Need your opinions on a Rotel and kef 104.2 set .Thanx you :)

[Mmaes]

Hello everyone ♫♪,

"Let me introduce myself, my name is mike, I'm 45 years old, in love with music and beautiful hifi/studio things.. ".
I'm trying to redo a small correct setup.
This Forum, which I have been following for a while now, is a real gold mine.
Thank you to all who participate in sharing your opinions and making things move forward for a lot of people in my case
Respect

* I would have liked to have your opinion on my Hifi setup which is composed as follows:

Studio music room (15m²) :

pre amps : Rotel rtc 950x

Amps: Rotel Rb 980 bx

Cd : Rotel rcd 965 bx

TT: Technics sl 1200 Mk2 + Ortofon -Grado ...

Pre phono : phono box

Speakers : Kef 104.2 all restored as new ♥ *They are the ones that are connected at the moment and that I use

Focal Alpha 65 (monitoring) / Monitor Audio silver rx2 ♥ /


HC room in the living room(20m²):

Amp AVR : Anthem mrx 300

Speakers : 2xKef Q50 /Kef kit 3005se

---------------------------------------

All installed in a small studio of 15m² acoustically treated.

I wonder if the preamp is a good combination or if it is better to go to another model for a gain in listening quality??

I'm not looking to listen at high volumes, I'm looking for something more quality-oriented and that would make the 104.2 sing even more musically with, if possible, a nice bass presence.

I know that the room is very small for These Beautiful Babies, but I am rather satisfied with the treatment of this one.

I would like your opinion on the association, either I change the preamp, or I change everything,

I have a good dynamic with the 980, but when I turn the 950 pre amps just a few notches (I would say 7 hours), the volume is already very very high and I think there is a way to have a better musical sound quality ?

I think the 980 is able to handle 4 ohms since I don't push the sound to add sound to my whole neighborhood

Having often read comments on the fact that providing them with maximum power was beneficial, I also ask myself this question given my use in a small place with a correct sound will?

** There is the possibility that in the near future, I may receive a second pair of 104 (living room?)

I tried connecting the 104 on my little Avr Anthem and of course it's a disaster!!! If one day I decided to put 104 in front for the HC, I think it would be necessary to provide a power amp and use the little anthem as a pre amp. Is it a good idea ?

I specify that I do not use Kube working with it.


Thank you for reading, I am open to all your opinions or suggestions.

Sincerely ♫♪

M.

 

[bus2stcloud]

As the owner of two sets of KEF 104.2 Reference Series speakers I can talk with some authority about them. I'll assume you are aware of the need to replace foam in the woofers - if not there are plenty of YouTube videos to watch on this subject. The fluid in the tweeters may also have to be replaced especially if not from the final years (1984-1996). Both of my sets are from the last year of production - and are the rosewood bi-wire variation. In Ken Kessler's book on Kef, KEF 50 Years Of Innovation in Sound, there is an interview with an employee from the era in which they were made who claims that the problems with the fluid drying up in the tweeters was finally solved. Not sure when this happened. Mine, so far, show no signs of needing repair.

Ok - enough of the disclaimers. To really take advantage of the design of these speakers you will need lots of power. I'm currently using large mono block amplifiers - the main set is connected to Parasound JC1 amplifiers (800 watts RMS x 1, 4 Ω) which only power the woofers. The tweeters and mids are powered by a parasound halo integrated (240 watts x 2 @ 4 Ω). Powercords for all of these amps are Audioquest (near top of the line). You'll find plenty of discussion on the value of expensive power cords and even how much power these speakers need. All I can say is that I started with a very small Belles amp and slowly worked my way up in power and cords. Each time there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality. My second set is powered by vintage mono blocks offering about the same in power. These were very reasonable in price and the sound quality is still very good.

I've made several visits to local HIFI shops and been given demos of a few new speakers. None came close to the warm tones and deep sound stage I have from my system. The highs may be better in new speakers - crisp etc. I've never been tempted (well I would like to hear the new KEF Bade Metas) to trade up. It may be that I just prefer the sound of vintage speakers to the (to my mind) harsh sounds of new speakers (ok - I'll admit not all are harsh). In any case, the KEF 104/2 speaker is something I marvel at every time I turn them on. I wonder if Raymond Cook ever thought that thirty years later they would still be in demand.

With regard to your question of will more power be too much for your neighborhood, more power will affect the speed of your speakers. The speakers were always capable of playing loud but unless you are testing these limits now it will not be a concern with higher powered amps. Faster speed is particularly important for the woofers - the design of the speakers with two woofers pointed upward (if I understand the design correctly) produces wonderful bass. With higher power amps you'll hear much crisper percussion and brass (in the case of classic music) or very realistic piano (in the case of jazz). This is also where the soundstage will become noticeably more deeper and realistic.