KEF Reference 201/2

  • Mikekan

    Mikekan

    ACA Member

    November 17 2011

    For long I have desired to arrange a duel: B&W 805D and KEF Reference 201/2 back to back. These two top of the line models represent the best what the two major British loudspeaker manufacturers can do in the class of standmount monitors. Well, didn't work out this time either. So I decided to give a try to the KEF 201/2, not in a form of standard review but by means of an ad hoc listening session with the attitude and music I normally use for critical listening. I've never heard the KEF 201/2 before but I do have some experience of the 805D somewhere in the back of my brains.

    As a stand speaker the KEF Reference 201/2 is rather tall and deep: 248 x 417 x 405 mm. With the glossy finish and shining metal parts it looks quite distinguished too. It's a three-way bass reflex design, incorporating many of the technologies incorporated in KEF's Reference Series loudspeaker models. These include the new Uni-Q array (165mm coaxed mid-woofer) with a lightweight neodymium magnet assembly, braced compound titanium dome (25mm) and computer-optimised waveguide. Likewise the low distortion 165mm woofer is the same as found in the upper Reference models. The woofer is crossed at 450Hz, and the dome at 2500Hz. The crossover boards with specifically chosen inductors, capacitors and resistors are decoupled from the cabinet.

    The speakers were dragged roughly a meter away from the wall behind them, in a room that was fairly well treated against acoustical threats. In principle, finding an ideal position for this speaker should not be too difficult due to wide dispersion characteristics of the Uni-Q drivers. Adaptation to the peculiarities of the room is further enhanced in the form of treble/bass adjustments (resistor plugs in the binding posts). During my audition the treble was very slightly muted. Amplification was provided by Ayre amps, their power reserves being more than adequate to run the 86dB/8ohm (min. 4,2 ohms) 201/2.

    Sound
    Coaxial drivers have the ability to create a well constructed, homogenous and natural sound stage. Was this the case with the 201/2 too? The answer is affirmative. It wasn't perhaps not as quite the "point source" sound with which well-made single driver coaxial speakers (KEF included) stand out but I'd say that the soundstage had better than the average unity and intelligibility.

    Tonally, the 201/2 sounded quite - please forgive me the latitude - "neutral". I simply mean that the speaker didn't seek approval by impressing the listener with its performance in any single frequency band - as sometimes happens with standmount speakers, even better ones. The tonal balance of the 201/2 is so fixed that it serves a wide variety of music equally. Like the B&W with its 805D, KEF has has not wanted to enter into risky business in this respect. The 201/2 is designed to be an ultimate full-range standmount/bookshelf loudspeaker. In that capacity and with the price demanded for it (c. 5000 to 5700 euro) it cannot pretend anything but an universal music performer. This all is good news in that it means that a certain quality peformance level can always be expected from it. The other side of the coin is that chances to satisfy more esoterique tastes become lower. The old wisdom of the impossibility of pleasing everybody holds here too. Period.

    KEF claims 55 – 60 000 Hz ±3 dB 15° for the 201/2. Many more modest speakers can do the 55Hz (-3dB), and even the 44Hz (-6dB). To me that echoes two things: first, KEF is a serious speaker manufacturer and need not embellish its measurement results; and second, KEF has chosen not to push the performance of the 201/2 to the area where it would anyway face more and more physical and electrical side-constraints.

    As a result or for some other reason, the 201/2 had no noticeable artificial emphasis on the midbass to upper bass region to compensate the slightly limited bass extention. In the fairly large and high room with rather effective damping, it therefore sounded - relatively speaking - somewhat lean and polite in the bass region. Relatively speaking because the 55Hz is quite low already and covers 90-95 per percent of the time all music (it's three octaves down from the middle A in piano). In other more ordinary surroundings the low registre of the 201/2 will probably sound more fullbodied, and then it's a blessing that in a room that provides only a little support to it, the speaker handles the low-frequency material of the music tightly and with clarity.

    About the midrange and treble, I had no significant complaints within the time limits of this listening session. The tone was sufficiently even, timbres were, by and largely, correctly executed, and as said, should the HF department with some music/recording start to irritate, its share of the whole can be conveniently reduced.

    All in all the sound quality of the KEF 201/2 turned out to be on a firm basis. Instead of immediate enthusiasm it offers musical pleasures based on consistency and security; security that it will not let the listener down even over a longer period of time. Instead of inspiration and improvisation it values faithfulness and conventional virtues of speaker design. It's musical loudspeaker but not in a straightforward, simple way.

    In the context
    This class, the class of standmount 2/3-way speakers with a 5000 euro price ticket, keeps intriguing me. On one hand, there is no shortage of 2/3-way standmount loudspeakers that sound extremely good and competent but cost less (B&W PM1 is a good example, and I'm sure KEF too has competitive models). How can these 5 grand speakers survive in the fierce competition from below? On the other hand, 5000 euros is some sort of ceiling for what manufacturers ask for their best standmount speakers. Beyond this border, the supply becomes much thinner. So are these speakers overpriced for what they are or does their price reflect the utmost that can be achieved within this concept? Can be both, I guess. Both B&W and KEF has customers, this being one of the rationales, who could easily buy a 5000 euro floorstander but simply do not have the required space where the speakers are intended. It is for these people that the manufacturers such as KEF and B&W want to offer smaller speakers with equal qualities and an uncompromised sound. Based on what I learned from this limited auditioning, I'd say that although the KEF 201/2 cannot do the low notes of its bigger brothers, it probably can keep up with their standard in other respects.

    KEF Reference Model 201/2, 5700 euros.

    Specifications

    Design: Bass reflex three-way bookshelf loudspeaker, magnetically shielded

    Drive Units: 1 x 165mm (6.5in.) LF, 1 x 165mm (6.5in.), Uni-Q MF including a 25mm (1in.) titanium HF

    Crossover Frequencies: 450Hz, 2.5kHz

    Sensitivity: (2.83V/1m) 86dB

    Frequency Response: (+/-3dB) 55Hz - 60kHz

    Maximum Output: 110dB

    Input Impedance: 8 Ohms (4.2 Ohms min)

    Amplifier Requirements: 50 - 150W

    Magnetic Shielding: Yes

    Bass Extension: 44Hz (-6dB)

    Weight: 12.3Kg (27.11lbs)

    Dimensions (H x W x D): 417 x 248 x 405 mm

    Finishes: Piano Black, High Gloss American Walnut, High Gloss Cherry, Satin Black, Satin American Walnut, Satin Cherry and Satin Sycamore real wood veneers

    Source

    1  18 Jan 2012  
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