KEF Reference 1 Review

Adrian Low

Adrian Low

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SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com - KEF Reference 1 Loudspeakers

Following are quotes from the review. I think he did a great job outlining the strengths and deep bass limitation (below 40 Hz)

"... the Ref 1 sounded slightly cleaner, and was capable of even greater resolution overall -- so high that I’d be comfortable pitting the Reference 1 against any speaker of any price or size. Magico’s S5 ($29,400), Polymer Audio Research’s MKS ($42,000/pair), and Sonus Faber’s Olympica III ($13,500/pair), all of which I’ve reviewed in the last year or so, all went deeper in the bass, but revealed no more detail in recordings from the midbass up than did the Reference 1.

Also significant were the Reference 1s’ soundstaging and imaging capabilities: outstanding width, tremendous depth, and, most notably, superb precision within the stage

The Olympica IIIs, too, sounded detailed, but didn’t dig quite that deep into the recording

Daniel Lanois’s Acadie, originally released in 1989, was reissued in 2008 in a Goldtop Edition (16/44.1 FLAC, Red Top), with additional tracks. Lanois basically assembled the original Acadie by blending new music with snippets he’d recorded while producing records for other artists. In “The Maker,” drums originally recorded for a Neville Brothers album are placed toward the right and way back in the stage, which the Reference 1s sharply outlined as well as any speakers I’ve heard. The other instruments in this recording fleshed out the stage, utterly distinct in terms of size and space, with Lanois’s voice dead center, positioned as solidly and tangibly as I’ve heard. For presenting a realistic, highly defined soundstage, the Ref 1s have few peers.

Then there was the Reference 1s’ ability to play astoundingly loud -- far louder than the Revel Performa3 F206es could ever hope to -- or any stand-mounted speakers I’ve had here. I also felt that, when I wanted to get out of hand and push things unreasonably hard, given the Ref 1s’ ease in doing so, they could probably play louder in my room than could even the Sonus Faber Olympica IIIs, Polymer Audio Research MKSes, or Magico S5s. But that’s just a guess; I didn’t push any of those speakers quite this hard, for fear of breaking something"

Recommend Reference Component
SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com - Recommended Reference Component: KEF Reference 1 Loudspeakers

Well done KEF. Great to see a company come back so strongly!
 
This reviewer puts out a continuous stream of speaker reviews. Every speaker is great until the next review. The KEF Reference1 stand-mount probably does have a nice mid to top, but so what, at $7,500 I would hope so. Of course one little minor problem, it has limited bass compared to the more expensive full range speakers, duh. And it plays louder than the $3,500 Revel F206, well compare it to the much larger $5,000 Revel F208 and see what happens.
 
Hiker said:
This reviewer puts out a continuous stream of speaker reviews. Every speaker is great until the next review. The KEF Reference1 stand-mount probably does have a nice mid to top, but so what, at $7,500 I would hope so. Of course one little minor detail, it has limited bass to the more expensive full range speakers, duh. And it plays louder than the $3,500 Revel F206, well compare it to the much larger $5,000 Revel F208 and see what happens.
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Have you seen their extensive advertising? Their site is all advertising. He who buys the ads gets the best reviews. It's fascinating to watch. Just look at The Absolute Sound. They rave about whatever product is advertising with them. Meanwhile, if that same manufacturer is NOT advertising with Stereophile, you hear crickets about that product, and I'm not talking about flavor of the month DAC's, I'm talking about products that have been out for a year or two. Nothing. Zippo. Nada.
 
Guys, I don't know what relationship there is between advertising and reviews or publicity, for the various magazines, but I know John Atkinson of Stereophile has published facts many times on different forums to refute this. In the past, Stereophile would only review a product if the manufacturer had at least 5 dealers (I believe) unless it is sold direct. Many manufacturers choose not to submit products for reviews, and I believe it is also up to individual reviewers to request products for reviews if the products interest them. I am friendly with a few reviewers and all seem to be honest and passionate about their work.

