KEF SP1053 Calinda speakers not working.

 

New member
Username: Dekline

Post Number: 1
Registered: Feb-10
KEF SP1053 Calinda speakers not working. The woofer at the top barely has sound coming out of it, the tweeter no sound, and the bigger speaker at the bottom has no sound. The bottom speaker is more square shaped and flat. Both speakers are doing the same thing. They came with huge cables that look like braided rope. One end of the speaker cord has braided wire, and the other end is like a jack that slides into the speaker. I bought the speakers, a Parasound amp HCA 1200, and Parasound preamp P/FET 900 all together. When I hooked up other speakers to the amp they work fine. Are they blown? Is there something I'm not doing right?
Thanks
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 14537
Registered: Dec-04
The wires are crossed somewhere.
Identify each conductor and post pics.
 

New member
Username: Dekline

Post Number: 2
Registered: Feb-10
I don't have a digital camera to post any pics.
Do you mean the wires leading out from the speaker are crossed or the wire inside the cabinets? Ive tried switching the cables around from amp to speaker. The top woofer is glued in and won't come out after taking the four screws out. The tweeter comes out with four screws removed. The bottom speaker is glued in too. I just find it odd, if they are blown, both would go at the same time. Is it possible one could be blown and it would cause the other two to not work? Or is there something inside the cabinet that went out?
Thanks
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 14489
Registered: May-04
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The crossovers are wired in parallel and, if one driver stops working, the other drivers are still fed a signal. These are some rather old speakers that could have been through quite a bit of abuse. Or not. It is very unusual for two speakers of a set to be so catastrophically damaged in the exact same fashion.


I'm going to guess you bought these speakers without ever hearing them play. If that's the case, bad on you.



There is very little reason why only one driver would produce just a little bit of sound while the others are dead. Unless the voice coils are damaged a driver tends to either work or not work as there's very little that can go wrong with the driver itself. If the seller assured you the speakers worked as designed when they were shipped, then the problem is very likely to be on your end and is in most cases a matter of incorrect connections.


To begin with try testing the speakers for operation with a 9V battery. Use a simple zip cord or lamp cord test cable stripped at both ends or one of the speaker cables you have that you know is in good shape and that has nice clean, stripped ends twisted tightly without frays. Connect one end of the zip cord to the speakers as if you were connecting to an amplifier, one leg of the cable on each terminal of the speaker making certain you have good clean connections with no strands of cabling touching the other terminal or any bare wire. Hold one leg of the test cable on the "+" terminal of the battery while you flick the other leg across the "-" terminal. When you touch the battery terminal you should visibly notice movement in the larger drivers but not in the tweeter. If you notice no movement in any driver and you are sure you've done the test properly, the speakers have internal problems.


It is still very unlikely both speakers would be totally destroyed. Report back with your findings of the test.



Finally, if you see movement in the drivers, discard the BS cable that came with the speakers and simply hook them to the amp using conventional speaker cables or whatever you have that works on the other speakers you've tried with this amplifier. Once again, make certain you have good, clean and tight connections with no strands of stray wire protruding from any connector either at the speaker or at the amplifier. Observe correct polarity when connecting the speakers, red speaker terminal to red amplifier terminal and black to black paying attention to the polarity markings on the cable to ensure correct hookup.


If this still produces no sound from the KEF's, have you tried the speakers with any other amplifier?


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Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 14540
Registered: Dec-04
The funky cables are not by chance connect across both A and B are they?
Do you select only a speakers with those cables?

Could the very low sound just be cross-talk or leakage at high frequencies?

Pull out some new rip cord, indeed.
 

New member
Username: Dekline

Post Number: 3
Registered: Feb-10
On the back of my amp there is a connection for bridging. I don't have anything hooked up to it. Is this why I"m not getting sound? I tried the test with the 9V battery and I got movement with both woofers. There is also a hole between the speakers - and + cables. It looks like something should go in there. .....I can see a connection inside of it.
Thanks
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 14495
Registered: May-04
.

Bridging the amplifier has nothing to do with the speakers not producing sound unless the amplifier had been bridged by the previous owner, left that way for sale and you are not making the correct hookups for a bridged amplifier. If the amplifier operates normally with other speakers, which you indicate it does, then the amp is not bridged or bridging is at the very least not the issue here. With what you've posted it is safe to conclude the amplifier is working as expected in stereo mode and is outputting sufficient voltage to drive a speaker. If there's something you've left out, then that conclusion could be tossed out in the future.


You appear to be out of your league as far as logically sorting out problems and in describing the system when you get down to "there's a hole between the speakers - and + cables". Understand that the key to troubleshooting is logic and eliminating one item and then the next item until you have nothing left but the problem component. Otherwise you're just p*ssing into the wind as you try scattershot approaches without a pattern for elimination of probable causes.


