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Is KEF no longer relevant?

It seems to me that 20 years ago Kef was quite a respected speaker manufacturer. Granted I knew far less back then about audiophilia, but for someone just starting out, that was my impression at the time.

Although Kef still makes speakers in the $5,000 - $15,000 range, they never seem to be the subject of serious discussion here on the 'Gon. These discussions are dominated by a group of the usual 20 or so suspects that we hear about over and over again. And no disrespect meant against that group - they are mostly, if not all, great speakers to be sure. But Kef certainly at one time was a pioneering and extrememly respected brand. What happened? Is this because they lost their "sound" after Raymond Cooke died? (an accusation I remember reading somewhere) Or are they just perceived as a "yesterday's news" brand?

No doubt there are many happy Kef owners out there who may answer this thread telling me how great their speakers are, even by today's standards, and I have no argument with them - I am a former Kef owner and very fond of the brand - but they clearly are not "darlings" of this forum. What happened?
studioray
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 
It should be remembered that not all old KEF speakers were good.Todays KEFs are probably more consistent.Hi Fi World magazine has done group tests of speakers and have rated the KEFs very highly.The concept of mounting a tweeter in the middle of the bass/mid driver has great merit and the imaging/timing of these new KEFs is much better than old models,even if they may not be as tonally endearing.

JT
wahwah's avatar
wahwah
23 posts
 
I might be wrong on this, but it seems that when ADCOM took over distribution of KEF in the US, everything went downhill...
No hard feelings about ADCOM-just an observation.
mbs65099
1 posts
 
I'm definitely an audio enthusiast, but I operate on a budget. I have fairly extensive experience with Kef's Q line of speakers. I'm not sure what makes one speaker brand "relevant", but I really like the Q and iQ speakers I've owned and heard. For what they cost I am very pleased with them.

Recently I had the chance to do a fairly extensive comparison between the Q.2 series built on the 4th generation Uni-Q array and the new iQ series built on the 6th generation array. It was clear to both me and my listening partner that the iQ series offered noticeable sonic improvements over the older Q series. In my mind this is significant because the old Q series was good for its price.
gustaty
3 posts
 
Now days we would believe that B&W are the only speaker brand made in england. This is due to the great promotion the brand has put on the media.
KEF is still on the market but may be they experimented the popularity of JBL and other american speakers made in the USA sold in the "USA" in the past.
And finally this is all about money..wheather we like it or not it´s just like this.
Try to hear the new maidstones and you will see that they still have strong arguments to sell their product, even if it is only in Europe.
cwbhd
1 posts
 
I just picked up a pair of Kef reference 205's and a 204c thinking I was upgrading from my definitive bp 2002 and 2500cc. Granted, the def's have sub's built in but I am not at all impressed so far. Sure they look fantastic, but I kind of think they sound one dimensional (all treble) and are not musical at all. Perhaps there is more detail but cold and harsh and fatiguing. I'm trying to make this work though, I feel like a fool. I love the look. I keep playing the def techs and looking at the kef's wishing for the sound of the def techs and the look of the kef. I'm running a b&k 200 watt amp and anthem pre/pro. Perhaps this is a better match, or should I have known?
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