Imaging... Bass Extension(with Kube 200)... Neutrality.

Looks-one of the ugliest with the grills on. Performance-NONE.

I've had these speakers over 2 years now, and because I've moved into a smaller house, I need to get rid of them(sigh). They were used primarily in a home theatre setting and they responded very well, so well in that I didn't need a sub. I did have them running through a Kube 200-something I recommend to anyone who can find one. The bass extension can be floor shaking, if called upon. However, it can reveal very subtle low frequencies too. This is a test of a great speaker-to not only knock you over with powerful peaks on demand, but to hear that rolling thunder or cello note that hangs forever, is something to behold. That's why you buy speakers like these. Imaging, neutrality, power, effiency and on and on. I compared these to the Linn 5140 and found that the Kef's imaged better and gave a significantly lower extension. Don't get me wrong, the Linn's were awesome, but the Kef's were awesome,awesome. Like everyone else has written, the better the gear, the better the performance. This is true will all ultra hi-end stuff. It's not a deterent. I switched to XLO cables and it was like adding a new component. They tend to do well with mid-hi fi gear. I had a B&K pre/power combo. Although, the British made electronics do bring out the best-I just can't afford any. If you want to do better, be ready to spend more than $10,000 to justify a worthy improvement. Sadly, I know that I'll never own a better pair for the rest of my life, unless I find a great paying job. I remember reading a review in Audio magazine(way back when these were released) where the editor (Julian Hirsh)raved about these. He also said that he chose to own a pair of these speakers over any other. So I figured, if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for me.

Similar Products Used:

lINN 5140(floorstanders) Kef 103/4

Good build quality. I have the ones that are brazilian rosewood custom ordered and the wife of course forgets how big they are because of the look.

They show every little weakness in hardware and software.Bought all yammamura cables power,speaker,interconnect just to please them.They were harder on me than my wife.

The Kef 105.3 speakers are wonderful for a non-electrostatic style speaker. They do sound beautiful with a large power amp. With a lot of solid state equipt. these can sound downright anorexic. They really need to be controlled by power to get the best sound. They really like tube preamps and tube dac combinations. p/s these speakers really show you what you don''t have for a system. They do send you on an audioquest.

Similar Products Used:

apogee homebuilt concrete/vifa/focal speakers martin logan

as close as you can get to neutral

you'll notice how bad a lot of your cd's have been recorded!

I've bought mine as a ex- demo set 4 years ago. I auditioned a lot of reference speakers before I made up my mind.I'm absolutely sure that these babies are the best!If you don't like the sound of them, look at your amplifier,look at your cd-player,but don't look at the KEF 105/3 's.With these speakers you can focus on the other parts of in your system.You, ll never get tired of listening to them.Superb!

Similar Products Used:

AR3a
JM Lab onyx
Quad ESL 63

Honesty. Pin point imaging

Extremely revealing. They like lots of space to breathe.

I have owned my KEF black ash 105/3's for around 6 months now. They were purchased second hand for 800UKP. I think they look pretty ugly with the grill on of off, but they make up for this with the fantastic music (some of the time...)

Currently they are being bi-amped using 4 Meridian 105S monoblocs. The pre is a PS Audio 6.0, and the source is a Naim CD3. The speakers are also used with a DVD home cinema system (Seleco SVT-190 CRT projector, Sony EP9ES processor, PC-DVD player, KEF 100C centre, SD3 mk1 rears) I have found that the 105/3's produce more than enough bass so that I don't need a sub.

I do love these speakers. The bass is nicely controlled, the mid and treble sweet as a nut, and the imaging spot on. However, I do find that a lot of my CDs just don't sound that good through them. A friend borrowed these speakers for a couple of months, and he too said, some CDs sounds amazing, and some just sound poor. So now I find myself avoiding certain discs in the knowledge that they sound bad. The reason for all this is obvious: They are extremely revealing, truthful loudspeakers.

I suspect that the weak link in my system currently is the Meridian power amps. These will be replaced when funds allow, and I'm confident the KEFs will reveal any changes immediately. However, this will only make the bad recordings even worse....you just can't win.

To conclude, I would thoroughly recommend these speakers if you have enough room and a reasonable source, and are prepared to have the truth revealed about the quality of the recordings of you music collection.

sensitivity, finesse

hard coupling

I had a problem using Kefs 105/3 as tehy are hard to match, and my impression was that they lack finesse. However, what they lacked was adequate support of other elements of the system. These speakers need everything to be in the same class, otherwise they will reveal all weaknesses. My real breakthrough with them came with the application of solid silver speaker cables, when they became their real selves. So to the enthusiasts, I recommend all elements to be in the same class, and silb=ver cables. I presently use Unison Research 845 Simply integrated amplifier and California Audio Labs 15 CD, and the combination is really musical in myu opinion, but with sivler cables.

Neutrality, build quality

Limited Bass

I purchased my 105/3's in 1991 in England and shipped them to Toronto and I've never been disappointed with them. The only thing that's kept me from moving up to something physically larger (I have ML Quests in my office and I love 'em, and I'd like to go ML at home) is ... yes, Domestic Approval Factor.

Initially, I powered the 105/3's with two Museatex MTR-101 monoblocks, but the addition of a second pair really made the speakers come alive. Since then, I've moved through other amps to my current Krell FPB250's and they make very happy sounds indeed. When in multi-amp mode, I used a variety of cables, but Krell recommends the Goertz ribbon cables and they are indeed a good match with the binding posts bridged.

