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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$200.00
from Sound Advice Summary:
If you can live without deep bass these must be amongst the best speakers out there.
I owned a pair for over 15 years and until recently could find no reason to upgrade. I found the Kytes to be superior to just about everything else available here in the UK, up to and including Quad electrostatics.
What makes them so good? My guess is that it is a combination of great integration between the drivers, minimalist crossover, and use of undoped paper for the bass driver. Paper may be old technology but it's still hard to say what paper sounds like - we all know what plastic and metal sound like (not to mention the kind of crossovers required to make them palatable). Furthermore paper cones are still the best way to go for good tonal colours.
The Kytes sound is basically one of naturalness and freedom. Speech is a great way to check a speakers tone and in this respect the Kytes sound pretty close to real speech.
The only drawback is that there is no low bass. You can fill out the bass by placing them right up against the rear wall but then front to back imagery is compromised somewhat. Unfortunately true upgrades tend to cost thousands, not hundreds of pounds. I've not heard the latest Rega floorstanders such R5/R7s, but their predecessors could not match the Kytes for integration, but that's the advantage of quality bookshelf models.
Strengths:
Natural midrange, open yet very expressive. Weaknesses:
No hard, low end bass. Don't suit bright ancillaries. Similar Products Used:
Quad ELS, Kef 55
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