Mahoosive cool KEFs in record shop

VanDerGraaf

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Rohan
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Original 105s. A great speaker thar does a lot right.

I am still of the mind that a supertweeter plonked on top of these could be end game for some.
 
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hearhere

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  1. No
I've never seen KEF 105s with the top and mid head covered. Photos always show only the bass section covered. They don't look attractive.

I had the bigger KEF 107s for several year and these were better looking, being taller but slimmer as its twin 10" drivers were installed lotally inside the bass enclosure with a port just in front to the top and mid head. The bass enclosure was veneered all round as no drivers were visible. The top and mid head did have a cover though rather smaller than the 105 as the bass enclosure was that much narrower. The 105 had a single 15" bass driver. Both the 105 and 107 were rare sights in the UK even when being built - most found their way across the Atlantic. Happy days - great speakers - Peter
 
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JANDL100

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Jerry
HiFi Trade?
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I recall a pair of 105 at a Scalford show quite a few years ago, they sounded fabulous. I was surprised how good they were.

But they do look much better with the cover off and the mid and treble modules exposed imo.
 
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Ian

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They did sound lovely, obviously not set up for 'listening' as such, ie one at either end of the shop with record racks in front, but the spirit of the sound really worked. Lovely chap, though no, not Bruce Willis 🙂

Walked in and within 5 minutes seemed to have acquired three new friends !
 

Lawrence001

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HiFi Trade?
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I've never seen KEF 105s with the top and mid head covered. Photos always show only the bass section covered. They don't look attractive.

I had the bigger KEF 107s for several year and these were better looking, being taller but slimmer as its twin 10" drivers were installed lotally inside the bass enclosure with a port just in front to the top and mid head. The bass enclosure was veneered all round as no drivers were visible. The top and mid head did have a cover though rather smaller than the 105 as the bass enclosure was that much narrower. The 105 had a single 15" bass driver. Both the 105 and 107 were rare sights in the UK even when being built - most found their way across the Atlantic. Happy days - great speakers - Peter
I think they were 12" not 15". Still nice though.
 
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uzzy

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David
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Original 105s. A great speaker thar does a lot right.

I am still of the mind that a supertweeter plonked on top of these could be end game for some.
Fairly flat response and ok it does start to drop a bit from 10k but personal view is whilst a supertweeter might add a bit of gloss up top actually blending it to keep the response flat is another matter.

Personal view is it is a brilliant loudspeaker but it is very ineficent so you need a good 100 watt plus amp and it is a resistive 4ohm load so whilst on paper most amps should find it an easy impedance load my experience with the 104/2 would suggest an amp capable of delivering into a sub 4 ohm load makes a lot of sense. (Pal of mine with the 104/2 kept throwing the thermal trip on his 100 watt amp and we tried a few and he ended up with a Meridian 507).
 
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Jazid

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Mine sounded great, but the tweeters are near unobtainium and folks in previous days liked to take the power warning LED and fuses off them to improve the sound :rolleyes:. Bad move. Also beware capacitor "upgrades" as the cross overs were all individually fettled for the selected drive units.
 
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bencat

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Wonder what they would sound like if you made them active ? Just saying asking for a friend .
 
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VanDerGraaf

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Sep 29, 2015
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Rohan
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Fairly flat response and ok it does start to drop a bit from 10k but personal view is whilst a supertweeter might add a bit of gloss up top actually blending it to keep the response flat is another matter.

Personal view is it is a brilliant loudspeaker but it is very ineficent so you need a good 100 watt plus amp and it is a resistive 4ohm load so whilst on paper most amps should find it an easy impedance load my experience with the 104/2 would suggest an amp capable of delivering into a sub 4 ohm load makes a lot of sense. (Pal of mine with the 104/2 kept throwing the thermal trip on his 100 watt amp and we tried a few and he ended up with a Meridian 507).
Uzzy you are definitely thinking of the 107- it is a 4 ohm resistive load, the 105 is 8 ohms and relatively benign, but very inefficient- so your big amp rule still applies.
 

hearhere

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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Uzzy you are definitely thinking of the 107- it is a 4 ohm resistive load, the 105 is 8 ohms and relatively benign, but very inefficient- so your big amp rule still applies.
When I had my 107s, I was told that they needed "high current" amps. At the time this rather went over my head and I thought my AVI S2000 MM monobloc amps were amply powerful enough. After selling all that gear, I wonder now if I got the best from those excellent speakers. Were they let down by AVI amplification?
AVI S-2000 MM Amps.jpg
 

uzzy

Grumpy Old Git
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David
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Uzzy you are definitely thinking of the 107- it is a 4 ohm resistive load, the 105 is 8 ohms and relatively benign, but very inefficient- so your big amp rule still applies.
You are very right - the later 105 either the 2s or 3s were a 4 ohm load.
 

Jazid

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James
HiFi Trade?
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Wonder what they would sound like if you made them active ? Just saying asking for a friend .
Their weakest point is the B110 midrange unit IMHO. No amount of 'active' will get round its limitations. On the other hand my pair showed such fantastic bass to midrange integration I can't imagine active improving on it, it was totally seamless, quite an achievement. So I'd not venture down the active route in a hurry myself, but YMMV.
 
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Nifkin

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HiFi Trade?
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Well fancy that: I was in that very record shop last Saturday due to taking a weekend break in the area (we live in London) an saw those speakers too. I did wonder what model they were, but they had a 'do not touch' sign attached to each of them, so didn't investigate further (i.e. didn't get close enough to see the badge). Thanks for the info!
 
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hearhere

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Peter
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Their weakest point is the B110 midrange unit IMHO.
The KEF B110 is one of the most highly regarded drivers of all time. It was the basis of the BBC LS3/5A that is still, after several decades highly regarded and still in production by a mumber of manufacturers. Other BBC designes also featured this driver.

It was also used in the top-of-the-range R107 speakers, even though the B110 was by then decades old. I owned a pair of 107s. Althoughly the B110 was used for mid only, it helped to render the 107 "Overall, I consider the KEF R107s to be an engineering marvel and, by a clear margin, the best full-range conventional speaker money can buy." That's the 1991 words of John Alkinson in the summary of his Stereophile review.

Sorry to disagree with you, but the B110 wa a superb driver, full stop. Peter
 
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Headcoat

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Feb 15, 2006
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HiFi Trade?
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Rough Trade off the Portobello used to (may well still have) a pair of 104/2's on shelves behind the counter. Sounded amazing off a Quad 34/405-2 pairing. Focussed, detailed, loads of bass, smooth.

I bought a pair of 104/2's to go with my 34/405-2. Sounded ok but a small room limited them and possibly the speakers needed a service.
 
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