Description
I am clearing out my Audio Vault of priceless gems from my life of Audio Bliss. Here is wonderful example of Reference Quality musical equipment from a dedicated British Audiophile manufacturer, Kent Engineering Factory, KEF. The Reference level of KEF speakers were made for recording studio use, where exacting musical precision is essential! However, in this version you gain exquisite real wood cabinetry that is a work of art in itself! Please observe the pictures of these speakers. These speakers were essentially Hand Made by audio experts to work as a Matched Pair. The individual speaker elements were hand picked and tested to be a perfect match for each other. In addition to very rigid cabinet bracing, the woofer is further braced with a metal rod connected to the Back of the cabinet for Rock Solid, Tight, Clear Bass Response, not available in speakers costing much more, without this meticulous engineering, design, and manufacture! If you look at the photo of the label on the back of the cabinet, you will notice a hex screw in the center of the label; this is where the woofer-rod screws into the back of the cabinet. Simply put, you hear the music, not the speaker. You will notice a wide soundstage to the musical image, with exacting placement of instruments and voices within the space occupied in the studio, as the the audio technician and the musicians heard it! Further, you will notice that the real wood Tiger Eye veneers have been meticulously hand matched to continue the theme of a Mated Pair. The Reference series comes with an equalization KUBE. The KUBE was not as durable as these speakers, and I most often played them without the KUBE, preferring a drier, more accurate, less lush presentation. If you use a subwoofer in your system you can achieve greater warmth in the bottom register. I still have the KUBE. It fades in and out and shuts off intermittently. If you wish, I will include it, but I make absolutely NO guarantee that it will work for you! If you are buying these speakers on the premise that you will gain a perfectly working KUBE, please do not bid, I am selling these speakers on their own merits, without the KUBE! I am certain you will treasure the sounds that you will hear, and probably have never yet heard from your music, through these special speakers! I do not listen to these speakers with their grilles on, as I can notice a slight muffling of the sound with them on. With the speaker grilles off, the sound stage opens up significantly! The speaker grilles are included. (See pictures.) Please check my feedback. I go to great lengths to insure that my equipment reaches the buyer in the condition I enjoyed it. I love the music these speakers reveal. I simply have too much stuff! This is a rare opportunity to own a unique pair of exceptionally beautiful speakers with pure musicality! I have never seen any of this particular tiger eye cabinet for sale on eBay. You probably will never see their like again! Enjoy, and Savor the MUSIC!Listening to the KEF 102 system, we quickly became aware of its smooth, easy sound—rarely experienced from speakers of its size, though it should be expected from speakers in its price class. The bass was not at all thin; in fact, the speakers had a tendency to sound “warm,” imparting an audible but not objectionable upper-bass boost to most voices. For the most part, however, the sound quality was as neutral as we have come to expect from KEF. The Model 102 even displayed some of the same minor colorations as the KEF 105.2 system we have used for years as our reference speaker.An A/B comparison left no doubt of the close kinship between the Model 102 and the 105.2, which sells for about three times its price. The two have virtually identical sensitivities and, at least in our room, sound so much alike that in most cases only spatial clues enabled us to distinguish between them when switching back and forth.It was not too surprising to find the Model 102 even better than the 105.2 in its high-frequency dispersion—its smaller, improved dome tweeter can take the credit for this. At modest listening levels, or when the program did not have unusual amounts of low-bass energy, there was virtually no difference between them. But when there was some high-level bass content, such as the drums in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the physical limitations of the Model 102’s small cone became very audible (as they did in our pulse-power tests). This limitation is especially evident when using the extended-bass mode, which is unfortunately at its best when high-level bass is not present.The KEF 102 is not a miracle, nor is it claimed to be. On the other hand, it can match or surpass the overall sound quality of many full-sized speakers, including some priced well above its range. It is not a “flashy” speaker, it does not have sizzling highs or room-shaking bass, but it is one of the most balanced-sounding speakers you are likely to find. If you have been attracted to one of the larger KEF Reference Series speaker systems but find its cost beyond your budget, listen to the Model 102. It might be just what you’re looking for.
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