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Is KEF no longer relevant?

It seems to me that 20 years ago Kef was quite a respected speaker manufacturer. Granted I knew far less back then about audiophilia, but for someone just starting out, that was my impression at the time.

Although Kef still makes speakers in the $5,000 - $15,000 range, they never seem to be the subject of serious discussion here on the 'Gon. These discussions are dominated by a group of the usual 20 or so suspects that we hear about over and over again. And no disrespect meant against that group - they are mostly, if not all, great speakers to be sure. But Kef certainly at one time was a pioneering and extrememly respected brand. What happened? Is this because they lost their "sound" after Raymond Cooke died? (an accusation I remember reading somewhere) Or are they just perceived as a "yesterday's news" brand?

No doubt there are many happy Kef owners out there who may answer this thread telling me how great their speakers are, even by today's standards, and I have no argument with them - I am a former Kef owner and very fond of the brand - but they clearly are not "darlings" of this forum. What happened?
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Showing 1 response by maab

maab
27 posts
 
... To answer the original question...I don't know, because I don't know the numbers, but here in New York there aren't many dealers carrying their line anymore.
I followed Kef from the beginning almost. I still own a pair of 104ab. Many will disaGree with me but, maybe because to me they are the first love that never is fogotten, they are immensively musical. I never heard anything like them. They are, however by no means accurate or realistic, they sound just very musical and easy going to me.
also, I still have a pair of kef 107 which have a fantastic mid range. I remember when I got interested in the new kefs, then the
Model 4, I was disappointed that did
not sound better than the 107 and I passed on them. I never heard the never 2xx line and I can't comment on those but I used to own a center channel 200c with the tweeter in the center of the mid woofer. Frankly I wasn't impressed by it. It did not have the liquid sound of the earlier kefs, not even close. I like to add that I truly dislike the look of their new speakers...too pretenciuos in my opinion.
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