That spinorama combined with that level of output is better than 99% of speakers produced today. The bigger 207 from that era probably digs even lower. A bargain today, especially as these are made in the UK and KEF can still supply parts for them.
Interesting you say Kef still has parts for this speaker, they told me in 2021 they didn't have parts for the KEF Reference 201/2. The 203 being older is being even more surprised if any parts are available.
@@paulgyroI’m in the UK so I don’t know if that makes a difference. I ordered a replacement hypertweeter last year for a 204c as it had lost its grille and been attacked by a toddler.
Imagine making speakers so good that reviewers are still blown away *a quarter of a century* later! Also, I'm glad Kef left their Bowers and Wilkins era. Thanks for the fantastic review, as always!
But now their speakers are just boring rectangles this shape is way nicer and they were manufactured in england not china to save money. Hifi has just gone backwards and the new KEFs seem to be a little bright tilted which makes them sound reminiscent of Klipsch to me.
Just picked up a pair of reference 205s on eBay off the back of this review. Thank you Erin! I feel like I got a bargain at $3k Aussie shipped (approx $2k US)
I remember these well. I very rarely see them around..i see the .2's more often & those are usually higher in price. If you can find a great pair of 203's under $2k i think thats a good deal. Under $1500 is Fantastic find. Most people that own them know how good they are still to this day. Great review..i love seeing data on these older models.
Erin, I’ve been meaning to bring this up. The question: What makes a great speaker--especially for DIY. Now, in looking at your reviews and speakers that you like, one thing stands out. They tend to have waveguides. Other factors--as mentioned in this video, rounded edges on the baffle to reduce diffraction, rounded or non parallel sides,back, and top to reduce resonance, structurally as stiff as possible, AND, the crossover has to provide good balance (not sure of the audio term here but an identical signal to both speakers would result in a dead center image). The importance of this last item is rarely mentioned other than to say speakers have good imaging, not how it was achieved. Rave reviews of active speakers are in part due to their ability to achieve this perfectly. Two passive speakers will never have identical crossovers like an active design can achieve (though admittedly we may not be able to hear the difference if component tolerances are close and driver tolerances may also render this point mute). Purifi, on their website, describe a speaker with a prototype tweeter with waveguide that matches most of the criteria I’ve mentioned. Your thoughts on this if you have time-a full video would be even better!
Hi Erin, nice to hear you name dropping the Ultra, when can we expect a review? I value your objective and subjective approach to reviewing and I am especially interested in hearing your thoughts on the Ultra.
If this review from a 2001 KEF speaker performing this good doesn't convince people that KEF is always fair and a good bet, I don't know what would. Enjoying my Reference 3 Meta. I upgraded from NuVero 170 which were also considered high end and linear at a price tag of 8k. But yes, this upgrade to the Reference 3 Meta is instantly noticable.
I love this testing of vintage speakers! I would love to see you test the old JBL Studio series like the S38. They show up on Facebook from time to time for 200 bucks or less.
Impressive how old it is and how good it measure. I really like the tri-way bidding post. I dont see this any longer. It is a perfect speaker to amp the HF with a tube amp and LF1 &LF2 with a Class D amp.
KEF Reference 205 and 205/2 are also supposed to be incredible. I just can't afford them, so I'll stick with my iQ90 for the time being. I'd love to personally hear some Reference 207/2 sometime.
“AVR’s of the day might not be able to drive this speaker…” Erin, if you sense a gentle rumbling around your house and it’s getting louder, don’t be alarmed it’s just the Denon 5805 walking towards your house and wanting a word with you (seriously look it up, it’s one of the most beautiful abominations the audio world has ever produced).
I am curious how well the IQ9 perform compared to these. They look really similar in driver layout but probably different materials. KEF always seemed good at rolling their technologies into their next design even when it's cheaper
Used to own a set of those, same veneer. Lovely sounding speaker with 200 watts up it. Maybe a touch soft at the very top. The paint in the bump under the tweeter support goes tacky.
