KEF Reference 1: Your experiences of it with Naim!

I have mine on the end of a 252/SCDR/250DR set up with Chord Epic Reference cables and they sound terrific. 

Thanks for the input Alan. May I ask what speakers you had before? and what else did you audition before deciding on the KEFs? 

I dont think I will go for a pre/power at this point sadly, more like one of the integrateds.

I had PMC GB1i's. Had them for about 8 years. Always very happy with them.

I was specifically looking for a 3 way speaker and I wanted to go back to stand mounts as I knew that any floor stander much larger that the GB1i's would not get past SWMBO. Unfortunately that knocks out most floor standers

I did listen to the Kudos S20's a couple of years back and was impressed with them - but I was still thinking about what to do and, as I say, I was really looking for 3 way if spending circa £5k.

When I auditioned the Ref 1's last summer I took my PMC's along as I wanted something with a similar sonic signature and the same amount of bass (no more) but with more mid range detail, soundstage width and depth, etc.. I really fancied the Ref 1's and was delighted when they delivered the goods. I also auditioned the Epic Signature cables compared to my NAC5 (which I had also taken along). I was impressed with them as well so purchased 6m lengths at the same time. I could have lived with the NAC5 - but through the Ref 1's (in particular) the Chord just sounded more realistic  / natural (less 'hi-fi') to my ears. I could not do a home demo as I was undertaking major extension works to my main/listening room.

I didn't bother auditioning anything else as I had what I wanted.

The extension works meant everything was in boxes until about October - but it has all been running in since then and is just getting better and better.

If you look in the System Pics thread I have posted a couple of pictures there - around page 17 or so from memory.

Thanks. I'll look for your system pic

Here is my system pic. I am looking to make the best out of my KEF ref 1s, and looking to replace the Krell in that pic with maybe a Naim.

 http://imgur.com/5qmCR6Q

Nice room and system. You've got a very good system already so i'd be looking elsewhere to start with. It would certainly be worth looking at the acoustics of the room as a starting point as it looks like quite a 'lively' room with the hard floors and large glass area which could be exacerbating the issues you are having with harshness. 

James

My room has a stone floor (another reason for moving from the PMC's with their bottom located transmission line vent which I thought might 'boom').

You will see from my system pics that my speakers are sort of in free space. They stand about 300mm off the wall.

I do not get any harshness at all. My suggestion would be to try moving your speakers around a bit before spending on new electronics to see if that assists with your issue. The speaker in the corner next to the glazing is probably not going to be giving its best. I have never heard a Krell amp - but I would be surprised if a company with their reputation made a harsh sounding amp.

The KEF's need something more than an XS or XS 2 to drive them really well.  I believe an SN2 would probably do the trick, a 250DR certainly would.

james n posted:

Nice room and system. You've got a very good system already so i'd be looking elsewhere to start with. It would certainly be worth looking at the acoustics of the room as a starting point as it looks like quite a 'lively' room with the hard floors and large glass area which could be exacerbating the issues you are having with harshness. 

James

 

I agree with this.  The speakers are too close to the boundaries and the glass area to the right is going to cause harsh reflections (dominated by upper mid and treble).  The proximity here and the asymmetry will cause anomalies in the stereo image.

The lack of any significant degree of LF damping in the room is going to cause boom problems with any full range speaker - you'll need bass traps to get a reasonably even LF response.  The limited bass extension of the KEF1s will ameliorate (but not eliminate) this, provided your room is at least 4m in it's smallest dimension.  Paradoxically the open area to the other room will help here.

The wooden cabinet is probably not ideal either, it's probably colouring the sound through acoustic / mechanical vibration being transmitted to the components.  This will almost certainly be interfering with the TT.