The Kef Referance 201 are a beautifully designed speaker and very well made. Just to fill you in on my set up before i give my review on them. I use a Teac P500 and D500 as my source for CD. I use High quality Chord phono digital cables connecting them together and to the amp. My amp has been changed a few times, at the moment I am using a the very powerfull old but class Nakamichi AV10. Before that I was using the Denon AVC-A1SR which is a 7 channel beast. I still have this used in my other setup with Kef 104/2's. I use a Sony DD turntable in my system as well, as they work really well with the Kef 201's. I also have the Kef stands that are an extra for them but they are worth the money, beatifully made and the speakers seem lost without them. Speaker cables is the heavy grade Quad cable, which is no longer made. Room size is a small bedroom about 12ft X 14ft converted in to my audio room, no wardrobes or unwanted furniture (#Mancave). So the sound: The speakers when I first got them had been used by another audiophile nut, so they were broken in which is important with most speakers but essential for these. After coming from my loved 104/2's i did find them a bit sharp, but after a while I started to hear things which i never heard before coming from music I was very familiar with. Stuff like people speaking in the backround of a recording studio, the wrap of a perrcusion which was never so detailed as it was on the old 104's, so what I'm saying is they took a bit of getting used to. After a few moves of them in the room, I started to notice the soundstage that everybody was talking about with these. Amazing soundstage, get them away from a wall and they are incredible. I have had people over to listen to them who are into there Hi-Fi equipment too and they also found them sharp at first but after a while, started to warm up to them. They are that type of speaker. The long short of it all, is that they are a fantastic speaker and I will have them for many years just like my 104's. I am looking at getting a new CD player for this setup, as my Teac transport is starting to give trouble.

The reason why I don't give 5 stars is because of when listening at high volume, lets just say, they get a bit hard on the ear. This I have not been able to control. My old but amazing 104's could play at high volume for many hours and not hurt the ear at all, I put this down to the top mounted Hyper tweeter with it's high sensitivity at delivering amazing soundstage and picking up so much detail from the sourse and it can't control it at high volume, I could be wrong on my hypothesis. This could be my amp and the fact that they are AV amps. I am going to give them a try with my old Audiolab 8000a amp which I have in storage in the attic. This might have the control needed for these speakers.

Warm, full, yet finely detailed sound; impressive 3d soundstage; more tonal authority and balance than many floorstanders. Great built and design!

Must be put on stands, not on the bookshelf. Stands made by KEF are ideal, but pricy!

Bought these babies at a local dealer after an extended cross-check between various B&W's, HGP ("Mandola" - horrible!), Dynaudio (Contour 3.3), Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, and two different KEF's (201 and 203). In the end, I bought the KEFs - all four of them. :) The only other speakers that produced roughly the same "quality" of sound were the Dynaudios, but they are more the analytical, transparent type. That's what I had before (JM Lab Cobalt 826), so I was looking for something different. I knew I wanted a warmer, mellower sound, but powerful enough to project large orchestral canvasses ... and the occasional Meatloaf. The B&W's (up to the Nautilus 804) have an extended midrange, in fact it's so extended they sounded like the midrange was ALL there was. Which is great for voices, but terrible for everything else, and it quickly put them out of the picture. "All the latest Reference Series technology packed into a neat bookshelf package." This is what KEF themselves write about their 201 model. Well, not exactly. Indeed it is a neat package, a spectacularly neat package, if you ask me (which you're doing if you're reading this review). But a bookshelf package? Not really. The Ref 201 weigh in at about 15 kilos per piece, and they're substantially larger than every other "bookshelf speakers" I know. Which means: You MUST mount them on stands, preferably the ones designed by KEF to support this model. Which may be a problem: Each of those stands comes with a $250-300 price tag! But they're well worth the money, they're sturdy and attractively designed, and they place the 201 on a level equal in height to the 203 model - which is great if you intend to run all of them in a multichannel setup. In comparison to the hefty 203 (26 kilos pp), the sound from the KEFs is less "airy", more compact. Which can be an advantage or a detriment, depending on your personal taste. Still, the music fills the room effortlessly, the voices sound like the performer was in your living room. For vocals in fact, the 201 is even slightly superior to the larger model, especially on pop - which, because of the more compact soundstage, sounds more "together" than through the floorstanders. Only for large orchestral canvasses, I could not help but notice a certain congestion - but only in comparison to its bigger sister (certainly not to the B&W's). If you have a 25-30 sqaure meter room, and you're hesitant to buy bookshelf speakers, but unwilling to go for floorstanders, the Ref 201 may be the perfect speaker. With a powerful amp (THIS it needs!), you'll never need to worry: the 201 delivers full, warm sound and a 3D soundtage that easily surpasses all the other bookshelf speakers, and many floorstanders. These speakers must be run in for a while, about 20-30 days. This can be done with special "running in" CDs at a price, or with your favorite music CDs for nothing. Just let them play continuously for a number of days during the day - the Ref's will reward that kind of care! Also make sure that they are positioned correctly, not next to side walls, not too close to the back wall (though they have a front-side bass reflex which means they're not as critical in positioning as some others). Another impressive aspect of this particular speaker is its built: Just like the more expensive 203 and 205, 207, it has a glitzy tri-wiring terminal on the base of the back, with massive alloy bridges and solid screws. There's also a plug for lowering or lifting the bass level. The cabinet is a pleasure to behold: the wood veneer (especially in cherry) is well done, the rounded cabinet is most pleasant to the eye (and may just persuade your wife that big speakers can make an attractive addition to your other "furniture"), the silver hypertweeter on top catches the eye of many a visitor. On the KEF stands, the Ref 201 has real authority. Concerning the bass lift, I wouldn't worry about it much. Because of its compact cabinet, the 201 delivers MORE bass power than its bigger sister - the drivers are the same size as in the 203! Of course, it's the sound that matters, and in that respect (see above), the Ref 201 outdistances every bookshelf speaker, and many floorstanders. Which is why I think the price is right for this one. The sound certainly is. :)

Similar Products Used:

Kef Reference 203, JM Lab Cobalt 826, Infinity Kappa 8.2i, Infinity Reference 61i, Elac 105/107, Energy Point 1e.