Back the early 2000s I heard the 205 model hooked up to a bunch of McIntosh electronics. They completely blew me away. I also heard the B&W 802D a little before that, and while they sounded good the 205s impressed me much more at the time. This was back when I had no clue about what makes a good loudspeaker. I took a look at some measurements for the 205 a while back and looking at them its no surprise I liked them so much. So its not unexpected that the 203 are also excellent. If I had the space I would have bought these a long time ago.
You wouldn't remember where you found the measurements would you? Just bought a pair of 205s after seeing Erin's 203 review and would love to see anything objective
@frankdoyle I don't remember. Maybe I am confusing the 205 with 205/2. But I'm pretty sure it was the 205 that I heard, don't think the 205/2 was alreqsy released then.
I sold these while working at Ultimate Electronics. We only demo's classical on them. We used Krell pre/power amps to drive them. Always thought the bookshelf model was ugly
I have the older Kef Reference R300, and I love them (especially for classical music). It seems Kef just knew (and knows) how to make high quality, neutral sounding speakers....
Reviewing products like this is fascinating....the used or vintage "high end" market has plenty of action on the vintage receiver front with in depth reviews...this is very cool Erin
I’d love to see you do more reviews of older or vintage speakers, especially mid priced speakers. I own the Kef 103/3 Reference Series speakers with the original stands. Not really comparable to these Kef’s though.
These are almost the same as the Q-series, you can find allot of information on them by searching for Uni-Q which is the name of the concentric driver. I think this was the first gen of that long iterated design still going with the current kef metas. The round cabinets were made by cutting a series of longitudinal slits in the wood allowing it to bend, then pressing it with glue and maybe steam in a large hydraulic press. I’m not sure but I think Andrew Jones may have worked on them, as I know he worked at kef near this time period and also worked on the uni-Q. It’s funny you mention the Primus with these, as I have both the Q-7’s and the infinity BETA 50’s which are very close to both these and the Primus. Don’t be fooled thinking the Alphas are better than the Beta’s. From what I gather the Betas are a tier above and were the prototype of what later became the revels with the berylium tweeters as an upgrade. If you want a bookshelf for bookshelf comparison sake look for a kef Q-1. And likewise a Beta 10. Both those have the same mid and tweeter as the rest of the line which just has varying degrees of low end variations. I love the way kef curved all the basket covers making the entire surface a continuous flowing form. Beautiful design! I think they went away from it because the manufacturing time of the hydraulic press was allot slower than their mass production ambitions.
Just imagine that buying the right speaker back in 2001 would still serve you well in 2024 and on. That was also the rationale für buying my Neumann KH420s. A really good speaker can serve you for decades.
Erin, your content is a treasure for the world! Thanks! One question: Why do you categorize the valuable multitone distortion measurements in Voltage instead of SPL? The latter would be more intuitive and allow easier comparisons in my opinion.
Great review. I'm new to your channel and see you have Brothers In Arms on your wall. I used to use that album to test car audio systems back in the late '80s to early '90s, especially the title track and Ride Across The River. What are some of your go-to tracks?
After auditioning all mid to hifi speakers Erin has reviewed including the his favorites-mofi source pt8/linton/JBL 3800/KlH model5/keff meta 3/ L82mk2/Heresy/Passif 50/dynaudio emit 50/evoke30/ None of them sounded better than my 2007 JBL ES 4 way towers or my revived 1979 Gale 401A speakers. It seems they did make speakers better back then.
Thanks for your reviews. I wish you’d speak way more subjectively in the “subjective” section; your own rating of the highs, mids, lows, soundstage width and depth, imaging, etc - for example “the frequency response was nearly perfectly balanced” or “the soundstage width and depth were some of the best I’ve heard” or “it never was fatiguing” etc. You WILL occasionally do this in reviews, but not consistently. Thanks for reading and considering.
Interesting review. Those speakers made in England would be 15-18k, China 8-10k. Is that the Venetian blind response John Atkinson and Gordon Holt mention?
