On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 21:33:39 GMT, Bob Latham
wrote:

In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 01:53:11 +0000 (UTC), "news"
wrote:

(About KEF 105s)

What kind of amp will suit the kefs? im thinking something bug and
transistory, krell maybe.

Yup, although a Krell isn't necessary, any 100-200 watt PA will do, a
big Rotel would be ideal. The 105 wasn't a tough load to drive.

I have to say I can't agree with this Stewart. The 105 has a complex and
very highly reactive xover. The phase angle swings about seriously and in
my experience any amp that uses the old current limiter that compares with
output voltage (I'm sure you know the circuit I mean) will not give good
results with this speaker, unless of course you remove the two little
trannies...

While the phase angle certainly does swing quite widely, the modulus
of the impedance doesn't drop below 6 ohms, so that I just don't
expect a powerhouse like the Rotel 990 or 1090 to have any problems at
all.

And now where Stewart will jump on me no doubt. I purchased an Arcam P7
last year and drive the head assembly with one channel and the bass driver
with another. This is easy with this speaker. Yes, it DOES sound better so
there!!!

A fine amplifier - in a world well-stocked with fine amplifiers which
sound just like it. Of course, if I'd just dropped several grand on a
P7, I'd probably feel the same as you! :-)

I know mixing home cinema with music if frowned on, but the 105s kicked
ass with the movies ive tried they seem to be a truly excellent speaker.

They are, and to this day I've not heard anything under mortgage money
that will touch them. I use mine for music and cinema - fabulous.

It was, although a little 'dead' at low levels, as with all KEFs of that
vintage.

I can accept that they are not for acoustic wallpaper.

It's a hangover from the Bextrene days. The very high internal damping
of that material gave a beautifully clean FR, but very small signals
just never made it from the voice coil to the atmosphere! Turn the
volume down slowly, and there comes a point when the speaker just goes
flat and loses all 'sparkle'. Note that nobody uses this material
today, and the low volume test still sorts the men from the boys!

Having said that, the basic design of the 105 was very good, only
surpassed IMHO by the B&W 800 series, which are of course much later
designs.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering