KEF Direct Blemished Speaker Cabinets

[exm]

I hear ya. As a retired carpenter (and still avid woodworker) I used to build cabinetry. One time I purchased a few sheets of Chinese sourced birch ply that I left it in the shop overnight. The outgassing was so bad my eyes watered and I literally had difficulty breathing. I returned it …all windows in the van wide open …to the local Big Box store and never purchased plywood from them ever again. It was meant for built in drawers for a child’s bedroom.

One hopes that the US Formaldehyde standards will apply to the KEFs. How one regulates such a standard through the maze of individually manufactured products is likely an impossible task. Truth be known, so much of what we own has Chinese sourced wood composites and plywoods, it’s kind of a crap shoot.

Apologies for digressing from the thread…gotta do something while I wait for the delivery guys!

That’s one of the reasons why Reference series are so expensive. Hand build in the UK, excellent cabinet quality. I have owned the older Reference, R series and now the new Reference and I can tell you that the R Series cabinets are nowhere near the same level as the Reference ones.

 

[Dmitri]

Just picked up by UPS. Next wait for KEF to exchange and send me what I paid for.

Mine have arrived and are pristine, despite a hole in the side of one box that literally tore the foam bag surrounding the speaker but fortunately caused no damage. I’m impressed. For a basic gloss black box, I don’t see how the overall finish could be much better.

Sean, I wish you luck and ultimate satisfaction with your purchase. I‘ve got some tweaking to do, but so far my new R11’s have put a huge smile on my face.…and I hope the same will be true for you. Keep us posted.

 

[Dmitri]

Just took a picture of the boxes for return and noticed this statement about formaldehyde.

I took the same photo…no need to post it now!
Looks like I can return the Steven Wilson signature gas mask… ; )

 

[seanhyatt]

Mine have arrived and are pristine, despite a hole in the side of one box that literally tore the foam bag surrounding the speaker but fortunately caused no damage. I’m impressed. For a basic gloss black box, I don’t see how the overall finish could be much better.

Sean, I wish you luck and ultimate satisfaction with your purchase. I‘ve got some tweaking to do, but so far my new R11’s have put a huge smile on my face.…and I hope the same will be true for you. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the update. I am glad it worked out.

 

[seanhyatt]

For full disclosure the following is what KEF wrote me. It seems this order is most likely a black swan.

Good Afternoon Sean,

We are not waiting for your return to arrive, just to know it is in transit. We have prepared your order for shipment today based on you letting us know the speakers were in transit. We did open the boxing to inspect the contents. When you and I spoke you specifically said "I would prefer if we inspect them before shipping."

We absolutely want your original pair of speakers back as we need to investigate how it was that you received these speakers with these cosmetic defects from seemingly unopened boxes. That is highly unusual and not something we have ever had happen before, especially with no shipping damage to the packages.

Every product marked as new and sold to any customer as new is in fact new. We would never and have never knowingly shipped a used/refurbished product to a customer who had ordered brand new speakers.

We opted to inspect the contents of the packages due to the previous issues and challenges with getting them placed in your listening space. We do not want you to have to go through this experience again. While we are absolute confident that what is being shipped is brand new and without defect, we were also confident about this with the first pair.

Our offer to provide additional discount to your original purchase was only made because you had indicated you may be interested in this option to avoid having to repackage them. This is not an offer we typically make and thought it would make the process easier for you.


Please let us know if you have any questions at all.

 

[Dmitri]

Sounds pretty reasonable Sean…Obviously I can’t speak to their statement for the reason for offering a discount, but at the very least it seems they are really trying to make things right.

For what it’s worth, the individual I spoke with…who was not the supervisor…was very helpful when it came to setting up my delivery…made sure I had his phone number and name to contact him directly if I had any issues.

Regarding the finish…I really scrutinized my speakers with both incident and direct light, and I could find a few very light swirl marks. My Monitor Audio center is the same. This is me really looking, and in no way evident generally. As a woodworker and create/finish much of my own furniture, I’m pretty retentive about such things. ; )

I suspect your situation was a fluke…or if not and all the above is CYA…Kef’s going to be pretty careful about what they send you regardless.

 

[anarchist]

Has anyone received blemished finishes on New KEF speakers? Is this really so rare. The speakers sound fine.

I just purchased a pair of R11 speakers new from KEF direct. After they were moved to the second story media room I unpacked them and immediately noticed swirl marks, nicks on the finish and a glue like substance sticking to them that does not come off. KEF said they were new, not cured properly and they have never seen anything like that ever.

I received 2 out of 3 with similar problems, purchased from Amazon, judging by packaging and condition of speakers these are re-packaged returns or demos, hence I think such deep discount.
Just returned, $1500 for a used speaker is too much to swallow.

 

[seanhyatt]

What model did you purchase from Amazon. Above is an email I received from KEF where they state specifically they would never sell used or return speakers as new. The boxes of the speakers I received were in new perfect condition.

In any event I am not saying you are wrong. Either major QC issue or something else.

The more people that share their experience good or bad will tell make the situation clearer.

