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New KEF Reference 5 speakers

After many months of auditioning speakers (and probably testing the patience of several salesmen) I finally decided to get the KEF Reference 5s.  I just loved the wide sound stage and almost holographic imaging, among other things.  They were delivered in February and I’ve spent many hours listening.  At first I was disappointed.  They just didn’t produce the same imaging at my house with my equipment as in the store.  Also, they sounded bright and harsh with violins and high end music.  The dealer came to my house along with the regional sales rep from KEF to provide advice.  They urged me to allow more break in time (at that point they had been played about 100 hours). After many more hours, I am becoming more acquainted with them.  They are still improving with time.  Them break in period seems to be very lon. They’ve played several hundred hours and are still improving. They are extremely source sensitive—meaning that a poorly engineered record or CD will sound terrible and a well recorded one can be great.  I suppose this is a good thing with the KEFS-that they reveal flaws so well says something about their accuracy. Unfortunately there seem to be more bad recordings than good ones so I’m finding many of my CDs and records very difficult to listen to.  I am still experimenting with speaker placement, learning which recordings are really good and which aren’t and other tweaks.  Not totally convinced it’s love but we are at least in like and the relationship is moving in a positive direction. I’ve delayed posting anything until now because I didn’t want to share any premature conclusions.  
fast
jetter
3,033 posts
 
Congratulations fast on dialing in your Ref 5s.  I may have missed it, but did you ever mention what preamp/amp the dealer was using when you decided you wanted to purchase the speakers?  I would be curious.
fast OP
92 posts
 
As I mentioned, I never heard the Reference 5 at a dealer because no dealers had them in stock. I heard the Reference 3 at three local dealers but I honestly can’t remember what equipment they used.  I liked the Reference 3 at all three dealers and preferred them to several other models I auditioned, which is why I bought the 5s. I will add that, when the Audio Doctor visited, he was very impressed with the KEFs and with my older Audio Research amp, preamp and phono stage, none of which I bought from him.  To me, it was a good sign that he wasn’t just trying to sell the me unnecessary equipment.  
jetter
3,033 posts
 
Hi fast, the reason I asked about the front end at the dealer when you were first impressed with the Ref 5 is that I would have gone the easy path of just buying the same gear. 

Regarding Audio Doctor, I called them and spoke with Dave, making it clear it was unlikely I was going to take a drive from Vermont to New Jersey to buy anything and I was accepting his invitation on Audiogon to call for his opinion even if not purchasing.  Dave was just very helpful and really spent an half hour just to answer some questions I had. 


fast OP
92 posts
 
I probably should have paid more attention to the front end equipment during the auditions but I wasn’t in the market for electronics.  I’m very happy with my 20+ years old Audio Research tube equipment and recently replaced the tubes and had it serviced.  I do recall that  the dealers tried to approximate my setup by using similar tube equipment for the auditions.

Glad you also had a good experience with Dave.  He told me that, before his visit, he thought I might need new electronics but, after hearing what I have, he no longer thought so.  He also visited some other dealers in my area and came away saying that some of their much more costly systems didn’t sound as good as my KEF Ref. 5/Audio Research equipment. He recommended adding  the Innuous Zenith 3, which I did and love, replacing my Aurilac Vega 1 dac, which I am working on, replacing my interconnects with Wireworld (which I have done) and adding a power conditioner—all of which I thought were reasonable recommendations .  
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,780 posts
 
The fully tweeked up setup we had done at Fast's place sounded amazing and in terms of the marriage between the components, the room size and configuraton, as well as his taste in music, yes his system in our opinion did sound better than a local dealers YG Sonja setup with a Naim, DR 500 series amp and a Berkly Dac and Nordost cabling. which was a $300k rig.

What we added  a set of Isoacoustic Ghia Footers under the Ref 5
                           two set of Wireworld Platinum Interconencts
                            a Wireworld Ethernet and USB cable
                            a Innuous Zenith server
                            a Aqua Hifi Lascala MK II Dac 
                             two sets of Stein harmonizers
                              an Audio Magic Power Conditioner and an Isotek Syncro power cord
                              Audioquest Hurricane power cord for dac and server
                              ( the ARC gear had captive chords)

What was very interesting was the addition of another set of ears from the President? of the CA audio society who also heard the improvments that the Aqua dac and the Stein Harmonizers brought to the system. 

We have found that the carefully application of the right, components, cabling, and accessories will elevate the performance of a system tremendously. 

What wa clear is that as each piece of the tuning rig was added the system became more and more life like, which was really enlightening. 

The moral of the story system setup and synergy is what is crucial. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
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