Help Identifying Vintage KEF Speakers


Hi. I’m new to the forum and am hoping someone can help or at least point me in the right direction.

I lost a pair of 1960s/70s KEF speakers in a fire recenlty and need to make a claim on my insurance, but don’t know which model they were. However, If I saw the back of the speakers, am pretty sure I’d be able to identify them.

Having looked at the photos on KEF’s online archive (I know the grilles covered 100% of the front of the speaker), I’ve narrowed it down to the following:

Cresta (1970s)
Chorale
Celeste
Cadenza
Duette
Cantor
Coda

 

I’m pretty sure the speakers were from the 1960s, but it is just possible early 1970s

The rear panel of the speakers was not made of the same wood as the sides. For some reason, I though chipboard, but am not sure KEF would have used it. I do remember it had a ’mottled’ pattern to it. There was also a paper label.

The speakers were possibly bi-wireable and the sockets/connectors were in the centre on the horizontal axis and possibly in the centre or above centre on the vertical axis.These were in a round cut out with a rounded edge and recessed into a black material with a switch, possibly to change the impedance (?) value.

If anyone is able to help (especially with a photo), I’d be extremely grateful.

 

 

sidneyr

If you have replacement value insurance you should claim around $1200.00.  The KEFs you had were probably $300.00 or so then, and in today’s market, a pair of Focal Vestia 1s or similar would be comparable. 

@boomerbillone - Thanks. these were a gift and not even new to the person who gave them to me, so no idea where they came from.

@petaluman - I never took the grilles off, though I think I may have tried to once, but as they seemed to be fairly stuck, didn't go any further for fear of damaging them. I've seen other people mention KEF speaker grilles are difficult to remove. As for their size, I must admit, that hadn't occured to me. I'll give it a go.

@falconquest - Thank you for your concern and good wishes, it's much appreciated from a stranger.

@crustycoot - Thanks for the advice

I'm a big fan of KEF, so please let me clarify that these were just rough designations - B110, T27, etc.  They also assigned SP numbers to all the variations, and often had multiple versions in production simultaneously.