"3chihuahuas":
Perhaps, you might want to check out my fourteen year old KEF Reference 102's. The 102 (which is how I am going to refer to them from here on out) is a small bookshelf two way monitor with a 6 1/2" mid bass driver with 1" tweeter. It provides a stable conjungate load to the amplifier that is driving them. And the impedence is 4 Ohms throughout the entire frequency band. They're rated to go from 65 Hz. to 20 Khz. without any assistance from the KUBE equalizer, and goes down to 45 Hz. with the KUBE in circuit. And the sound they deliver is awfully big from what is nothing more than to be small bookshelf speakers that you can either stand mount (which is how I have mine installed), or place onto a bookshelf. The sound is described as clear, open, precise, and neutral with plenty of resolution. They also present a huge soundstage with a respectable amount of depth (which is not always the case, because that depends on the quality of the recording), and the bass these things deliver is nothing short of astounding. The treble can be quite extended at times, but without overextending itself, and everything at those extremes and in between is blended together very nicely. The only knock I have with them is that sometimes, I may get a little crazy with the volume control on the GFP-750 when I have it set into the "active" mode. And when I do that, the 102's will let me know very quickly. They'll do that by emitting an annoying "popping" sound when either I have the volume control set too high or playing some material that have excesive amounts of deep bass, letting me know that I need to either turn down the volume or take the KUBE out of the circuit. So, it goes to say then that either playing these babies at lease breaking levels or at SPL's that approach those of a rock concert are out of the question. But appreciate them for what they are, then they can be a refined speaker system that while is suited for small scale works such as jazz ensembles, and vocals. But considering that I listen to R&B, and Rap and Hip-Hop, these speakers sound remarkably clear and accurate when I listen to this type of music on them as well. Surely, Vandersteen 2Ce's would be better for the type of music I listen (and I think that these will be my next speakers) to, but don't knock the little KEF's because they are small and a little more refined. I bought my 102's back in 1988, and I paid around $900.00 for them back then. If I were to get them brand new today, I'll be paying anywhere close to $1,500.00 to $1,600.00 for them. Anyway, I'm glad I bought mine when I did, and do I regret my decision to buy these speakers??? Well, fourteen years later, I would say "not".
--Charles--
