The SoundStage reviewer considered it as the best stand mount speaker that he ever heard:
www.soundstagehifi.com
Measurements for this speaker were made at the National Reserach Center anechoic chamber in Ottawa, which means they are accurate:
www.soundstagenetwork.com
If the price looks good to you and the seller seems reliable, I think it would be a good deal. I would make sure that the possibility of return with refund exists though.
On KEF's website, if you look them up there are multiple downloads but one is their "white paper" which reveals all the technology and engineering involved in creating them. The Uni-Q driver may look like the same ones in other, lower-level KEF speakers but it is vastly different. The motors on the bass drivers are huge, even compared to those in the R series. In my room, I'm running the short port tubes and have measured with REW what I get. It's strong right down to 34hz, and it tapers off slowly to the low 20's. My subwoofer was too much trouble to dial in to a level befitting the speakers, so it remains unplugged.
These were far off the radar for me, also because of the price. I walked into my dealer one day in February and he had just received a shipment of the older style being closed-out. There were 3 pairs of 1's, 2 pairs of 3's, and two pairs of Reference 5's. The shipment was all the older style, new from stock at KEF America in New Jersey. Two pairs of the Reference 1's were that same piano black, and the older style seen in the Soundstage review. Those were both already spoken for, so I asked about the 3rd. Those were "B-stock", but the new style...in Silver Satin Walnut. I said "I'll take them, what's my price?" I was given a price that shocked me, one he asked me to not reveal because if it got around he could get in trouble.
I gave my dealer about 1/2 the price he quoted, and he told me to "take 'em with you." He told me to pay the rest "when you can." That sent me into selling off speakers I wasn't using much because being on the main floor of our apartment they were disturbing my 1st floor tenant. The 84 yr old woman never complained, but I knew that I had to move my music listening to our 3rd floor guest bedroom. I sold off the LS50's that were in that bedroom first, then the R500's, R200c, R100's, and R50's in our living room. Downsized that to a soundbar and T101 surrounds. I last sold the LS50 Meta pair from my office, and the NAD M10 that ran them. That all paid for the remainder of the Reference 1's, and solved the future problem of selling all those other speakers after they're so outdated they have little value. I know that in 10-15 years, we'll be moving to the smaller space on the 1st floor, so might as well downsize now. A few months after taking the Reference 1's home, they were fully paid for and now I need an amp worthy of them
The Luxman does fit that bill. All told, as I sit in front of Reference 1's on their bespoke stands, looking at the new Gustard X16 DAC and the Luman L-505uXII, I know I still haven't spent what new Reference 1's and stands cost at full list. I couldn't be happier! They are the perfect speaker for that room, and my ears. Floorshaking bass, but very even response across the spectrum. I invite anyone who wants to drive to south-central Massachusetts to come hear it yourself.
