I have my "new" Kefs hooked up right now just for fun, listening to music. They were an entry level model for the time but they do have the Uni Q drivers in them and I've never listened to them before. Thanks to CL it only cost me 30 bucks to get a chance!
They're not horrible, but compared to some of the others I have the bass is kinda flabby. Mids and highs get kinda scratchy at higher volumes and do start to become fatiguing, but that imaging is freaking pinpoint. Everything is really snapped into place in the sweet spot and it's definitely different from what I'm used to. Most of my speakers have fairly wide dispersion and spray the sound through the room. These are kinda like flashlight beams. When you're where the beams intersect it's pretty awesome but step out of it just a little bit and the illusion falls apart.
This was a great way for me to experience both types in my room, on my system. I don't regret this CL purchase at all.
I can see a sensitivity to the mids tho, for sure.
That (as I mentioned) is exactly as I remember them, fat, flabby, especially the low mids, then aggressive upper mids and a sharp rolloff that they seem to address with the crossover (camel's back), but freaking awesome imaging and a wide soundstage. I remember the vice-like positioning with my friend's 105.4's. He had a chair in the middle of the room, and that's where you sat. You didn't "get it" until you sat there.
I think the new R series is fantastic, but really temperamental on positioning and amplification. The weird thing about KEF is once you hear them sound bad, you can't unhear it even once they're dialed in. The things that make them work are also the things that work against them. Bottom line, the concentric drivers have more problems than solutions. I'm hoping Andrew Jones is moving away from that; hopefully he finally worked it out of his system with the Adante. It's funny, but B+W is kind of in the same boat with a different solution.
Hello all just wanted to share my listening session I had to day at Best Buy...
Don't forget, there's some pretty generous demo periods and return policies online - I know it's a pain but in some cases the only way you can get a decent listen. Crutchfield I believe still has something like a $50 flat rate return shipping policy on floor standers (free for bookshelves). While that might not be something you'd want to do a lot, it might be worth it if you narrow your choice down to 1-2 speakers.
Tekton, Zu, Ascend, Salk and others all have great return policies as well. I've never heard Tekton or Zu, but they have a near cult-like following.
I thought that BB had KEF, I'd certainly recommend an audition but wouldn't have high hopes they could pull it off in that environment. I really think you owe it to yourself to try to listen to Revel, which remains one of my favorite speakers to this day. Downside, the floor standers borderline ugly (they used to be gorgeous). I think Kevin Voeks is a genius. I believe you'll find some sonic similarities between something like the Concerta 2 and the ML Motion, except the Revel is designed for maximum dispersion and ease of placement. The sweetspot is anyplace in front of the speakers. The last generation Motion has some deep discounts right now.
Another one worth checking out (I sure want to) is the Wharfdale Evo. Wharfdale has always been close but no cigar for me since forever, but the combination of the AMT tweeter and kevlar cones might solve that. Best Buy used to carry Wharfdale, I'd think Revel would be another if they have ML.
If you like the Klipsch
RP-8000F, it's 25% off right now at Klipsch for their
→Appreciation sale←. That kind of coin can make the bass shortcomings a lot less of an issue. Or, go in the piggy bank for a subwoofer down the road. I'm surprised those 8" drivers didn't offer up much bass TBH. The Marantz has enough juice on demand. Again - just not the best environment for demonstrating. If it's like the BB's I remember, there's no consistency to setups.
Doesn't BB have Elacs? I'd highly recommend trying out the UniFi's or Debut Reference if they have them. I was really impressed with the UniFi (I almost bought a pair when they were giving them away last November) and from what I gather, the Debut Reference eats their lunch. It's too bad the "slim" version of the UniFi is so expensive, as soon as you narrow the baffle and throw a coat of paint on them they're in some pretty seriously competitive waters.