Heh @Erin, if you like the shape and overall aesthetics of the older KEF reference 203’s then you may also like the new G2 versions of the Sonus Faber Sonettos V’s - Ive only had mine for a week or so, but WOW! Simply WoW! Silk dome DAD tweeter too should avoid those super-tweeter spikes >10khz.
As an owner of a CS3.7, they are not going to be great measuring as KEF's. They were aiming too much at a flat response at MLP and therefore too much highs for neutrality.
i can not handle the looks if the speakers, and it even worse for the lower models. think the shape could be the same but different materials and colors would help.
Sure, those are the biggest improvements but there were more. I dont understand why speakers u can just buy are so bad These days. In diy the drivers are so good nowadays, u slam pretty much every speaker if you dont fuck up in a big way.
Erin, non related question: Morel home subwoofers. The brand is reputable but I cannot find any reviews or opinions on the subwoofers which seem pricey. What can you tell me about them?
Who's Mofi?😄 My dad had the Q7 with it's racetrack woofer. Sounded great and a bit warm and maybe slightly like a horn. But very great nevertheless. Great for a beginner or an audiophile on a budget.👍 The 203 should be even better the the Q7 or Q9.
I bought a second set of Primus 36X towers over the weekend for 50$! Side and rear surrounds never sounded better. Lol There’s a set of KEF 205s in my area, but they’re 2000$. That’s too spendy to just impulse buy for fun. I wonder if they are substantially better than my old Jamos. 🤔
Go for it! You won't regret it. Money comes and goes but speakers like 205's are hard to come by. You'll hear so much more out of them. Got my 205's couple of weeks ago and loving them.
With its garbage bin looks and the tweeter on top, it looks a bit like a B&W speaker. Visually, I'm not a fan, even though it might be benificial for the sound.
How does it sound compared to the KEF LS60? What about other modern KEF you've tested. Im try to figure how much these would be worth compared to modern offering (not just KEF)
They’re some of the better speakers I’ve heard. Someone else asked how they compared to the Mofi 888 and I actually think I would prefer these in terms of overall linearity, but the Mofi have better bass extension.
Why todays speakers suck so much? We only have those super expensive models that are crazy to buy or kinda affordable but with many compromises ones? Why 25 years ago we had those high end speakers that are pretty much amazing in everything but today its rare sight.
Just wondering, what would you guys consider vintage? Im 41 years old and to me 'vintage' is anything before 1990. Would a 50+ year old only consider anything before 1980 'vintage'? Would a 30+ year old only consider anything before 2000 'vintage'? Is this all relative or is there a set standard?
Traditionally, vintage means anything from 20 years prior or more. *Edit:* I think the phenomenon you're talking about is a case of people thinking the threshold for "vintage" is stationary and remains where it was when they discovered it when in reality, the threshold for vintage constantly moves. Welcome to getting old, friend! lol
How did we go from good stuff like this to hibby geebie nonsense by new manufacturers who wont make good speakers but will market "synergy" to oblivious or willingly obtuse buyers
I had these on my ebay watch list for years! Shame I never got them. Would love if you could measure the KEF r300 range, they are so cheap on the used market and pretty sure they'll measure better than the ls50s
You say Dynaudios measure bad, but sound good. The Dynaudio has a deep tone. A piano on the lower keys has a deeper tone, but dont play as loud as the higher keys, that is where you get your measurements messed up.
People have this desire to lump everything together as you’ve done here without recognizing there are details and caveats to things. I suggest you read atch my Dyn reviews again because you have sorely missed the mark here.
@@ErinsAudioCorner PSB Alpha B1 speakers sold millions of them at $200 a pair. They blow away any speaker under $1,000, & many up to $2,000. The deep tone of these speakers make them audiophile speakers, although they are not ther clerest sounding speakers. I say the same for this amp. The OLD Nad 3020 amps sold millions of them for $200. I have all kinds of 1st order crossover speakers & some speakers with no crossovers. Only first order crossover speakers have clear sound. I will name great first order crossover speakers. Totem, Sonus Faber, old Thiels, Revel, Vandersteen, Harbeth, Dynaudio, Spendor Focal speakers have 1st order crossovers & I havent heard them. B & W speakers are over rated. PCM are 1st order crossover speakers with a transmission line enclosure & the best sounding speakers & have cut their prices in half. Any speaker that is bright, I throw in the garbage. A flat sounding speaker is terrible, A piano doesnt play flat, up & down the keys. I like a speaker with strong mids, & loud deep clear bass. Speakers should be 4 foot from walls, but for best sound, place speakers from 4 inches from a brick wall, or 4 inches from a heavy stuccho wall. Brick & stuccho act as a diffusor. What makes 3d sound. If you have 1 boat, you have 1 wave. If you have 2 boats, you have 2 waves behind the boat. When the 2 waves hit together, it creates a 3rd 3d wave.
These new speaker brands are no good. The old brands like Focal, Vandersteen, Revel, Harbeth, Spendor, Thiel, Dynaudio, Sonus Faber, all have first order crossovers. Only first order crossovers are the best speakers, thats most importantly what you need to talk about. Forget about all the other worthless speakers. If a speaker doesnt have a first order crossover, it is a total waste of all of our time to even talk about other garbage speakers in the medium price range. The Dynaudio 40 speaker has the best tone of any speaker. The Mofi speakers are a ripoff price. The Mofi speaker is a bright garbage speaker. Most speakers with 8 inch, & 10 inch woofers, sound like a garbage subwoofer barking at you. A $1.000 speaker without a first order crossover is throwing a $1,000 down the Drain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That spinorama combined with that level of output is better than 99% of speakers produced today. The bigger 207 from that era probably digs even lower. A bargain today, especially as these are made in the UK and KEF can still supply parts for them.
Interesting you say Kef still has parts for this speaker, they told me in 2021 they didn't have parts for the KEF Reference 201/2. The 203 being older is being even more surprised if any parts are available.
@@paulgyroI’m in the UK so I don’t know if that makes a difference. I ordered a replacement hypertweeter last year for a 204c as it had lost its grille and been attacked by a toddler.
@@sifi36 glad they could take care of you!
Calling it a bargain could be a bit of a stretch - they're still netting well into 4 digit prices afaik.
@@Bac4-qu6qg7sk4v that depends on how much you'd need to spend to beat them I guess...
Imagine making speakers so good that reviewers are still blown away *a quarter of a century* later! Also, I'm glad Kef left their Bowers and Wilkins era.
Thanks for the fantastic review, as always!
What was their B&W era?
@@Dave-vu3cu too much treble era haha
@@Dave-vu3cuI guess it's the rounded cabinet shapes with external tweeter pod that's reminiscent of B&W's.
As anything in 4-8k USD range should be. In todays prices, that would be 8-12k range.
But now their speakers are just boring rectangles this shape is way nicer and they were manufactured in england not china to save money. Hifi has just gone backwards and the new KEFs seem to be a little bright tilted which makes them sound reminiscent of Klipsch to me.
Just picked up a pair of reference 205s on eBay off the back of this review. Thank you Erin! I feel like I got a bargain at $3k Aussie shipped (approx $2k US)
I saw them on Facebook a few days ago, knew this vid would push the sale 😂
Enjoy man
good luck with replacing the woofers rubber and capacitors, something normal for a 20 yo speaker
I remember these well. I very rarely see them around..i see the .2's more often & those are usually higher in price. If you can find a great pair of 203's under $2k i think thats a good deal. Under $1500 is Fantastic find. Most people that own them know how good they are still to this day.
Great review..i love seeing data on these older models.
