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
I really enjoy my KEF speakers both old and new. I have the newer KEF Q300 bookshelf speakers and they are made in China. They also sound great to me. I believe KEF is still very relevant. One of these days I'll move onto the R series of speakers.
Mountain-high is right, in fact I have auditioned some 23 different speakers from many different countries and prices up to $14k. Also quite a few were the much praised homegrown brands . I ended up buying the kef r900. I had no previous experience with this brand. Its was the sound quality that I based my decision on but I did like the idea that they build their own drivers and had been around for 50 years. So that said yes they are for real and I wouldn't care if they were made on mars. Bottom line they engineer and build good products at comparatively better prices. Best
I'm looking at a listing in Audiogon for a Reference 204C, so began looking for reviews and came across this thread. Since my earlier posts, I've replaced the 104/2s with a beautiful pair of rosewood 107/2s, one of the finest speakers I've ever heard. Wondering about the match of a 204C for the center speaker. I using 102s for surround and center now, but I have a couple of 102/2s sitting around, and I could try one of those for a center.

db
I know this thread is 5 years old, but its funny considering that KEF is on a roll now.