I appreciate high-end products that work, and work reliably for many years. Although every other item in my system has changed repeatedly, I've never felt the urge to change my speakers, although if I wanted to spend a LOT more money I'm reasonably certain (hello, Wilson?) I could do better. The 105/3's still bring out the best in what I can throw their way. Of course, if my wife relented ...

The 105/3 is based off the same exact design as the new Reference Model Three's and Four's. The 105/3 is the same as the Model Three's except that the 105/3 has an additional lower-midrange driver. The 105/3 is the same as the Model Four's except that the 105/3 has two 8" woofers and the Model Four's have two 10" woofers.
I'm using my 105/3's with JPS Labs Golden Flutes, which brings the KEF's "much criticized" low frequency response down closer to about 25 Hz. The KUBE 200 would probably do about the same. This makes for a much better speaker, which is a fine speaker to start with.

Sensitivity is rated at 93 dB, Impedance is 4 ohms, and with KEF's Conjugate Load Matching design, these speakers don't need a mammoth amp to drive them. The high peak output of these speakers improves their impact and realism in reproducing transient sounds that require high peak sound levels. When played at realistic levels, this translates into the ability to reproduce peak levels that closely match those of live sound, thus improving realism.

Many people don't, but I like the Uni-Q design. There are no peaks or dips in the crossover region typically found in systems with spatially separated mid and high frequency radiators. The horizontal and vertical off-axis curves are extremely uniform .... thus you get excellent imaging and soundstaging that is effected less by room acoustical conditions than in regular speaker designs.

In conjunction with the Golden Flutes, I think the KEF 105/3's are a very neutral/realistic and balanced speaker with precise imaging characteristics and extremely even coverage. I like to be able to move all around a room and not have my source material change ..... I don't really believe that much in having one sweet spot. I think these are great speakers and I plan on having them for a good number of years.

Scott

I purchased my KEF 105's in the early 90's new with the cube. After having to send them back to have the tweeter/midrange pack replaced on both speakers (factory defect) after only three weeks, they have been trouble free.
Originally, my system was modest. A Carver C1 preamp, NAD 2200 power amp, a Carver CD player and wires by Monster Cable. The system now consists of a Mark Levinson No.28 preamp, an Adcom 545 to power the tweeter/midrange pack, an Adcom 555 to power the woofers, and Audioquest midnights for speaker cables. My CD player is a Proceed transport with a separate Proceed D to A converter. All interlink cables are Audioquest emeralds, balanced where possible.

The sound of these speakers always amazes me. I liked them from the start but every improvement to the system has shown through in major ways. Early on I biwired them and could hear a difference. Biamping them was nothing short of incredible. These are not for everyone. The 105's don't make rotten recordings sound good. They are so neutral that you only here what's on the recording. Nothing benefits from artifical enhancement. Having said that, the right recordings can bring you close to tears. The sound is that good! Detail is good. Bass is deep, tight and musical. The high end is open and extended without the least bit of harshness. The sound stage is nothing short of incredible. True, I had to go to biamping and expensive electronics to get the results, but it's been worth it. The 105's with the proper electronics will not only throw a side to side sound stage but one far in front fo and behind them.

In short, if you can find a good used example I doubt you'd be sorry. Every small improvement I've made to my system has made me happier that I bought them than ever. I would like to replace both amps in the future but I've never hand any thoughts of parting with my KEF 105/3's.

These are one of the few great British speakers around. Eventhough they have been replaced by the Reference Models, they share most of their sonicqualities.

I have listened extensively to this model and the Reference Model Four's.
They do sound dry with solid state amplification.

The best results are obtained with a good solid state power amp & a good tube preamp.

I owned a pre-owned pair of 105.3s (1 yr old) for approximately two years and it turned me from an audio enthusiast into an audiophile in search of any music or hardware that could squeeze the last ounce of musical enjoyment from these fantastic speakers!
They looked great (mine were black ash) but best of all -- they purred out the most luscious, smooth, coherent, integrated mids and highs I had ever heard in my small 10' by 11' room. If only I had a bigger room to let them breathe... I resorted to tube traps, cables, sonex acoustic foam and furniture rearrangements and after months of painstaking and worthwhile effort I managed to tame them for my pathetic listening room.

The heavenly mids and highs aside, I was always disappointed with their bass -- dry and restricted to the 40Hz limit of their small (albeit fast and clean) woofers. Hard fusion/rock/pop sounded just too "soft" on them where it mattered. Other times without deep bass content they were just great, though. I tried the K-ubes and these mercilessly revealing babies told me NO! The K-ubes just added more distortion, reduced the superb imaging/dispersion and drove the poor woofers harder for an extra 5Hz or so... you really can't squeeze blood out of those conjugate loaded stones!

The worst, most disappointing aspect of these speakers are the woofers' foam surround. In tropical climates like my country's (Singapore -- in South East Asia) the foam rots in the high humidity, high year-round ambient temperatures. Even in my air-conditioned room the speakers could not survive two years before a thorough recone job which cost US$300 (and 3 weeks in the workshop) out of warranty. They now have a reputation in the 2nd-hand market here for being poor buys despite their sonic prowess. Two stars off for that alone.

Last used eqpt:
CD: Sony X-3000 direct out to QED passive volume control (alps potentiometer)
Amp: Adcom GFA-555
Audioquest Indigo Blue (Highs), Hitachi 4-core LC-OFC (Bass)
Placement: 3 feet from rear wall, 2 feet from side walls, angled 15-deg inwards
Sonic treatment: Dead wall behind KEFs, "live" wall behind listening position, listening at tip of equilateral triangle