Erin, I’ve been meaning to bring this up. The question: What makes a great speaker--especially for DIY. Now, in looking at your reviews and speakers that you like, one thing stands out. They tend to have waveguides. Other factors--as mentioned in this video, rounded edges on the baffle to reduce diffraction, rounded or non parallel sides,back, and top to reduce resonance, structurally as stiff as possible, AND, the crossover has to provide good balance (not sure of the audio term here but an identical signal to both speakers would result in a dead center image). The importance of this last item is rarely mentioned other than to say speakers have good imaging, not how it was achieved. Rave reviews of active speakers are in part due to their ability to achieve this perfectly. Two passive speakers will never have identical crossovers like an active design can achieve (though admittedly we may not be able to hear the difference if component tolerances are close and driver tolerances may also render this point mute). Purifi, on their website, describe a speaker with a prototype tweeter with waveguide that matches most of the criteria I’ve mentioned. Your thoughts on this if you have time-a full video would be even better!
Hi Erin, nice to hear you name dropping the Ultra, when can we expect a review? I value your objective and subjective approach to reviewing and I am especially interested in hearing your thoughts on the Ultra.
If this review from a 2001 KEF speaker performing this good doesn't convince people that KEF is always fair and a good bet, I don't know what would. Enjoying my Reference 3 Meta. I upgraded from NuVero 170 which were also considered high end and linear at a price tag of 8k. But yes, this upgrade to the Reference 3 Meta is instantly noticable.
Love seeing these reviews on some of the older gems out there! More to ad on my list..lol. Thanks again for all your work! Great work!
I love this testing of vintage speakers! I would love to see you test the old JBL Studio series like the S38. They show up on Facebook from time to time for 200 bucks or less.
Impressive how old it is and how good it measure. I really like the tri-way bidding post. I dont see this any longer. It is a perfect speaker to amp the HF with a tube amp and LF1 &LF2 with a Class D amp.
@@stingber you can see other variations of this in really expensive speakers these days. Wilson and Focal to name a few.
Would love to see a review of NHT 2.9 or 3.3
me too
KEF Reference 205 and 205/2 are also supposed to be incredible. I just can't afford them, so I'll stick with my iQ90 for the time being. I'd love to personally hear some Reference 207/2 sometime.
my 32 year old nelson-reed 8-04 c with 1204 sub is still going strong and sounds fantastic.
I think if the Hyper tweeter had replacement fluid, it would improve the specs slightly.
Sold my 3 y.o. Martin Logan Motion 40i's for just under $2K and picked KEF 205's for just under $3K a few weeks ago. Night and day!
“AVR’s of the day might not be able to drive this speaker…”
Erin, if you sense a gentle rumbling around your house and it’s getting louder, don’t be alarmed it’s just the Denon 5805 walking towards your house and wanting a word with you (seriously look it up, it’s one of the most beautiful abominations the audio world has ever produced).
The old ones where better not sure if hes looked at how BS the power ratings are on the newer ones.
I am curious how well the IQ9 perform compared to these. They look really similar in driver layout but probably different materials. KEF always seemed good at rolling their technologies into their next design even when it's cheaper
Used to own a set of those, same veneer. Lovely sounding speaker with 200 watts up it. Maybe a touch soft at the very top. The paint in the bump under the tweeter support goes tacky.
Back the early 2000s I heard the 205 model hooked up to a bunch of McIntosh electronics. They completely blew me away. I also heard the B&W 802D a little before that, and while they sounded good the 205s impressed me much more at the time. This was back when I had no clue about what makes a good loudspeaker. I took a look at some measurements for the 205 a while back and looking at them its no surprise I liked them so much. So its not unexpected that the 203 are also excellent. If I had the space I would have bought these a long time ago.
You wouldn't remember where you found the measurements would you? Just bought a pair of 205s after seeing Erin's 203 review and would love to see anything objective
@frankdoyle I don't remember. Maybe I am confusing the 205 with 205/2. But I'm pretty sure it was the 205 that I heard, don't think the 205/2 was alreqsy released then.
I sold these while working at Ultimate Electronics. We only demo's classical on them. We used Krell pre/power amps to drive them. Always thought the bookshelf model was ugly
I'm still running my def tech bp20s I bought brand new in 93!! Still sound awesome
I have the older Kef Reference R300, and I love them (especially for classical music). It seems Kef just knew (and knows) how to make high quality, neutral sounding speakers....
