Will KEF Q35 speakers work okay with Cambridge Audio CXA61 Integrated Amp

fobos8

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Hi guys
I have an old pair of KEF Q35s which sound great. I paired them with an equally old Marantz amp with has finally died. It's been repaired numerous times over the year I've decided to finally bin it.

I'm thinking about getting a CXA61 Integrated Amp to power the speakers. Is there any reason why it wouldn't work or not be a good idea. I live in the Channel Islands so won't be able to audition the amp with my speakers.

Kind regards, Andrew
 
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Oxfordian

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Hi guys
I have an old pair of KEF Q35s which sound great. I paired them with an equally old Marantz amp with has finally died. It's been repaired numerous times over the year I've decided to finally bin it.

I'm thinking about getting a CXA61 Integrated Amp to power the speakers. Is there any reason why it wouldn't work or not be a good idea. I live in the Channel Islands so won't be able to audition the amp with my speakers.

Kind regards, Andrew

Running my Q35’s through an old Arcam Alpha 8 amp and I have to agree with you they are a pretty good speaker. No idea if the CXA61 will work as I am just getting back into hifi after a longish break, good luck finding a suitable amp.
 

fobos8

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Thanks for your help guys. This may seem like a stupid question but are there any disadvantages to pairing a pair of 21-year-old speakers with a 2021 amp?

Regards, Andrew
 

muljao

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Something like this can plug into your computer and feed the digital into your amp rather than buying a dedicated sound card or dac, should you go down that route.

It may be worthwhile also looking at a nad d3020 or d3045, I believe both can be squired from their websites and have the usb built in, might be a suitable second amp to consider
 
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Thanks for your help guys. This may seem like a stupid question but are there any disadvantages to pairing a pair of 21-year-old speakers with a 2021 amp?

Regards, Andrew
Nope! The only issue with older speakers is they can begin to weaken or fail. Surrounds can rot or crumble, and tweeters with ferrofluid can gum up. But KEF are pretty tough in my experience.
Here is a recent picture of my Dad’s 1981 KEF Coda 2 speakers getting a blasting with my 2017 Primare I32 amp. They still sound fine. Does that reassure you?
View: https://imgur.com/0DrYlOI
 
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Quite simply no. As long as they have been kept away from heat sources and bright light the rubber on the cones will be good. Tweeters as stated could be getting dry but I doubt it. The one thing that might need just a little peak at will be the crossovers. But again I doubt it.

As long as the amp as enough power which I’m sure it dose sit back and enjoy. They don’t make speakers like that any more.
 
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fobos8

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As long as they have been kept away from heat sources and bright light the rubber on the cones will be good.

Thanks for your comments guys.

Here is a picture of one of them. They've been in a south-facing storage room for about 10 years. You can see the cone is distorted. The last time they were used my daughter was playing tiny bopper music to her friends so they sounded rubbish anyway.

Do the mid-range drivers need replacing due to the distorted cones? I have seen several on an auction website.

Cheers, Andrew


20210422_071801.jpg
 
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Thanks for your comments guys.

Here is a picture of one of them. They've been in a south-facing storage room for about 10 years. You can see the cone is distorted. The last time they were used my daughter was playing tiny bopper music to her friends so they sounded rubbish anyway.

Do the mid-range drivers need replacing due to the distorted cones? I have seen several on an auction website.

Cheers, Andrew


View attachment 2374

Hate to say it but that distortion is not from the heat that's from being over driven.
See a lot with these speakers,

If the cone looks that on the outside i suspect the diaphragm on the inside is probably not looking to healthy

I'd say the cone needs replacing.
 
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fobos8

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Hate to say it but that distortion is not from the heat that's from being over driven.
See a lot with these speakers,

If the cone looks that on the outside i suspect the diaphragm on the inside is probably not looking to healthy

I'd say the cone needs replacing.

Thanks Millenia_one

I've seen replacement pairs of drivers online which aren't too expensive. Out of interest in what way does a distorted cone affect the sound, does it make it sound less true, distorted?

Regards, Andrew
 
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@fobos8 Think about it like a car, if the wheels aren't weighted right the car will drift and your fighting to control it and its start to cause mechanical wear.

The driver is a piston it needs to run true, you could in the very very worst cases cause a blowout and causing feedback and damage to your new amp. But a cone causes all sort of funny effects and timing issues that you just dont realise till you get a replacement part as you have got used to the sound. For the sake of a few bob and 10mins of your time changing out the cone id buy a new one.

If not you'll end up spent more in the long run.
 

fobos8

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Thanks again guys. Well, they do sound bloody awful at the moment. I assumed it was the amp as both speakers sound bad, but both speakers have distorted cones. It's like the timing in the music has gone and there is not middle-low frequency.

Maybe the amp is okay and the speakers are faulty?
 

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