Re Soundstage, Doug Schneider has gone on record about products he thinks are overpriced/bad. Here's one:
Xtremely Unappealing

And another
SoundStage! Global | SoundStageGlobal.com

Another from a writer for Soundstage
F?ing Up a Legend?

And just in case the conclusion is that Soundstage magazine has a negative agenda toward Avalon, here's a show report that was highly positive
SoundStage! Standout Room -- Avalon

And yes, I realize that none of these manufacturers advertise in Soundstage, but why single out these three out of the many who don't advertise? Also the language is pretty strong, the writers aren't holding back anything! If advertising ONLY truly does drive reviews, then there should be a lot of bad publicity from the magazines.

Not trying to start a war, just saying I think Doug Schneider is pretty fair based on what I've read of his reviews. Don't always agree of course, but that's normal. I heard the KEF Reference 1 in my store a few months back for a few hours, and they were quite astounding. First impressions - very dynamic, powerful, believable. Effortless like a good horn without the normal horn colorations. Rich yet not colored. Fantastic imaging between the speakers. Power hungry based on the McIntosh meters, in our big room, mind you. Very coherent. Deep bass below 40 or so rolled off, but strong and linear down to 40, not rolling off from 80 like so many "full range" speakers. Some speakers accentuate certain bass frequencies giving the impression of "bass" but are not linear. Others claim low frequency extension but listening doesn't bear it out. These may be design choices. I'm not criticizing, just observing.

As for being "expensive" without going all the way to 20Hz, bear in mind that some people cannot accommodate larger speakers, or subwoofers. If you are one of them, the KEF Reference 1, Vivid B1, some of the small Raidho etc may well be the ideal choice. Especially if the rest of the range is stellar!

Looking forward to spending more time with them. Again, not picking any fight, just wanted to balance the conversation.
 
It would not have taken much insight or courage for Doug Schneider to admit that a speaker is probably not worth $200k.
 
Perhaps, but I don't recall anyone else saying anything. He also criticized the Avalons, and they were less than $15,000. I don't recall the Avalons at that particular show, but my personal experiences have always been very good. Reading the criticism certainly raised my eyebrow, but I respect that he wrote it as he heard it. Harsh, perhaps. Maybe he did have an agenda, only he would know. A reader wrote in asking for his thoughts on Avalon 2.0 and he replied that the company had promised to send speakers for review, but decided not to after learning that Soundstage measures speakers...
SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com - Any Avalon?

Finally, note that our company had a bad review from Doug Schneider at one of the TAVES show we were exhibiting in. I'd hired a new guy to help, and he gave the wrong info to Doug. Could Doug have been nicer? Sure. Could he have helped set the record straight with my new employee? Sure. Was it his job? No. Did the article have to be written so it made us look so bad? Ultimately, I assume he wrote as he saw it. I don't know Doug, or any of his writers. I certainly am not a fan-boi. But I respect that he will write as he sees/hears it. If I have a criticism about the article, it's that he chose to paint/imply all of my guys with the same brush, drawing/implying a conclusion that was unfair and probably not very professional as far as journalistic practices go. I'd hope that most of us would be fairer and more open minded than that. After all, isn't that how prejudice and racism gets propagated? In any case, here's the article.

SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com - SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com
 
I've met Doug and he seems like a pretty straight shooter. I have no association with, advertising or reviews with that Magazine.
The KEF measurements show a superbly designed and engineered passive box speaker, no shocker that it sounded as good as it did to him.
Not sure why he/the mag is being impugned, I applaud them for the NRC measurements to go with the subjective impressions, ads necessary for survival, etc. but alas.....

My 2c

cheers,

AJ
 
AJ Soundfield said:
I've met Doug and he seems like a pretty straight shooter. I have no association with, advertising or reviews with that Magazine.
The KEF measurements show a superbly designed and engineered passive box speaker, no shocker that it sounded as good as it did to him.
Not sure why he/the mag is being impugned, I applaud them for the NRC measurements to go with the subjective impressions, ads necessary for survival, etc. but alas.....

My 2c

cheers,

AJ
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Thumbs up for KEF: A great brand.
 
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