Man I remember reference speakers powered by big Yamahas and shit it rocked
yes! call them noteworthy speakers. I look for used equipment often and would love more videos like this.
Reviewing products like this is fascinating....the used or vintage "high end" market has plenty of action on the vintage receiver front with in depth reviews...this is very cool Erin
I’d love to see you do more reviews of older or vintage speakers, especially mid priced speakers. I own the Kef 103/3 Reference Series speakers with the original stands. Not really comparable to these Kef’s though.
Great review. How are KEF's lower priced towers like the popular Q750?
I was close to buying a pair of these 203 a couple months ago. The seller got down to about 1850 dollars when they disappeared.
These are almost the same as the Q-series, you can find allot of information on them by searching for Uni-Q which is the name of the concentric driver. I think this was the first gen of that long iterated design still going with the current kef metas.
The round cabinets were made by cutting a series of longitudinal slits in the wood allowing it to bend, then pressing it with glue and maybe steam in a large hydraulic press.
I’m not sure but I think Andrew Jones may have worked on them, as I know he worked at kef near this time period and also worked on the uni-Q.
It’s funny you mention the Primus with these, as I have both the Q-7’s and the infinity BETA 50’s which are very close to both these and the Primus.
Don’t be fooled thinking the Alphas are better than the Beta’s. From what I gather the Betas are a tier above and were the prototype of what later became the revels with the berylium tweeters as an upgrade.
If you want a bookshelf for bookshelf comparison sake look for a kef Q-1. And likewise a Beta 10. Both those have the same mid and tweeter as the rest of the line which just has varying degrees of low end variations.
I love the way kef curved all the basket covers making the entire surface a continuous flowing form. Beautiful design! I think they went away from it because the manufacturing time of the hydraulic press was allot slower than their mass production ambitions.
Just imagine that buying the right speaker back in 2001 would still serve you well in 2024 and on. That was also the rationale für buying my Neumann KH420s. A really good speaker can serve you for decades.
Might be worth checking out some Kef 104/2's or similar as well from the 80's
Erin, your content is a treasure for the world! Thanks!
One question: Why do you categorize the valuable multitone distortion measurements in Voltage instead of SPL? The latter would be more intuitive and allow easier comparisons in my opinion.
The voltage is equal to: 70/77/87/96dB at 1 meter. Changing the graphics is a manual process that I abhor dealing with.
Great video as always. Would have I been at UK now, eBay seller has those for around £850 :)
Just bought them from this exact ebay listing! paid for shipping to Australia, hopefully they arrive safe
@@frankdoyle please keep us posted:D
Great review. I'm new to your channel and see you have Brothers In Arms on your wall. I used to use that album to test car audio systems back in the late '80s to early '90s, especially the title track and Ride Across The River. What are some of your go-to tracks?
I have a playlist of my go to tracks:
open.spotify.com/playlist/0gBVe7rwdZojX41LakrUUy?si=rRGFFPs9TiiSMVTQ2Bvb_Q&pi=u-pA64VIuTRee6
@@ErinsAudioCorner thanks. I enjoy a lot of those!
Awesome rundown Erin!! 🎉❤😊
After auditioning all mid to hifi speakers Erin has reviewed including the his favorites-mofi source pt8/linton/JBL 3800/KlH model5/keff meta 3/ L82mk2/Heresy/Passif 50/dynaudio emit 50/evoke30/ None of them sounded better than my 2007 JBL ES 4 way towers or my revived 1979 Gale 401A speakers. It seems they did make speakers better back then.
i would like to see review of Infinity Kappa 8.2i series II
I have a set of 201/2 as my computer audio ssytem. they are great sounding speakers!