 

[TonyJZX]

their initial response made me laugh

why would you want a pair of hugely cosmetically damaged speakers for $2.100?

if you buy a Mercedes and it has huge paint flaws panel damage, do you expect Mercedes to say "here's $3,000 off your $60,000 car - we dont want it back"

the F' is that? they dont wanna know what happened? i'm assuming this is a junior dispatch clerk who's an F'ing idiot

if you're selling high end goods then you really want to be sure your customer is treated well and $2,400 speakers would be classed as 'luxury' to many

i've worked in production for decades as well and we are morbidly curious to get RMA goods back because we need to see where on our line we have failed

i guess this doesnt exist in some companies

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I figured out this weekend over the last 6 years I have purchased 7 pairs of KEF speakers and have never had an issue until now. I still own five pairs of KEFs.

Jesus, settle down, will you?

Anyway, glad for you that they eventually took it seriously. The discount offer initially was more a provocation than a solution.

 

[Gruesome]

What model did you purchase from Amazon. Above is an email I received from KEF where they state specifically they would never sell used or return speakers as new. The boxes of the speakers I received were in new perfect condition.

In any event I am not saying you are wrong. Either major QC issue or something else.

The more people that share their experience good or bad will tell make the situation clearer.

Actually, at least one of your boxes had an extra set of holes from wider closing staples. They are under the sealing tape, so the box had been stapled shut before.

 

[seanhyatt]

I asked KEF about that and they said the wider marks are to move the boxes in the warehouse. The wider marks did not show any wear.

In the process of unpacking the speakers I took out the staples seen in the picture. It would be difficult to take staples out with no obvious evidence.

Someone with warehouse or shipping experience would know better than me.

I was just really angry that I carefully had the speakers brought up to the 2nd story unpacked and had to do the same thing again in reverse.

Due to the speakers weight and the surprise you may find inside it is equivalent (well not really) to sending someone a boat anchor in a speaker box.

 

[restorer-john]

Actually, at least one of your boxes had an extra set of holes from wider closing staples. They are under the sealing tape, so the box had been stapled shut before.

No, that's how those carton staplers work. The outermost holes are for the arms that fold the staples over in the cardboard. The image shows a factory seal to me.

That said, we used to open the bottom of speakers/hifi components and carefully remove the staples to inspect gear for 'fussy' customers. Then re-staple the cartons with the special stapler in the same holes specifically and re-seal the carton with same width clear tape over the factory tape. Nobody opens gear from the bottom or even looks at it.

 

[seanhyatt]

Actually, at least one of your boxes had an extra set of holes from wider closing staples. They are under the sealing tape, so the box had been stapled shut before.

Possibly

 

[restorer-john]

It would be difficult to take staples out with no obvious evidence.

Someone with warehouse or shipping experience would know better than me.

Not difficult once you know how and have the correct stapler.

 

[Gruesome]

That's how those carton staplers work. The outermost holes are for the arms that fold the staples over in the cardboard. The image shows a factory seal to me.

View attachment 296058

That said, we used to open the bottom of speakers/hifi components and carefully remove the staples to inspect gear for 'fussy' customers. Then re-staple the cartons with the special stapler in the same holes specifically and re-seal the carton with same width clear tape over the factory tape. Nobody opens gear from the bottom or even looks at it.

Interesting. I never noticed that second set of holes before.

 

[seanhyatt]

That's how those carton staplers work. The outermost holes are for the arms that fold the staples over in the cardboard. The image shows a factory seal to me.

View attachment 296058

That said, we used to open the bottom of speakers/hifi components and carefully remove the staples to inspect gear for 'fussy' customers. Then re-staple the cartons with the special stapler in the same holes specifically and re-seal the carton. Nobody opens gear from the bottom or even look at it.

The R10 are really heavy. As I have unpacked and repacked them it is very difficult to do so without the box showing wear. IF they were repackaged a new box was used.

The boxes R10 arrived in were in better condition than the speakers.

 

[seanhyatt]

No, that's how those carton staplers work. The outermost holes are for the arms that fold the staples over in the cardboard. The image shows a factory seal to me.

View attachment 296058

That said, we used to open the bottom of speakers/hifi components and carefully remove the staples to inspect gear for 'fussy' customers. Then re-staple the cartons with the special stapler in the same holes specifically and re-seal the carton with same width clear tape over the factory tape. Nobody opens gear from the bottom or even looks at it.

The boxes were stapled both on the bottom and top.

 

[restorer-john]

The boxes were stapled both on the bottom and top.

I'm not saying yours were repacks.

But I am telling you it can be done, quite easily, once you know how. It was one of the first things I was taught by an older salesperson when people demanded 'factory sealed', 'untouched by human hands' HiFi gear. Speakers were pretty much always opened and resealed as they were most likely items to have suffered transport damage, even if the carton looked perfect.

 

[seanhyatt]

I'm not saying yours were repacks.

But I am telling you it can be done, quite easily, once you know how. It was one of the first things I was taught by an older salesperson when people demanded 'factory sealed', 'untouched by human hands' HiFi gear. Speakers were pretty much always opened and resealed as they were most likely items to have suffered transport damage, even if the carton looked perfect.

One of these two pictures is of a box that was opened and resealed.