# Kef Owners Thread



## FJR (Jul 5, 2012)

I think Kef makes incredible speakers for both music and home theater so we should have a thread here.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

*Re: Kef Speakers*



FJR said:


> I think Kef makes incredible speakers for both music and home theater so we should have a thread here.


Do you own some Kef speakers?

Perhaps Kef owners could share details and experiences in this thread if they're interested.


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## FJR (Jul 5, 2012)

My first Kefs were the Reference 103/4s which I paired with a DefTech Powerfield 1500 sub, simply amazing. A few years back I got the XQ40s with the XQ50c center after trying the Aperion Grand Verus Towers with matching center. The Aperions were much more laid back and great for music but a bit lacking, IMO, for HT. 

The XQs are very good speakers also but not what I had before for music so I recently upgraded to the Reference 205/2 with the 202/2c center. I home auditioned the Revel Ultima Studio2s also which are incredible also. The 205/2s worked better in my room but the driver in my decision was the centers, the Voice2 just wouldn't fit with my setup. 

I know there are many amazing speaker brands but in my limited experience I find Kef works very well for both music (e.g. B&W) and HT (e.g. M&K).


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## pgmdir (May 5, 2008)

I was lucky enough to get a pair of the new 50th anniversary LS 50's at the beginning of December. I completely concur with JA in Stereophile that these are "Class A for smaller rooms". They are only available on the KEF USA website, and are currently out of stock. They're small, but absolutely potent for Jazz, classical, or almost anything. The Clarity and lack of colortion is beyond belief. Knock on the side and you'd swear you were knocking on concrete. I use them with a sub, but twice I've left the sub off and didn't notice till later. Amazing reviews from multiple sources--- google 'em.


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## uncola (Feb 19, 2012)

I have some Kef Q900 front speakers. Great bass and midrange vocals. I got them to use in a bedroom close to a wall and with no space on the sides and they do great since they have a sealed design with passive bass radiator cones on the front. These are my first speakers more than $400 a pair and they were definitely worth the jump in price and I really felt like I had entered audiophile territory with actual sound engineering going into the speaker design past the stuff that can be done by DIY projects. Like the tweeter being inside the midrange woofer etc.


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## FJR (Jul 5, 2012)

pgmdir said:


> I was lucky enough to get a pair of the new 50th anniversary LS 50's at the beginning of December. I completely concur with JA in Stereophile that these are "Class A for smaller rooms". They are only available on the KEF USA website, and are currently out of stock. They're small, but absolutely potent for Jazz, classical, or almost anything. The Clarity and lack of colortion is beyond belief. Knock on the side and you'd swear you were knocking on concrete. I use them with a sub, but twice I've left the sub off and didn't notice till later. Amazing reviews from multiple sources--- google 'em.


I finally got to hear them recently, a phenomenal little speaker. I want to get these as surrounds with my 205/2s for use with multichannel music. Simply amazing! Five of these with dual subs, wow.


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## Acudeftechguy (Jul 8, 2011)

Those LS50 speakers sure measure great on Stereophile.


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## ilok (Jul 20, 2013)

I got a pair on order, can't wait!


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## -Stan- (Feb 4, 2013)

I've owned the 104, 104/2, 105 and now have the 107/2 speakers. My son now has the 104's and he loves them. I've been a fan of KEF's for quite a long time. Their sound just rubs my ears right.


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## FJR (Jul 5, 2012)

Just got done listening to R700s. Pretty amazing speaker, pretty much what I expected except bass was even stronger than anticipated. They were new out of the box today so not yet broke in. Can see how the outer bung in one of the ports might come in handy. Had they had these when I replaced my 103/4s I may have been satisfied and not gone back to Reference. My XQ40s are doing well in surround duty. Kef should be able to bring in new blood with these for sure.


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

Just got my LS50. To be honest, I was kind of underwhelmed. it is too clinical with no emotion. It seems like it is missing its soul. The problem may be lack of bass in the speakers or something else. Or it may be a problem with my set up. And I need all your help to identify the problem before I need to send them back (2 weeks left) and choose another speaker ( may be Kef R300). I have them on Sanus steel stands, yamaha rx v800 amp (100 wpc rms), 2 ft from back wall and 3 ft from side wall. No sub, no DRC.

PLEASE HELP.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

-Stan- said:


> I've owned the 104, 104/2, 105 and now have the 107/2 speakers. My son now has the 104's and he loves them. I've been a fan of KEF's for quite a long time. Their sound just rubs my ears right.


My 105/3 Reference pair served well in my 2ch rig from 1996 thru 2013 with just a refoam of the bass drivers. Their rosewood finish was not just beautiful, but gorgeous. In my experience, you have to spend thousands more to get even close to their fit and finish. 

They have pinpoint imaging and a wide stage they can disappear into. And revealing, too, but not ruthlessly so. They definitely passed on the character of upstream components, rather than imposed their own character upon them. I initially settled on a stock McCormack DNA-1 for musicality, but still miss an auditioned Aragon 4004 that created unbelievably real drum and demo pyrotechnics. The Aragon lost out, though, because of it's sterile musical presentation (to my ears).

The KEF 105/3's don't require gobs of power to drive, as they are quite efficient; but they don't really open up and sing at low volumes. They're good on all musical genre's, and can play to realistic concert-hall levels to their well-over 100dB SPL rating at the end of a capable amplifier. Really! AC/DC Salutes you! 

