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Kef 104/2 amplification

slaba

L75 spinner
Yup I'm still using these and love them.
But they are power suckers and after a few years with a pair of Meridian 205 monoblocks bought here I find myself lacking the slam in the low end really and am hungry for more.
I love those little blocks and they match my Audio Research SP6B nicely but I couldn't find anything so far that equals their delicacy in the mids and highs and yet delivers the slam and grip in the low that I'm craving for. Any experience on where I should be looking ? thanks !
 
The Meridian 605s were amazing, but you don't see many about s/h - I was looking for some a few years back with no success. I use an EAR 890 which like many valve amps, sounds more powerful that its rating would suggest and it replaced a Naim 250 and the bass is better - however, my speakers have their own bass power amps, so my situation isn't directly comparable. The Quad 405 was the default partner in their era, so maybe a Quad 606 or similar?
 
If it's any help, I use Musical Fidelity 550K superchargers used as monoblocks with my 105/3s.
I have had other listeners insisting I have a hidden sub woofer, I haven't.



Bloss
 
I use a Quad 606 MkII and mine sound superb. They also sound v. good with the 306, but the 606 has just that much more punch.
 
Kef 104/2 bass weaknesses are often due to the internal woofer surrounds rotting
Another reason might be , a problem similar to that of at least one of the floorstander KEF models had............ a test graph when it was being reviewed -showed the resistance shot up and peaked at 58 ohms in the bass region.
Any amplifier coupled to it , trying to handle it, would certainly be IN.... 'for a hard time'. Whether it was the same model , I cannot vouch.
 
Thanks all for your instructive replies, no rot whatsoever in my my 104/2 (cross fingers it stays like that a little longer) so lack of bass is not coming from there.

I get many recommendations for the quad 606 mkii, need to get one in here to have a test, did have a 405 a long while back and was not impressed though.

I must confess I never heard a Naim :eek: so have to attract one here too someday or lend an attentive ear somewhere else.

Meridian 557 or 605 I thought of but could never get one and going from Meridian to Meridian is maybe to conservative maybe I'm growing in the mood for something else.

MF superchargers oh my didn't know these even existed !! would another less beefy Class A MF do it I'm curious?

Ncore? interesting but would have to hear a pair and DIY is not my cup of tea, seems I have 10 thumbs every time I try to solder something …

Meanwhile I had an old valve Luxman stereo power block for a week, 30 watts of EL34 and it sure sounded nice, fuller than the Meridian blocks, with the missing bass and the valve sweetness as a bonus.
I'll put that one on my short list, and more importantly it made me think again about valves in amplification and I've been looking at the old Audio Innovations (800 mkii, 1000 monoblocks) or Kora or even the old AR tube power houses as possible substitutes.

I'm also expecting an Audio Research transistor stereo block D-120 that should match perfectly my SP6 preamp, I'll share my impressions when it's here, meanwhile keep the ideas and experience coming, thanks !
 
You can pick up Ncore NC500 based amps for less than the DIY NC400, so don't worry too much about the DIY element.
 
I've had 104/2s for 20 years now, not bad considering they only cost me £500. Recently changed from Naim Nap 140 to a 250 and got a good improvement in the bass.
 
I still have fond memories of my 104/2 being partnered with an NAD2200. In some situations (not in mine) the K-UBE helped to improve the bass extension and precision.
 
The 2200 isn't the best in terms of current delivery IME. A klout might be better suited in this instance. The klout isn't as accurate as a 2200 but it has a warmer, more bass rich presentation. Lovely amp and cool looking too.
 
I've had 104/2s for 20 years now, not bad considering they only cost me £500. Recently changed from Naim Nap 140 to a 250 and got a good improvement in the bass.

Might be a bridge too far resurrecting this thread, especially as mud shark only has 1 post, but I guess it's worth a try.

What benefits did the 250 have in comparison to the 140?
 
well I've finally found an amp, although I was not looking for more glass an ARC VT-60 does it for now and is as expected an excellent match
 
Kef never used Naim amps, I know because I worked there and played the 104/2 in the listening room more than any other Engineer there during the late 80's early 90's.

We used a Perreaux Power Amp with about 12 output transistors per side and everything else seriously struggled to keep up, i.e. Quad 405/2.

Despite the conjugate load matching and Resistive impedance characteristics, the 104/2, 105/3 and the 107 all loved 400 watts and gave better performance.

I bottomed out the voice coils of my personal 104/2's twice using lesser 100 WPC amps and had to replace the Bass drivers.
 


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