Incredible depth and clarity. Just put on the tracks you are familiar with and wait for an open and transparent sound and lyrical expression that allows you to hear every nuance and word. Also they build - cheaper speakers mask the full depth of a track. The 201s ruthlessly project the original recording and each track builds with one layer adding to the next. Breathtaking.

The price meant I had to wait a year to afford them. They're heavy for a relatively small speaker - also they need breaking in for a good few hours.

Rich and detailed and perfect for a smaller listening room. These speakers exhibit pace and rhythm and are well suited to vinyl sources.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus Martin Logan

Quite good controlled bass for a standmount. If your not using a sub I would put these on your list. You will get at least 30% discount so they are excellent value for money.

Lacking in detail compared to the B&W Signature 805. I would describe them as having a warm sound. Don't go for maple as it looks tacky and cheap.

These are probably the best in their price range, especially when you consider the discounts available. If your budget can stretch an extra $1000 you get alot more with the B&W 805 Signatures.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Signature 805

Treble - the most detailed I've ever heard. Incredible bass for a standmount. Effortless delivery. RIDICULOUSLY cheap considering how good they are.

Their price may encourage buyers to partner them with gear that simply doesn't do them justice.

My quest for a very high quality standmount speaker for music and home theatre use led me to audition the following: Revel Performa M20 These are simply wonderful speakers with a mid-range that is IMHO unmatched at any price level. The clarity is scintillating. They are also a bargain at £2000/pair, which puts them head-to-head against the Kef 201s. The Kef’s upwards and downwards extension and control (due to the four-way design) means the Revels are bested in both the treble and bass departments. Nevertheless, that midrange…if above all else you value being able to hear the human voice as realistically as possible, the Revels are undoubtedly for you. B&W Signature 805 I could go into great detail about how I think the £2500 asking price is largely being spent on the lavish finish, the ‘Signature’ tag…or indeed the B&W name itself. It certainly doesn’t manifest itself in the sound, which to my ears is very hard, particularly in the midrange. Paradoxically the 805 – like the WB Arc is only really listenable at loud levels, sounding even more compressed and cluttered at low levels. Certainly between the Revel M20s and the Arcs, there really is no place in the market for these right now. Sorry B&W… Wilson Benesch Arc I hate to be dismissive of these highly revered speakers but…I preferred the Revel M20s to these in just about every respect. The Arcs only really opened up at high volume levels, which isn’t ideal. They lose even more points for home theater use as the matching centre is rather over priced (but not as much as the Tannoy!). Good speakers – certainly, but the huge cost incurred by (presumably) Wilson Benesch’s ‘tactic’ carbon fiber drivers doesn’t appear to be worth it. Kef Reference 201 Now we’re talking. First off – I’m still at a loss to explain how Kef even makes any money off them whatsoever, as they manage to cram so much in for £2000 – curved real-wood cabinets, HUGE crossover network that occupies the entire base of the speaker, FOUR ultra high-quality drive units with associated voice coils, magnets etc…all of which would mean zip if they didn’t sound superb… …and they do. Despite the four-way layout and awesomely complex crossover, they somehow manage to sound time-coherant – a feat not achieved even by many three-way speakers. These have the most detailed and yet effortless treble I have ever heard in a loudspeaker. I can only assume this is due to the super tweeter, and it’s seamless takeover from the main tweeter. That’s not all – the bass extension and control easily matches the old Reference 2-2 speakers, which is slightly impressive considering those were large floorstanders and these are (admittedly bulky) standmounts. The mid-range (like the treble) is entirely free from grain. Don’t believe me? Your electronics aren’t good enough then. Or more likely – your source. One slight caveat of their ludicrously low asking price is that people who shouldn’t be able to afford them can. I don’t mean this in a bad way. I simply mean more often than not, I see them partnered with source components and electronics which simply do not do them justice. Particularly for home theater application – and BTW this is the perfect point to mention the 202c, which by all accounts is one of the greatest centre speakers ever created; the fact that it costs a mere £1000 is yet further reason to buy one right NOW! – I consider there’s probably about five AV processors in the world that can match them. And yes I am talking Levinson, Theta, Classe, and Meridian here. As for matching amplification, they are a much easier load than Kef’s previous reference range, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that anything other than a transparent amplifier is going to be masking the detail these marvels are capable of retrieving. Kef are to be praised here, for as the Q1’s are an absolute milestone in the £200 bracket, the Ref’s are serious contenders in the cost-no-object speaker market…and they’re yours for as little as £2000!!!

Similar Products Used:

Wilson Benesch Arc B&W Signature 805 Tannoy TD8 Revel M20