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.  
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I agree with room acoustics and the LS50. I had them in a bad room for years and I liked them a lot. Now I have them in a treated room, perfect size for them and love them. Everything has improved across the board. Of course, the bass is lacking but that is expected. 

Ls50s will always benefit from a sub.  They are  small speakers that work best in smaller rooms.  Set up well in right size room they are excellent wihin their low end limitations and will reveal any shortcomings upstream.   
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Dave, Does Ref5 beat Paradigm 5f and/or 7f in your experience? Can you compare and contrast them?

Ref3 to 5f comparison also?


Last question: which electronics pair best with Kef Ref? T+A?