Thanks for your reviews. I wish you’d speak way more subjectively in the “subjective” section; your own rating of the highs, mids, lows, soundstage width and depth, imaging, etc - for example “the frequency response was nearly perfectly balanced” or “the soundstage width and depth were some of the best I’ve heard” or “it never was fatiguing” etc. You WILL occasionally do this in reviews, but not consistently. Thanks for reading and considering.
Interesting review. Those speakers made in England would be 15-18k, China 8-10k. Is that the Venetian blind response John Atkinson and Gordon Holt mention?
Heh @Erin, if you like the shape and overall aesthetics of the older KEF reference 203’s then you may also like the new G2 versions of the Sonus Faber Sonettos V’s - Ive only had mine for a week or so, but WOW! Simply WoW! Silk dome DAD tweeter too should avoid those super-tweeter spikes >10khz.
In terms of older speakers, og Thiels always looked interesting to me...
Hi Erin, any plans of reviewing any of the Refrence JTR Speakers that use the BMS coaxial compression driver?
Please review some Thiel speakers. I live in Idaho and can't ship my 120lb speaker.
As an owner of a CS3.7, they are not going to be great measuring as KEF's. They were aiming too much at a flat response at MLP and therefore too much highs for neutrality.
i can not handle the looks if the speakers, and it even worse for the lower models.
think the shape could be the same but different materials and colors would help.
Great review.
I'm fully convinced speakers peaked 35 years ago and it's been incremental since. Probably the biggest leap is active crossovers and room correction.
Sure, those are the biggest improvements but there were more.
I dont understand why speakers u can just buy are so bad These days. In diy the drivers are so good nowadays, u slam pretty much every speaker if you dont fuck up in a big way.
Erin, non related question: Morel home subwoofers. The brand is reputable but I cannot find any reviews or opinions on the subwoofers which seem pricey. What can you tell me about them?
he's reviewed the floorstander Avyra from Morel. You can pester Morel to send the subwoofer
These have B&W looks
Wharfedale ELYSIAN 2 review coming anytime soon?
Who's Mofi?😄 My dad had the Q7 with it's racetrack woofer. Sounded great and a bit warm and maybe slightly like a horn. But very great nevertheless. Great for a beginner or an audiophile on a budget.👍 The 203 should be even better the the Q7 or Q9.
I think those are the 203 without the 2..the 2s don't have the external tweeter
Does the drivers still hold the TS parameters good ?
2001 is old school. I’m depressed.
I may look out for these in the wild! Do these compare well vs the 888?
TBH, I prefer this speaker. But the drawback is it doesn’t get as low as the 888. So if that matters more then the 888 is the better choice.
@@ErinsAudioCorner205 or 207 would resolve that right? Assuming the midrange and treble are similar within the range.
I bought a second set of Primus 36X towers over the weekend for 50$! Side and rear surrounds never sounded better. Lol
There’s a set of KEF 205s in my area, but they’re 2000$. That’s too spendy to just impulse buy for fun. I wonder if they are substantially better than my old Jamos. 🤔
Go for it! You won't regret it. Money comes and goes but speakers like 205's are hard to come by. You'll hear so much more out of them. Got my 205's couple of weeks ago and loving them.
24 years later … the capability needle did not change.
With its garbage bin looks and the tweeter on top, it looks a bit like a B&W speaker. Visually, I'm not a fan, even though it might be benificial for the sound.
How does it sound compared to the KEF LS60? What about other modern KEF you've tested. Im try to figure how much these would be worth compared to modern offering (not just KEF)
They’re some of the better speakers I’ve heard. Someone else asked how they compared to the Mofi 888 and I actually think I would prefer these in terms of overall linearity, but the Mofi have better bass extension.
Why todays speakers suck so much? We only have those super expensive models that are crazy to buy or kinda affordable but with many compromises ones? Why 25 years ago we had those high end speakers that are pretty much amazing in everything but today its rare sight.
Just wondering, what would you guys consider vintage? Im 41 years old and to me 'vintage' is anything before 1990. Would a 50+ year old only consider anything before 1980 'vintage'? Would a 30+ year old only consider anything before 2000 'vintage'? Is this all relative or is there a set standard?