Yet, an upper midrange glare/hardness seemed to nag me no matter what upstream equipment graced the system, and no matter the source material. But that's just me. I'm sensitive to higher frequencies and prefer a softer presentation. That's why I finally traded them for a pair of B&W CM-9's. I will miss them for a long time.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

shkumar4963 said:


> Just got my LS50. To be honest, I was kind of underwhelmed. it is too clinical with no emotion. It seems like it is missing its soul. The problem may be lack of bass in the speakers or something else. Or it may be a problem with my set up. And I need all your help to identify the problem before I need to send them back (2 weeks left) and choose another speaker ( may be Kef R300). I have them on Sanus steel stands, yamaha rx v800 amp (100 wpc rms), 2 ft from back wall and 3 ft from side wall. No sub, no DRC.
> 
> PLEASE HELP.


If moving the speakers and listening chair around a bit doesn't give you satisfactory bass through boundary reinforcement, you might have to step to a larger loudspeaker.

How big is the room?


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

The listening space is 18 x11 and I sit about 6 ft from the speakers. But the listening space is open to kitchen at the back 18 x 18. How would getting a sub help?


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## chrisletts (Oct 16, 2014)

I've always been a fan of the bigger KEFs, but also always found that the smaller ones weren't to my taste.

The big ones can be very transparent and neutral. The smaller ones often sound to me like they're trying to escape from a box ! (if you know what I mean). Haven't tried the LS50 though, but I'm not surprised that shkumar4963 finds them a bit soulless - they are after all derived from studio monitors so you'd expect them to be clinical.

I'd dearly like to trade in my Reference Model 3~2 for some nice new Reference 3 or 5, but suffer from that dreadful hifi malaise of lack of funds..


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## WLDock (Dec 19, 2009)

Have only personaly owned the egg units but I would love to try the Q series for HT. Of course I would live to try the Ref series also but the price goes up quick with those.


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## chrisletts (Oct 16, 2014)

Should have mentioned that I also have the egg units, which I found to be very mediocre.


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

What is an "egg"unit?


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

Regarding LS50. Floor standing speakers were outlawed by my wife because of small listening space. And R300 dis have a bit more bass but a bit of loose bass and loss of accuracy at mids and highs. Never tried reference line because I was afraid that I would like them.


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

Now hoping that a sub will give it some soul. Anyone who has tried ls50 with sub. What kind of sub and how do you like it.


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## FJR (Jul 5, 2012)

shkumar4963 said:


> Regarding LS50. Floor standing speakers were outlawed by my wife because of small listening space. And R300 dis have a bit more bass but a bit of loose bass and loss of accuracy at mids and highs. Never tried reference line because I was afraid that I would like them.


I have heard really good things about the Reference Ones.


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## chrisletts (Oct 16, 2014)

shkumar4963 said:


> What is an "egg"unit?


They're small egg-shaped KEF surround sound speakers (KHT2005)

see: http://www.kef.com/html/gb/explore/about_kef/museum/2000s/KHT2005/index.html


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## istvan (Jul 5, 2013)

I have rebuilt my front speakers with Kef components. I have a SP3191centre and SP3277 surrounds. I like the uni-q driver.


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

How many people in this group have auditioned Kef ls50 and similar other competitive speakers like B&W 685s2 and CM1 or CM5. What is your preference and why?


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## chrisletts (Oct 16, 2014)

istvan said:


> I have rebuilt my front speakers with Kef components. I have a SP3191centre and SP3277 surrounds. I like the uni-q driver.


I did the same - I did not like the sound of the centre speaker (too 'boxy' ) so removed its innards and built them into the tv stand with a bit of tuning - much better


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## vanderschel (Dec 27, 2012)

I've owned the Reference 4's and 2's for about 15 years, and they still perform well. I use the Reference 2's for a center channel. I have the 200C center channel, but I don't use it.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

shkumar4963 said:


> Now hoping that a sub will give it some soul. Anyone who has tried ls50 with sub. What kind of sub and how do you like it.


A properly integrated sub would really open up the soundstage, making the stage and images within it seem a bit larger. Perhaps adding the "soul" factor you are missing.


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## ilok (Jul 20, 2013)

tesseract said:


> A properly integrated sub would really open up the soundstage, making the stage and images within it seem a bit larger. Perhaps adding the "soul" factor you are missing.


I went down this route, it was an expensive mistake. The LS50 should not be used as fronts, it's missing too much mids as well, the subwoofer won't be able to recover the soul.

The KEF R700 is a much better choice, and at $1300 each, you can skip the subwoofer too.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

shkumar4963 said:


> What is an "egg"unit?


These:
http://www.kef.com/html/us/showroom/home_theatre_speakers/KHT2000.3/fact_sheets/Speakers/HTS2001.3/


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## jcook (Feb 14, 2015)

Have owned and loved my kef 102/2s for about 10 years. For a long time they were used in 2ch stereo music listening only. Now 50/50 2.1ch music and 3.1ch HT with a 100c center. Very impressive speakers in a relatively small package. I would love to demo the new reference line and LS50s, but it would just make me want to spend money I don't have.


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## shkumar4963 (Nov 16, 2014)

Go for it. The LS50's are more refined than the 102s and are smaller. They are voiced more for vocals and are, it seems, clearer than 102s.


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