This year I was very lucky with vintageu, because next to the famous penguins –B&W DM-6I also managed to shoot Kefy 105.2 from the top Reference series, which is somewhat reminiscent of.
It was a doubly interesting experience, because before that I had KEF 205 Reference, i.e. the successor of the 105tek. So I was very curious what both columns connect and where Kef went in a completely different direction.
The loudspeakers look really impressive, they are large, slightly tilted back. You can see at first glance that it will be serious 🙂
A big advantage in terms of setting these packages – especially in an asymmetrical room are these characteristic turrets with high and mid-tones.
Thanks to the possibility of turning them, we can set the stage in a very quick and convenient way, as it suits our taste and room. An additional – practical advantage is the circles, which allow these quite the right weight of the package (about 35 kg each) to be easily moved. It worked great in my living room, because I could simply push them to the optimal place for listening, and then easily hide them.
KEF Reference 105.2: Sound
Writing at 105I don’t think it’s possible not to start with the bass. A large box with a 12 inch driver, and the housing is closed. The bottom registers from these speakers are really great. They need a little electricity and only Jolida with her 100W was able to properly blow them. Although it is not only about the bass itself, but generally about the appropriate setting of the entire game.
It is not in my opinion – at least with this amplifier and in my acoustics a loudspeaker for playing modern electronics. Such a large diaphragm does not have the same speed as the new, currently produced transducers. In addition, the closed housing predisposes Kefy to naturally play the sound of e.g. a double bass or percussion than to blow low registers in heavy rock, or e.g. houseyourself
The bass has a really nice attack, the contour, it could even cause the couch to vibrate under me, but on the other hand, it does not wake up, does not buzz and does not cause a pen or a pilot to jump on the table.
Bass reflexes are probably better for contemporary and heavy music, which pump the low tones more. Nevertheless, the scale, momentum and descent give Kefom a great basis and actually a guarantee that every repertoire will sound at least good.
The diameter, as befits Kefy, is really very good. The one in the style of Kefa – colorful, pastel, but also not overly open, nor going out to the listener. Vocals are created between loudspeakers rather than before.
105.2 create a really nice space, depth, and apparent sources for columns from these years are very precisely located. Good enough not to feel discomfort even in relation to good designs that were produced 20 or 30 years later.
For me, the color of the diameter is more interesting inCarltonach II– It has more juiciness and life, but it is also due to the fact that these moniors simply play very well with the lamp in the signle end.
Reference presents more mature sound, more complete, better stretched, bigger, more serious, but slightly lessfun.
The mountain is good, it gives a nice space and does not play sharply or insistently.
105.2 vs. 205
Made many years laterKEF Reference 205that I had before have a lot of common features of 105. They are also very equal and painfully correct. The 205, however, play a bit more tannoy-like – so they push out the upper midrange more. Thanks to this, they sound better at low volume levels. They create a scene higher. They also have bass bass.
They do not give such a scale of sound, but the bass is faster, better controlled and works perfectly in virtually any genre of music.
There is also more information in the diameter of 205, but like in 105 this presentation is rather neutral and more pastel than highly exciting than in Snell, Tannoy or Living Voice.
KEF Reference 105.2: statements
Due to quite a lot of current, the only set that I liked so much that I recorded it and published it on YT is the one with the aforementioned Jolida. With the others – much weaker tastes, it was too light for me, without the right amount of filling and support in the diameter.
KEF Reference 105.2 – Summary
I got excited about another vintagethese KEF columns. Their sound, form and, above all, the price suit me a bit more than those in the vicinity of the turn of the century.
Choosing the old KEF at current prices you cannot choose ‘bad’.
It is always a very complete sound, tasteful, but also with very good energy at the bottom. In KEF, each of the strands is always very well integrated into the whole.
Sometimes you would like a bit closer, sweet, but the presentation in the KEF style is well thought out and works very well – it has many fans, because it perfectly balances the color, with dynamics, space, scale and versatility.
The speakers of this brand do not really have any clear weaknesses. For many, they are not delightful at first glance, but on closer acquaintance, they can be greatly appreciated.
Of course, the famous KEF 107 from Cube, known from the movieAmerican Psycho104.2, or the very old-school 104AB, but in fact also a few other models, so if you are lucky – sooner or later the next loudspeakers of this brand will stay with me.
