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Vintage Kef speakers?

ISTR that some of the design decisions made back in the 70's were dictated by VAT rates prevailing. So the KEF Cadenza (my fathers' are still going strong) with their 3-way (2-way + ABR) attracted a lower rate of VAT than if they were a 2-way design. Not sure how much this impinged on SQ.
 
ISTR that some of the design decisions made back in the 70's were dictated by VAT rates prevailing

Thats correct, and one reason the Spendor BC1s were fitted with a super tweeter. They then had 3 drive units and were classed as 'professional' equipment and attracted lower or no vat (can't remember which)
 
In my view a lot of early speakers by KEF that used the Bextrene coned versions of the B200, such as the Chorale, suffered from Bextrene quack. This can be an irritating coloration. It was tamed a lot in the Corelli.
 
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Thanks for the link - interesting reading.
I think he is mistaken though, when he states the 'C' series Kefs used the same SP1022 B200 driver.

My Calindas have the SP1054 (bigger magnet amongst other things), although I couldn't say if there was an earlier Calinda using the SP1022.

The history of Kef and their driver variants is quite complex!
 
spent a fortune on speakers over the years, naim sbl and upto martin logan ascent i at 4.5k and still nothing beats my kef 104/2 as an allrounder. try them out and sell them on but the kefs stay everytime.

I love 104/2's!
Be aware that the foam dust caps on the (yet another B200 variant!) bass units rot and the T33 tweeters can lose some DB's due to the ferrofluid drying up. Replacements for any of the drivers are virtually impossible to source as well, so look after them!
 
If I may piggy-back this thread, what are the kef eqivalents of the celestion 66's (which are beyond the financial grasp of mere mortals these days).

Looser in the very deep bass unless you have a ss amp with huge damping factor, but the IMF Domestic, Pro and Reference Monitor were huge and twice as wide as Ditton 66's. The RSPM IV became a favourite, but could sizzle a bit when they were new. They'll all need dismantling and fresh acoustic foam inserted in the lines now I think.

Otherwise, the early 70's top domestic model was the Concerto, which I have huge fondness for as long as they're placed on 10 - 12" stands and kept well away from walls and corners. the crossovers may be updatable I think - ask Wilmslow Audio for advice..

Re 104ab's - they're a disaster on springy belt-drive vinyl as the low bass isn't that well controlled - I suspect many ABR speakers *could* be similar, but on clean vinyl sources and digital/live classic radio broadcasts, they come into their own and should see off the popular DM2's in terms of bass "tunefulness" (I have done the comparisons many times, albeit decades ago now) if driven right..

Really, 104/2's are cheap enough now, as are the late 90's reference models with curvy baffles and in all honesty, these later models are worth looking out for IMO.
 
I've narrowed my choice to the classic pair B200/T27: Chorale and better (but a bit more difficult to find) Corelli.
Still curious about Linn Index.
I wonder if these old loudspeakers after having crossover recapped do sound as good as in original condition.
 
I have had the Original Chorale and Cadenza, the Corelli beats them by a mile for midrange/ treble accuracy.

It would be very sensible to recap all these old KEF's as they mainly used reversible electrolytics, which are likely to be well out of spec by now. They can damage the tweeter and one would not want that to happen, especially as T27's are getting valuable.
 
the old linn index was a pretty nice unit - especially with a good amp driving but I gather later versions left a lot to bedesired - but as Ive not heard later ones I can't really comment from experience. I always hankered after a pair of kefkit3s and despite a few coming up on the 'bay I've not yet seen any I would really want to buy.
 
the old linn index was a pretty nice unit - especially with a good amp driving but I gather later versions left a lot to bedesired - but as Ive not heard later ones I can't really comment from experience. I always hankered after a pair of kefkit3s and despite a few coming up on the 'bay I've not yet seen any I would really want to buy.

Not bad units in the KEF Kit 3/ Concerto, B139, B110, T27, but the crossover does not really integrate / equalize them very well. Stand a pair of LS3/5a on top of Concertos and it is obvious that the LS3/5a (B110/ T27) is far superior, except for the lowest bass.
 
Hmm - does anyone produce a better crossover then?

Well, I believe that Falcon and Wilmslow Audio used to, possibly the Wilmslow one was made by Falcon.

I have heard KEF Concertos that used the LS3/5a crossovers (Falcon) for the B110 and T27, and were extremely good. They were used in a small(ish) Audio Studio.
 


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