Thanks Glen,
I'm afraid I had already bought the KEFs by the time I had read your post! I really liked the sound of the KEFs especially with classical music (I had tried Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in the store). The sales person also was moving in the KEF direction after I mentioned my music preferences (classic rock, folk, classical) saying the KEFs may have more of a neutral sound than the Polk and Kipsch. If I was more of a rap or hip hop fan, he would push the Polk as he thought they were a bit bass heavy. The KEFs are not very efficient (I think an efficiency rating of 88), and I am working with just 100 watts per channel in my Yamaha R-N303 amp, but so far no problems. My rec room is fairly small, and my listening distance is fairly close. I put on some Rush this morning and the KEFs handled it just fine. I'm still playing with listening distance to get the soundstage figured out. Despite KEF saying where you sit isn't as important with their speakers, I think I have to sit farther back to get really good separation. I have a few minor upgrades in the future. I'll probably replace the speaker cables fairly soon (they threw in some Qlink premium 16 gauge with banana plugs in the store) and a cartridge upgrade for my turntable at some point. What has surprised me the most about getting new equipment after 30+ years is the most noticeable change for me was getting a new turntable, despite (as I mentioned above) when I read the experts' reviews my turntable was highly rated, my speakers were considered to be not so good, but as soon as I put the new turntable on I noticed better range and separation. Maybe it was breaking down in ways I didn't appreciate.
Thanks for the offer to drop in! I'm actually on the prairies (Saskatchewan), but I appreciate the offer. I have kept the old amp so if I find someone in Saskatoon that might be willing to take it on, I'll get it fixed up (I'm just outside of Saskatoon in North Battleford).
Wayne
I'm afraid I had already bought the KEFs by the time I had read your post! I really liked the sound of the KEFs especially with classical music (I had tried Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in the store). The sales person also was moving in the KEF direction after I mentioned my music preferences (classic rock, folk, classical) saying the KEFs may have more of a neutral sound than the Polk and Kipsch. If I was more of a rap or hip hop fan, he would push the Polk as he thought they were a bit bass heavy. The KEFs are not very efficient (I think an efficiency rating of 88), and I am working with just 100 watts per channel in my Yamaha R-N303 amp, but so far no problems. My rec room is fairly small, and my listening distance is fairly close. I put on some Rush this morning and the KEFs handled it just fine. I'm still playing with listening distance to get the soundstage figured out. Despite KEF saying where you sit isn't as important with their speakers, I think I have to sit farther back to get really good separation. I have a few minor upgrades in the future. I'll probably replace the speaker cables fairly soon (they threw in some Qlink premium 16 gauge with banana plugs in the store) and a cartridge upgrade for my turntable at some point. What has surprised me the most about getting new equipment after 30+ years is the most noticeable change for me was getting a new turntable, despite (as I mentioned above) when I read the experts' reviews my turntable was highly rated, my speakers were considered to be not so good, but as soon as I put the new turntable on I noticed better range and separation. Maybe it was breaking down in ways I didn't appreciate.
Thanks for the offer to drop in! I'm actually on the prairies (Saskatchewan), but I appreciate the offer. I have kept the old amp so if I find someone in Saskatoon that might be willing to take it on, I'll get it fixed up (I'm just outside of Saskatoon in North Battleford).
Wayne