Dipole surround speaker to match KEF 104.2?

I use a pair of KEF 102/2s with my KEF 104/2s. They are located along the walls lateral to the listening position. The center channel is a KEF 200 C. I run all the speakers in bi-wire mode. Frequencies below 80 Hz are shunted to a Velodyne HGS-15. This arrangemnt is excellent for 5.1 Dolby Digital and dts. The 104/2s and HGS-15 combination is excellent for stereo, and blend seamlessly.

The KEF 200 C is a much better match for the 104/2s than a 100 C. I moved my 100 C downstairs to use with a second pair of 102/2s and a Velodyne HGS-10. The 102/2s and 100 C are well matched.

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By the way, I think the 104/2s sound great by themselves, but relieving them of below 80 Hz duty with a sub really opens their sound. They are wonderful speakers, as are the smaller sounding 102/2s.

db

I think it would be a big mistake to replace your outstanding 104/2s just to have matching speakers for 5.1 or 7.1. Relatively little information is sent to the side and read speakers.

The 200 C has three drivers, with the center being Uni-Q; the 100 C has a single Uni-Q driver. The 104/2s have separate dome tweeters, but the match across the front speakers is excellent with the 104/2s and 200 C.

I previosly used matching speakers, four 102/2s and the matching 100 C, and I prefer the 104/2s, 200 C, and 102/2 combination. For stereo, as nice as the 102/2s were for small classical and jazz groups, the 104/2s not only do that well but also splendidly present the large sound of symphonic orchestration.

db

Java,

I acquired a KUBE as a freebee with a the second pair of 102/2s I bought from a local audio expert -- they had been his personal speakers, but his shop now sells mostly Wilson and B & W speakers. I've never used the KUBE.

I agree that even without the KUBE the 104/2s have excelent bass response, but of course can't match a Velodyne HGS-15 when it comes to that low level vibration you "feel" when a low pedal note is opened on a pipe organ. I've heard the famous Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor performed at Stanford's Memorial Church and at our local Episcopalian church (a small church with a great pipe organ as befitted the wealth of turn of the 19th century Montecito). The 104/2s and HGS-15 do a remarkable job of recreating that sound.

By the way, the 102/2s are old speakers. I believe I bought my first pair in the late 80's or early 90's, but not sure.

db

I use a Proceed PAV/PDSD with Proceed Amp 2 and Amp 3, and drive the KEFs in bi-wire mode. The PDSD shunts everything below 80 Hz to the Velodyne HGS-15. At one time I wanted to simplfy, so I bought a Sony 444 ES receiver. Unfortunately, that seemed OK for home theater but cost the transparency and spatiousness I was accustomed to hearing with stereo. I returned to the Proceed stuff in my main system and use the receiver in a secondary system. I'm very satisfied with the sound for both stereo and home theater.

Within a period of a half hour, I had the opportunity to listen to the three blind mice XRCD24 on my system and a local dealer's big tube C-J driving a pair of Wilson W/P-7s. My CD player is a Sony S9000ES, the dealer's a well-known high-end monster. The sound of the two systems was remarkably similar, both having a detail and transparency lacking in the dealer's 800 series B & W speakers.

db