KEF 104/2, 105/3, or 107/2?

Wow, when I started reading the OP it sounded like me; when I got to the bottom I saw it was me!

I bought a pair of the late bi-wired 104/2s several years ago, and have been very pleased with their sound. I listened to one of my favorite CDs (Big Band Bassie) on my system, then maybe a half hour later on Wilson Sophias and B&W 802 something at a local dealer. With the right setup, this CD sounds open and transparent, but it can sound pinched with a lesser setup. The 104/2s sounded quite similar to the Sophias, different from the B&W 802 something, which, IIRC, seemed vailed with a mid-bass hump. The 104/2s are certainly worth $300.

I bought a 200C to go with the 104/2s, because I use the system for movies almost as much as for stereo. The 200C is a much better match for the 104/2s than the 100C. I use a Velodyne HGS-15 with the 104/2s, 200C and a pair of 102/2s in the main system. Downstairs I use a Veleodyne HGS-10 with a pair of 102/2s, and a 100C.

db

I have owned a pair of 105/3s since 1990. These are not plug & play speakers. Mine are biamped with cube in and they sound effortless. plugged in to my H-K surround system they dont cut it.

Thanks for all the advice... I am going to go ahead and get these 104/2's.

Been testing them for 2 weeks now, with the Denon 4806 powering... simply impressed for such and old pair of speakers.

Suddenly I'm a KEF fan.

I like these better than some of the Vienna Acoustics I tested! (keeping in mind the $2000 savings)

Lastly... I have a tiny living room and I needed to save space. The voice is good enough to skip the center (for my taste at least) and there is enough base for my home theater taste. Great solution really.

Thanks again.
Wizeline

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I just got offered a set of nearly perfect 104/2's (minor scratches) that I have been testing in my hous for 3 days now so all the drivers seem to work fine. (pushing with my Denon AVR-4806 really helps)

Are they worth the $300 he wants?

Thanks, I could use the advice.
wizeline@ubernoob.com

wizeline,

I'm a bit limited by a doorway, so the front baffles that house the mid and high frequency drivers of my 104/2s are 42" from the rear wall and 30" from the side wall. Stereo imaging is quite good, but when I removed my 36 XBR from between the speakers I was astonished by the improvement in depth. As a fellow listener said, it's as though you could walk among the jazz trio or the chamber music quintet. With reluctance, I put the 36 XBR back until I have a video solution with minimal acoustic impact yet better viewing angle.

db

wizeline,

One other thing that might affect your experience, although my basis for relating this is confounded: At one point in a effort to simplify, I replaced the Pioneer laser disc player I used for CDs with a moderate cost (range $200 to $300) Sony CD/DVD player and my Proceed PAV and Amp 2 with the penulitmate Sony receiver (444ES?) at the time. The air and transparency I had grown accustomed to with my KEF 102/2s collapsed. It was especially noticable on the Reference Recording, Big Band Basie. The magic was restored with a Sony 9000ES CD/SACD/DVD player and a return to Proceed stuff. So I really can't attribute the loss to either the CD player or the receiver, or both, and I was trained not to confound variables.

db