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Kef 105

Hi All,

These look like 70s classics. Sort of like the Isobariks without the isobaric loading. Big woofers in dedicated enclosure and decoupled mids and tweeters in their own separate enclosures, just like the Briks do under the skin. I'm wondering why they didn't have a higher profile? There's lots and lots written on Briks from that era until today, but relatively little on these. As a multiple Brik owner who values scale I'd love to have heard these ones too. Any 105 owners out there who's done the comparison?

Cheers, Jens
 
I had a friend whose system I was familiar with in the early 80's and he upgraded from R105's to isobariks. I would have been delighted to live with both with the R105's being overall better at imaging and had a more balanced presentation, The bricks on the other hand had the tightest subterranean bass I had ever heard and gave a more dynamic wall of sound. Clearly since I went on to own 2 pairs of bricks myself you can tell which I preferred. The bricks were also more domestically acceptable as they could be used close to a wall. Wow I never thought I would ever use the term domestically acceptable and bricks in the same sentence.

Rgds
Stuart
 
For anyone interested there is a pair of 105/1 on ebay.
Had a watch on them before finding mine local, £686 rather than £725..
They will come up nice with a paint job.
They grills want some work, deep sockets are perfect for rolling the dings out....
Will post the link in the interesting ebay section...
 
Nice thread.

I have been out of the loop regarding audio for some time, was hoping to try and get back into it as one of my lads now mirrors the enthusiasm I had at 18.

It is interesting to see the variation in heads, I was never a fan of the old 105's mk1 tweeter simply due to spares availability and it looking old fashioned. But the head I always assumed was better in later models as they had improved materials and measurements to make the 105/2 and 105/4 head better? I though it was similar to using more appropriate materials as B&W did with the 801 to 801F?

The thread tempts me to try and rebuild the pile of parts within the depths of the loft that were once 105/4.
 
Having owned/heard them all, I do feel the 105.4 has a superior tweeter (T33 SP1074) to the T52 in the 105.1/105.2.

I played .1 and .4 back to back to arrive at this conclusion.
 
sastusbulbas said:
Nice thread.

I have been out of the loop regarding audio for some time, was hoping to try and get back into it as one of my lads now mirrors the enthusiasm I had at 18.

It is interesting to see the variation in heads, I was never a fan of the old 105's mk1 tweeter simply due to spares availability and it looking old fashioned. But the head I always assumed was better in later models as they had improved materials and measurements to make the 105/2 and 105/4 head better? I though it was similar to using more appropriate materials as B&W did with the 801 to 801F?

The thread tempts me to try and rebuild the pile of parts within the depths of the loft that were once 105/4.

Hope it inspires you to do so as they are worth the effort and underrated,Prefer mine to my Tannoys!
Click to expand...
Hope it inspires you to do so as they are worth the effort and underrated,Prefer mine to my Tannoys!

Have both the 105.1 and 105.2 as highlighted the tweeter is the same t52.

The 105.1 initially had individualized crossover boards x3 ,wooden head construction with a metal rear panel.

Revised later versions had a combined tweeter and midbass crossover that sits behind a plastic rear panel,still wooden construction on the head.

Woofer crossover remained in the lower cabinet on both versions..

The 105.2 head is a bit smaller ,same drivers t52/sp1057,has its tilt mechanism built into the head rather than a metal bolt on one previously.

Kef started improving there assembly methods and profit ,so 105.2 has one crossover for all drivers located in the bass section and uses plug connectors to the head construction is machined/molded and a lot more inert..

The 105.2 sounds a bit sweeter to me than the 105.1.

In saying that the 105.1 are recently recapped and perhaps take time to bed in....

B&W like kef moved away from wooden construction, should imagine its was labor intensive..

Also have 801f with the fibercrete head which is completely resonance free..
 
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