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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 texsun

texsun
21 posts
 
Some would say that they've diluted the brand by focusing at least their lower-end models to the home theater crowd (the Eggs, for example).

In addition, I get the sense that the Uni-Q concept was originally perceived as a bit of a gimick and backed up by mediocre reviews of the original implementations. However, their latest upper-end models (XQ and Ref lines) have been getting some good press.

Finally, as Aball has pointed out, Kef seems to have largely ignored the US market to focus on Europe.
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