KEF owners thread

[RemoWilliams]

There is a nice pair of 104.2 , the later bi wire version, comes with a Kube as well. Pricing seems quite reasonable and cheaper yet for anyone in the U.S. that is close enough to drive up to Vancouver, B.C.



https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1163358704331624/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:2f2e49d2-80f0-4d7a-8a58-7ba7aec9386e



I already have a pair of the original 105.1 which are good enough.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I am a big Kef fan ever since I got my first pair of Kef 104ab. I then got a pair of Concerto, which my son has now. In the house right now, I have a pair of 103.2, 105, and 107. I love my 105s, and I've used them ever since I got them until I got the 107s. Now the 105s wait for me to get them ready for viewing. I wouldn't exactly call them "just good enough!" though. More like great speakers that led to greater speakers by learning from the 104/2s and the 105, which had a baby called 107.

 

[Mind_Drive]

My beloved 105.1.

I recently got some 105.4s as well. Both fantastic speakers.

 

[Grimrt]

Very Nice!

 

[Mind_Drive]

Evolution, not evolution.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Evolution, not evolution.

Not sure what you mean by that, but both are really good speakers.

 

[cpt_paranoia]

The bases of those otherwise lovely 105.1 and 105.4 seem to have been attacked by rats, or over-zealous hoovering...

 

[Mind_Drive]

Haha, the dreaded autocorrect strikes again! I actually wrote "Evolution, not revolution".

And yes, the bases of the 105.4 have seen better days- they were like this when I got them. Probably true of the big 105s as well- for pretty much their whole time with me they have been on Auralex platforms which help to make them sound better- and act as a vaccum cleaner deflector as a bonus!

 

[matteos]

I can hardly believe it, but a set of blade 2s are coming my way.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

I can hardly believe it, but a set of blade 2s are coming my way.

Whoa...how cool is that?!! Which finish are they? I have seen a pair of used gloss gray with silver Uni-Q drivers at a low $9500US, which shocked me. In a couple years I'm thinking of trying to get a pair for that.

 

[matteos]

Whoa...how cool is that?!! Which finish are they? I have seen a pair of used gloss gray with silver Uni-Q drivers at a low $9500US, which shocked me. In a couple years I'm thinking of trying to get a pair for that.

Yep!! Those were the exact ones I just pulled the trigger on!

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Yep!! Those were the exact ones I just pulled the trigger on!

Cool. How big is your room? Mine is only 13.5 feet x 13.5 feet x 7.5 feet high. I think I could make Blade 2's work in it though.

Going to sell your current R900's, or wait a little while?

 

[matteos]

Cool. How big is your room? Mine is only 13.5 feet x 13.5 feet x 7.5 feet high. I think I could make Blade 2's work in it though.

Going to sell your current R900's, or wait a little while?

it’s an interesting space because it’s open into the dining room and has vaulted ceilings. So length and height there’s plenty of room, but the spot I will put them in is about 12-14 feet wide, so I’m hoping that’s enough for the side firing woofers.

I think I will end up selling the R900s if I am able. They are really great speakers and I will have a little fun doing a side by side comparison between the two. But I doubt they will stand up to the blades.

It was a bit of an impulse buy and has made a big hole in my savings… but what a price! I think these aren’t in perfect cosmetic condition which is why they were on the cheaper side. I had been looking at the blue ones for 12k on that site, thinking how I could talk myself into those, so when these turned up it was becoming very hard to resist. I’d also seen quite a few sets of Reference 3 for about 7k and cheaper and was close to getting a set of those. But my thinking was in a few years I’d want to get the blades. Because the urge to upgrade is always there.

I’m very glad the meta came out, I’m sure they are an improvement but the original blades already had a vented tweeter so I wonder really how much of a difference there is. But obviously a big difference between the blades and the more traditional box speaker layout of the R’s and Reference.

Very stoked. Won’t be getting these for another week.

 

[Hawkeye83]

Did y'all see the Kef Reference 3's for $3500 ($14k new)?!!!!! (Not sure if we are allowed to post links here).
Yeah they didn't last long. I thought about it...they were in Seattle, and wanted local pick-up...I'm in Iowa...perhaps could have talked them into UShip or something.
But yeah if I upgrade from my 107's, it's going to be Blades. It just is. Or Muons...LOL.

 

[Ken Mitchell]

Did y'all see the Kef Reference 3's for $3500 ($14k new)?!!!!! (Not sure if we are allowed to post links here).
Yeah they didn't last long. I thought about it...they were in Seattle, and wanted local pick-up...I'm in Iowa...perhaps could have talked them into UShip or something.
But yeah if I upgrade from my 107's, it's going to be Blades. It just is. Or Muons...LOL.