Traditionally, vintage means anything from 20 years prior or more.
*Edit:* I think the phenomenon you're talking about is a case of people thinking the threshold for "vintage" is stationary and remains where it was when they discovered it when in reality, the threshold for vintage constantly moves. Welcome to getting old, friend! lol
@@AnotherAnonymousMan so by that standard, anything vintage should be before 2004 to everyone?
How did we go from good stuff like this to hibby geebie nonsense by new manufacturers who wont make good speakers but will market "synergy" to oblivious or willingly obtuse buyers
Seem like a home run product, but personally im not a fan of the looks.
I had these on my ebay watch list for years! Shame I never got them. Would love if you could measure the KEF r300 range, they are so cheap on the used market and pretty sure they'll measure better than the ls50s
Quick question. Do you buy into speakers/amps. complementing/improving sound quality. Posed that question to a reviewer and guess what?
in the "every amplifier sounds different" sense, i would presume not
Talk about bookshelf speakers with deep bass, or bookshelf speakers that sound good at low volume.
what about the highs shifting? these 2 tweeter aren't going to time-meet.
9:50
I remember those
First KEF I've seen that looks more like a B&W speaker than a KEF.
You say Dynaudios measure bad, but sound good. The Dynaudio has a deep tone. A piano on the lower keys has a deeper tone, but dont play as loud as the higher keys, that is where you get your measurements messed up.
People have this desire to lump everything together as you’ve done here without recognizing there are details and caveats to things. I suggest you read atch my Dyn reviews again because you have sorely missed the mark here.
@@ErinsAudioCorner PSB Alpha B1 speakers sold millions of them at $200 a pair. They blow away any speaker under $1,000, & many up to $2,000. The deep tone of these speakers make them audiophile speakers, although they are not ther clerest sounding speakers. I say the same for this amp. The OLD Nad 3020 amps sold millions of them for $200. I have all kinds of 1st order crossover speakers & some speakers with no crossovers. Only first order crossover speakers have clear sound. I will name great first order crossover speakers. Totem, Sonus Faber, old Thiels, Revel, Vandersteen, Harbeth, Dynaudio, Spendor Focal speakers have 1st order crossovers & I havent heard them. B & W speakers are over rated. PCM are 1st order crossover speakers with a transmission line enclosure & the best sounding speakers & have cut their prices in half. Any speaker that is bright, I throw in the garbage. A flat sounding speaker is terrible, A piano doesnt play flat, up & down the keys. I like a speaker with strong mids, & loud deep clear bass. Speakers should be 4 foot from walls, but for best sound, place speakers from 4 inches from a brick wall, or 4 inches from a heavy stuccho wall. Brick & stuccho act as a diffusor. What makes 3d sound. If you have 1 boat, you have 1 wave. If you have 2 boats, you have 2 waves behind the boat. When the 2 waves hit together, it creates a 3rd 3d wave.
Shows that speaker tech has not improved over the years. Design still trumps material tech imo.
SHOWS AN 8K Dollar speaker design and uncompromised engineering and materials !!.
Look at that.. all that goodness without the "Meta" stuff.
Dang Erin! Please stop reviewing fulling size 3-4 way speakers with properly designed crossovers! You let the cat out of the bag!!!
These new speaker brands are no good. The old brands like Focal, Vandersteen, Revel, Harbeth, Spendor, Thiel, Dynaudio, Sonus Faber, all have first order crossovers. Only first order crossovers are the best speakers, thats most importantly what you need to talk about. Forget about all the other worthless speakers. If a speaker doesnt have a first order crossover, it is a total waste of all of our time to even talk about other garbage speakers in the medium price range. The Dynaudio 40 speaker has the best tone of any speaker. The Mofi speakers are a ripoff price. The Mofi speaker is a bright garbage speaker. Most speakers with 8 inch, & 10 inch woofers, sound like a garbage subwoofer barking at you. A $1.000 speaker without a first order crossover is throwing a $1,000 down the Drain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!