What makes kef 105/2 sound so special

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Today I listened to the Kef 105/2. I didn't spend a second thinking about "hifi issues" because i was WAY to busy loving the music I was hearing. This was one of the most enjoyable systems I've ever heard.

Do any of you have any insites into what made this speaker so special.

Where would you start if you wanted to attempt this kind of sound in a DIY speaker. What sort of drivers, xo, etc.
 
Hi,
I haven't heard the 105, but since today I am listening to the little brother, the 104/2.

Result - In comparison to a celestion 44: woolly bass, the only saving grace is the excellent mid and high range.

Both fall off considerably against my sat/sub system with MTM satellites and compound loaded subs, active three way amping and deq corrected. Simply no comparison. The celestion comes closest in the bass representation - very clear w/o overhang, but falls off when listening at "live" levels, above 100 db at listening position (14' from speakers)
 
kifeinthesink said:
Today I listened to the Kef 105/2. I didn't spend a second thinking about "hifi issues" because i was WAY to busy loving the music I was hearing. This was one of the most enjoyable systems I've ever heard.

Do any of you have any insites into what made this speaker so special.

Where would you start if you wanted to attempt this kind of sound in a DIY speaker. What sort of drivers, xo, etc.

Hmm.....

The Kef 105/2 is a fairly easy speaker to replicate as its design
principles are well known, that is 4th order acoustic Linkwitz/Riley
crossover with time aligned units and a low diffraction head
assembly. It also uses comprehensive decoupling of drive units.

To get this sound you'd need IMO :

Any good Seas fabric dome (or similar), not particularly expensive.

A good polypropylene mid/bass unit - the classic vifa P13 is a good choice.

Bass unit - 12" or 2 x 8" polypropylene - Peerless are a good choice.

Now possibly the difficult bit - building the thing - takes some skill.

The really difficult bit without measuring equipment and the like
is designing the c/o for level matching of the units and the target
4th order L/R acoustic slopes.

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/506/

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/639/

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/466/

http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/919/

Are all variations on the basic theme.

If your really interested find the white papers for the KEF
and rival B&W designs for lots of the fine detail issues.

:) /sreten.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Im sure the kef is not the last word in hi fidelity. Its just that it was so damn involving and looks cool as hell to boot. I heard some afro jazz type stuff and I felt i was at the jazz fest.

I had a feeling the vifa p13 might be a good choice for this and the seas tweeters are sure high on my list of first picks in general. Those tweeters are kind of like buying really good lego pieces; they go into lots of projects out there.

There may be better speakers in the world but if i acquired a pair of these driven with the naim amp and cd I was listening too Id probably be happy to keep that system forever.

Since I was going to fiddle with a simple two way anyway I think Ill turn it into an expandable project.

Have to say I realy love the rotating tiltable tweeter/mid unit too.

Hell, I should probably just buy the damn things since there only $1000 but of course this being christmas the timing could be better. Seems to be a fair number of them on the market though. Still, that would rob me of all the fun :).
 
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