or positive wire must connect to both red or positive connections on the speaker, and the black or negative wire must connect to both black or negative connections). With a single wire connection (which I recommend, by the way), you need a "jumper" wire that connects between the two. Typically, this is dependent upon the terminals being tightly (hand tight, not crazy tight) screwed down on the wire (or metal tab in some cases) that connects both black speaker connectors together and both red speaker connectors together. If one is loose, it may not be making a good connection, and you may effectively be running your speakers with the deep bass driver not hooked up.

Again, you can test this issue by simply moving your speaker wires from the one set of terminals to the other, and if you then get deep bass, you will need to tighten the terminals onto the jumpers to solve your problem (assuming the connecting jumper has not fallen out). If you don't get deep bass then, you will either be looking at a receiver/processor setting, or problems in your speakers, either with the internal wiring or your bass drivers.

 

[lsiberian]

All your bass dropped out for all your speakers? If so it's probably a receiver setting issue or something broke on it. Do you have another amp to test the speakers with?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

 

[Kruz]

That makes much more sense. Thanks for getting into more detail with that. I had totally forgotten about the metal tab that connects both red and black terminals to each other. I played around with these and with using either one set or the other but still no luck. Looks like this has to be a speaker issue since I have eliminated everything else (receiver, sources, connectors, etc). Actually the last thing to eliminate is the speaker cable themselves but I don't have much hope for this option.

I guess I will have to move up the time frame for the upgrade I am looking to do this year. That's not that bad of a thing all things considered .

With your speakers, there are two sets of binding posts (for a total of four: Two black, and two red), not just one set (a total of two: one black and one right), right? The manual shows this:

http://www.kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/00s/iQ1_iQ3_iQ5_iQ7_iQ9_iQ2c_iQ6c_iQ8ds_Installation_Manual.pdf

In order for you to get sound from all of the speakers in each speaker cabinet, your wire has to be somehow connected to both red and both black connectors (that is, your red or positive wire must connect to both red or positive connections on the speaker, and the black or negative wire must connect to both black or negative connections). With a single wire connection (which I recommend, by the way), you need a "jumper" wire that connects between the two. Typically, this is dependent upon the terminals being tightly (hand tight, not crazy tight) screwed down on the wire (or metal tab in some cases) that connects both black speaker connectors together and both red speaker connectors together. If one is loose, it may not be making a good connection, and you may effectively be running your speakers with the deep bass driver not hooked up.

Again, you can test this issue by simply moving your speaker wires from the one set of terminals to the other, and if you then get deep bass, you will need to tighten the terminals onto the jumpers to solve your problem (assuming the connecting jumper has not fallen out). If you don't get deep bass then, you will either be looking at a receiver/processor setting, or problems in your speakers, either with the internal wiring or your bass drivers.

 

[lsiberian]

That makes much more sense. Thanks for getting into more detail with that. I had totally forgotten about the metal tab that connects both red and black terminals to each other. I played around with these and with using either one set or the other but still no luck. Looks like this has to be a speaker issue since I have eliminated everything else (receiver, sources, connectors, etc). Actually the last thing to eliminate is the speaker cable themselves but I don't have much hope for this option.

I guess I will have to move up the time frame for the upgrade I am looking to do this year. That's not that bad of a thing all things considered .

Are you comfortable with electronics? If not you may need to get a friend who is to peak inside for you.