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KEF sound: 103.2 vs 104/2

writethis

writethis

Well-Known Member
I'm crazy about the 103.2, both recapped and original. Have an opportunity to pick up a nice pair of 104/2. It would require selling off something else, so not a decision I take lightly.

Knowing that I'm very sensitive to bright/forward sounding gear, how different is the sonic signature of the 104/2? I understand they were designed for American ears. Just have no reference for how much they deviate from what I think of as the KEF house sound.

Thanks....
 
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I think KEF made speakers according to KEF.
I don't quite understand when people mention, "made to/for a specific demographic"

Anyway, I own the Calinda, and I've heard quite a few KEF models, and none sounded forward (bright), but every model has a different signature.

Having said all that, I've never heard the 104/2, so I can't describe their signature, sorry.
One thing I'm sure of, they wont sound bright.
 
Merci moinau. I'm very much into the whole Harbeth/KEF sound. Several online sources (including former dealers) say the 104/2 was indeed designed to be more forward, dynamic and efficient than any precedng KEF model, and that this was specifically an effort to connect with typical American tastes at the time.

Hope I get to hear a pair of Calinda some day...
 
Quite a few members here have the 104/2, and they will surely respond. They will give you a better picture on the 104/2.

If they are in your price range, KEf are never a bad buy.
Since you like KEF, 'm not surprised you also like Harbeth, great speakers.
Too bad they are a bitttt to expensive for me. My choice would be the 30.1
 
Not to detract too much from your post, I just noticed you have a Rega Elex-R amp.

If you don't mind, please describe this amp.
I'm now thinking of upgrading one of my amp, since I'm now refurbishing one of my favourite speaker, AR-91
This AR like some of them, are a bit demanding on certain amps. Not only that, I'll also be able to use it with my other speakers, including the KEF.

I'm now saving, and some of the amps I'm now looking at,
Rega Elex-R, Elicit-R, Simaudio 340i, Naim nait 5si, nait xs2, also, maybe some used Bryston
 
moinau said:
Not to detract too much from your post, I just noticed you have a Rega Elex-R amp.

If you don't mind, please describe this amp.
I'm now thinking of upgrading one of my amp, since I'm now refurbishing one of my favourite speaker, AR-91
This AR like some of them, are a bit demanding on certain amps. Not only that, I'll also be able to use it with my other speakers, including the KEF.

I'm now saving, and some of the amps I'm now looking at,
Rega Elex-R, Elicit-R, Simaudio 340i, Naim nait 5si, nait xs2, also, maybe some used Bryston
Click to expand...

I don't have a lot of experience with solid state amps, and have never heard a Brio-R, for what it's worth.

That said, I absolutely love the sound of this amp. It has a depth and dimension that I've never heard in a solid state amp. Actually throws a wider soundstage than my TAD-60. I can imagine that I may phase the tube amp out of my system completely, though I'm not in a big hurry to do so.

However, my experience with Rega's US service has been really disappointing:

It's kind of along story, but my Elex-R came to me as a gift. It had been sitting unused in a corner of a wealthy audiophile's home. It had been used a total of maybe an hour when I got it. Absolutely dead mint, and the remote hadn't even been unwrapped. And it was hand-delivered to me, so it didn't have to endure any rough handling from a shipping company.

But shortly after the Elex-R made its way to my home, the volume control starting causing problems. I checked in with The Sound Organisation in Dallas, US distributors for Rega. They were very polite, but insisted that since I wasn't the original owner, it would be "inappropriate" for them to cover the cost of a repair. Instead, they referred me to their sole authorized repair tech in the U.S., who happens to be quite far away (California). While he was also polite, he did recommend that I pre-authorize him to spend $350 on the repair, warning me that the bill could be higher than that. Shipping in each direction would be on top of the $350.

Living in a city with many pro audio techs, I instead went to a friend (lifetime audio tech) who confirmed my own diagnosis that it was simply a faulty volume pot. So again I contacted The Sound Organisation in order to obtain a spare. Turns out there wasn't a single one to be had in the US, but the Service Manager told me they had a shipment about to be sent from England, and he'd have them include an Elex-R volume pot in the shipment.

The bill for one motorized Alps volume pot, which physically at least looks like several offered by Parts Express, etc. for less than $20? $66.00. The Sound Organization then charged my card another $18 for UPS ground shipping from Texas to Tennessee.

So while I do love the Rega amp, it would be unlikely that I get another of their products (speaking as a guy who normally buys used). Clearly, they're calibrated to honor the letter of their warranty rather than the spirit.

Maybe more of an answer than you were hoping for, but at some point I figured this story was worth sharing.

And if anyone reading this has ties to either Rega or The Sound Organization, by all means please feel free to share the link to this thread. If I'd really wanted to make a huge deal, I would have started a product support horror-story thread weeks ago here and on other boards. That wasn't (and isn't) my goal. But Ive finally decided I'm not going to give an opinion to a potential Rega purchaser without mentioning this.
 
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Thanks a million.
Always good to know the after service, because with electronics, they're always after services. If someone buys new, and with the price of electronics nowadays, a consumer doesn't want any back talk.

I've read lots of review on the Rega Elicit-R and yours, the Elex-R, super amps, and so on. I though to ask you, a member of AK, your impressions, and your opinions was greatly appreciated.
Now mind you, my Canadian distributor might be A one, but I wont be willing to check.
I already know that Simaudio, and Bryston have absolutely no hiccup when it's time to service their products, 5 years, 10, and up to 20 years in Bryston's case.

I'll still will check Naim for a while, and see what people think about them.

There are other amps available where I live beside Rega, I can try, Naim, Simaudio, Bryston, Exposure, and a few others.
 
Moineau, thanks for the vote of confidence!

I used to sell the 104.2 so over years I have probably hear more pairs than most people as we flipped our demos often and I went on many installs. After I left the business I owned a pair of 103.2 for years.

Both are great speakers, they are completely different. The 103.2 was closer to the 103.3 and 107. The 104.2 sounded like a 104.2. Fast, dynamic, forward and apparently made for the North American market where it was monster success, far exceeding anything Kef had ever seen. Put a Kube on it, you need the specific dedicated one, and it starts to sound more like the others.
 
So, it's true, KEF made speakers for our ears (tastes)
When you say, forward and dynamic, do you mean bright, and fatiguing in a long session ?
 
Brighter than a 103.2, yes. Fatiguing depends on the associated equipment and the listener. Some people like a warmer even rolled off sound and are annoyed easily by anything that is not. A pair of 104.2 in a really good system will have its characteristic sound but not be fatiguing for a lot of people. We used to pair it with the little 25 wpc Cyrus One to show how efficient they were and that combo sounded great but if we used a HK integrated it was much more aggressive. We actually sold both of those combos depending on what a customer was looking for. The 104.2 were so appealing to people and being quite efficient they completely changed the relative value of speakers to system we sold. Folks would up their budget to get the Kefs with the least expensive good sounding electronics they could get to drive them. We are talking average people off the street who were not planning to buy an expensive system. No other speaker in our store, and we sold a huge range of brands, had that effect.
 
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Raynald said:
A pair of 104.2 in a really good system will have its characteristic sound but not be fatiguing for a lot of people.
Click to expand...

In more than 25 years I've had them, the only thing I've found fatiguing re: my 104/2 pair is having to (physically) move them. Effin' heavy suckers, they be.
 
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