If the battery test indicates voltage is arriving at the driver's voice coil, then there is no apparent reason the speakers shouldn't operate. If there's something you've left out, then that conclusion could be tossed out in the future.

If the amplifier operates with the other speakers, there is no apparent reason to suspect the amplifier is at fault.


That doesn't leave much to have not operating.


Did you try other cables on the KEF's?

You sort of have to answer questions or we can't help you.

Have you looked on line for an owner's manual for these speakers? Have you contacted the seller for assistance? We can assume the system was operational when it was sold, right? Or did you not ask? Because you never actually heard the system play, right?



You posted "speakers", does this mean neither speaker system - left or right channel - is operating in any way? Or just one speaker doesn't work?


Is there a service shop or audio shop of better quality than Best Buy for you to ask about this problem? If so, I would suggest you try other speaker cables with the KEF's and then, if they are still non-operational, draw out the connections for the system and ask someone for help who is able to see what you are describing.



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Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 14499
Registered: May-04
.

How many connection posts are on the rear of each KEF speaker, two or four?


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New member
Username: Dekline

Post Number: 4
Registered: Feb-10
Each speakers has two holes for connections.......one positive and one neg......and there is small hole between those posts where it looks likes something plugs in there. So the answer would be two connections. I'll admitt I'm not very tech when It comes to stereo stuff. I just need to take them to a shop to get them checked out. Both speakers are not working. I bought these speakers with a Parasound P/FET 900 preamp and a Parasound HCA 1200 amp. They are from a 2nd hand store. They said when they took them out of the house everything was working. The owner had passed away. I paid 20bucks for each speaker and 20 for each amp. So 80 is invested here. And yes my amp works with my old Boston Acoustic A 70 speakers.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 14501
Registered: May-04
.

Let's try this one more time, have you tried different speaker cables with the KEF's?



"They said when they took them out of the house everything was working."


Not that you shouldn't trust a second hand dealer because I'm certain they did everything possible to assure their performance but your speakers are working, the battery test indicates voltage is reaching the drivers.


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New member
Username: Dekline

Post Number: 5
Registered: Feb-10
I havn't tried different speakers cables because they are special cables.
I took them to a store today that sells musical instruments and PA equipment and they didn't have anything that to hook up to them. He said they only deal in Prosound. Two guys were in the store and they said they hadn't seen any speaker like mine. They said it does have another place in the back of my speaker for something to drive it. They said they are biaxle speakers. Nobody on this board has seen these 70s speakers before and might know how to get these to work?
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 14550
Registered: Dec-04
Nobody can borrow a 50$ camera to help themselves?
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 14551
Registered: Dec-04
http://www.audiocircuit.com/index.php?c=KEF&m=103.2&models=2
 

Gold Member
Username: Gavdawg

Albany, New York

Post Number: 1437
Registered: Nov-06
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/122000-kef_calinda_pair_speakers_vintage_ all_original_excellent_condition/

there is some info about your speakers.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 14506
Registered: May-04
.

I sold KEF in the '70's but not the Calinda. However, KEF was not a company that played around with oddball schemes to sell their speakers. I cannot recall ever hearing of anyone producing a "bi-axial" speaker and I have no idea what that would suggest as far as design and certainly not as far as connections. I would say you were talking to a couple of people who've had their head in dark spaces for too long a time and who might have preferred to sound like they knew what you had when they had never in their life seen a Calinda just as they admitted.

The speaker shown in the advertisement is definitely not a "co-axial" speaker. Every speaker built by KEF at or around this time was a monopole, multi-way system without any quirks. There is nothing to work with having the advice those two fellows familiar only with pro sound reinforcement gear offered.



The concept of bi-wiring and even bi-amping did not evolve for another decade after the Calinda's time. There is nothing I can think of that would be an alternative connection to the typical two post hook up that was the standard in the '70's. Therefore, I have no idea what "special cables" you might be referring to.

Why don't you just try a regular ol' speaker cable and find out what happens? You cannot physically damage the speakers by using a piece of zip cord for a cable. Try it, it might solve your problem.


Otherwise, we've ascertained the speakers are capable of driver movement when voltage is applied to their terminals. We've also determined the amps are operating as they should. As I said previously, that doesn't leave much between the amp and speakers that could be at fault.


Stop making this difficult and try a new cable - there is nothing else we can do for you until you determine whether the "special" cable is at fault.


OK?


.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 14560
Registered: Dec-04
3$ for 50' foot wire will do...likely forever.
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