Didn't see them, glad I didn't because it would just make me sad. In a couple months, perhaps sooner, I'll be offering my 2019-2021 Reference 1's in the Silver Satin Walnut so I can get my dealers demo units of the the same, in the Meta version. I would expect to get more than $4k for them, considering I've got the original boxes and everything they came with as new.

 

[matteos]

The problem I have found trying to sell more expensive audio gear is the pool of buyers becomes increasingly small. And like cars, brand new stuff loses a ton of value immediately, this is why I like to buy used stuff. It’s still going to be worth less when I sell, but a little less painful. Although having a warranty (especially with electronics) is very nice.

and someone is now selling Blade 2 Metas on that site for just under $15k. Very glad I didn’t see that before!

 

[seannc]

Did y'all see the Kef Reference 3's for $3500 ($14k new)?!!!!! (Not sure if we are allowed to post links here).
Yeah they didn't last long. I thought about it...they were in Seattle, and wanted local pick-up...I'm in Iowa...perhaps could have talked them into UShip or something.
But yeah if I upgrade from my 107's, it's going to be Blades. It just is. Or Muons...LOL.

The idea of upgrading my KEF speakers intrigues me. I adore my 104aBs. Has the sound signature of KEFs changed so much over the decades that the vintage speakers can even be compared with the modern ones? What would it take to noticeably upgrade mine with a new pair? I have no idea.

I very recently took a step up in the Simaudio Moon line from the ACE all-in-one to a mighty 330A power amp and 390 pre/streamer. Loved the ACE, but this combo is in a new league. Seems the KEFs were wanting for more power after all. And this new amp should adequately power most modern KEF speakers. The potential excites me. I just have no idea how far up the ladder I'd need to go to soundly better my 104s. In the meantime, I will enjoy what I've got. Loving this combo!

 

[Ken Mitchell]

The idea of upgrading my KEF speakers intrigues me. I adore my 104aBs. Has the sound signature of KEFs changed so much over the decades that the vintage speakers can even be compared with the modern ones? What would it take to noticeably upgrade mine with a new pair? I have no idea.

I very recently took a step up in the Simaudio Moon line from the ACE all-in-one to a mighty 330A power amp and 390 pre/streamer. Loved the ACE, but this combo is in a new league. Seems the KEFs were wanting for more power after all. And this new amp should adequately power most modern KEF speakers. The potential excites me. I just have no idea how far up the ladder I'd need to go to soundly better my 104s. In the meantime, I will enjoy what I've got. Loving this combo!

To many ears the sound signature of KEF has shifted. Used to be the liquid bass of coupled-cavity or sealed enclosures and smooth high frequencies of silk-domed tweeters. Now it's tonally faster, more-defined (and lower distortion) bass of the bass reflex designs and highly detailed treble of extensively-developed aluminum dome tweeters. I like both, though prefer the newer.

 

[BilboBaggins]

The idea of upgrading my KEF speakers intrigues me. I adore my 104aBs. Has the sound signature of KEFs changed so much over the decades that the vintage speakers can even be compared with the modern ones? What would it take to noticeably upgrade mine with a new pair? I have no idea.

I very recently took a step up in the Simaudio Moon line from the ACE all-in-one to a mighty 330A power amp and 390 pre/streamer. Loved the ACE, but this combo is in a new league. Seems the KEFs were wanting for more power after all. And this new amp should adequately power most modern KEF speakers. The potential excites me. I just have no idea how far up the ladder I'd need to go to soundly better my 104s. In the meantime, I will enjoy what I've got. Loving this combo!

I've had the 104aBs and while I liked them, I thought they were a little light on the bass and they didn't go as loud as I wanted. I replaced them with Kef Concerto, which are still my all time favourite low volume speakers. My son has the Concerto now. I found that they still had the goodness of the 104aBs but bite a little lower, which I really appreciated. Again, they didn't go quite loud enough for me when I was sitting outside. I replaced them with Cornwalls, and now the 107s. I've also had the 104/2s and the 105s. I kept the 105s mainly because they didn't need any additional maintenance over the 104/2s and because the 105s passed the Sk8tr Boi test where as the 104/2s didn't.

 

[seannc]

Thank you fellas for the insights. I recently added a Kube 10B to my system and while I'm still fine tuning things, it's helped wit the bass deficiencies of the 104aBs. There is actually a pair of newly serviced 104/2s available semi-locally, and I think my new amp would adequately power them. They would probably be a little too big for my listening room anyway.

All that said, if I do upgrade my speakers down the road, I'm quite sure I would purchase one of KEFs current models. I just wonder how far up the ladder I would need to go to better mine. It would require too much subjectivity to be able to answer with certainty. The R Meta series intrigues me, and the Reference 1s would be a dream!