I just got a pair of XDem (hardly used ie..colour not matured) Keilidh in cherry with plinths (£700 cf £985 new). They are gorgeous! They have slam, full sound, delicacy and are so musical. They seem to outclass similar priced rivals (B&W P5/6, Missions etc.) albeit each brand has its own sound, so I guess taste amounts to a lot of choosing a speaker. If you find the keilidhs too expensive give the Rega Juras and audition, they are basically a baby keilidh (the same size though), and at £450 they are a real bargin' and work well with entry level Arcam amp/cd and chord cables. I heard a Linn CD12 (£12000) thru' them.....vinyl?
My stereo has changed somewhat over the years, with the likes of arcam, audioquest, mission, linn and cyrus. I use the Keilidh's with Cyrus SL and XPA (ie. biamped) and the sound is not dissimilar in quality to that of a Magic+LK85 setup.....not bad given the cost difference and the fact that although I don't particularly rate the magic, the LK85 is mean kit. However upgrading interconnects and spkr cable is good idea, I have found Chord Cameleon 2 (£90)to be a particular bargain (worth the extra money over the siren anyday) and I hope Solid 2 (£120) is even better.....I did not like AQ Quartz 3 (£125), good sound but little value cf to cameleon. Chord Rumour is a cool speaker cable but is pricey at £10 per meter, or £20 biwire per meter per spkr.

When I finish my Ph.D I will invest in Naim Amps, to go with the Keilidhs and then go active. The active setup is that good, I doubt I will change these speakers for a long time.

These speakers are perhaps the ones from Linn that will give You most "bang for the buck".
In passive mode, they perform well but not fabulous - very musical, tuneful and controlled sound but they tend to make the music sound slightly compressed and lacks depth. Bass is good, but not great. I'd give a passive Keilidh setup 3.5 stars out of 5.

Configured with active crossovers, the Keilidhs really start to shine.
The music "opens up" and the soundstage is much wider. Active Keilidhs sound effortless and depth is also added (compared to the passive version).
The bass gets much more tuneful and a lot deeper, too.
A pair of active Keilidhs are a lot of fun and they are truly great speakers.
The only thing that could be better is the height of the soundstage - even in active configuration the music "crawls along the floor" compared to say, Linn 5140, Keltik, or other hi-end boxes. But hey - that's a small, marginal remark.
I'd give active Keilidhs 4.5 stars out of 5.

Also, make sure to buy the ceramic plinths - they really make wonders for the bass. Don't buy Keilidhs without them.

Last, but not least, the beautiful finish (especially "cherry") and their modest size also makes your spouse happy (WAF = 5.0).

Having owned Linn Keilidhs for a couple of years now, I must say it has been a love hate relationship. On some recordings such as accoustic guitar and jazz, they were just great, but they never rocked. I then slowly upgraded my system piece by piece and ended up with a bi-active system, running 2 LK100'S, a Wakonda, and Rega Planet. I was still disappointed. There was not enough bass extension to round out the sound. When I added a third LK100 with active bass module, it made a huge difference. The overall sound was much fuller, but the treble seemed a bit harsh and scratchy still. I played with the active treble board, raising and lowering the output, but it didn,t clean it up. I decided to try some different sources. I demo'd a Linn Mimic, Genki, Arcam Alpha 9, etc.........and discovered that the Alpha 9 was the ticket. It was heads and tails above everything else, at least in my listening environment. The treble was so smooth, clear, and well defined. Mids were much thicker, and wow, lots more bottom end. I bought the Alpha 9 right away. I am now rediscovering my whole CD collection. Even recordings that sounded harsh and poor, now sound great. My Keilidh's now sound the way I always hoped they would, in fact even better. I can't fairly give a rating to passive Keilidh's because I believe it really depends on what you put in to them. They are fairly finnicky, and quite revealing. Fully active, with a good source, they are nothing short of superb. The only upgrade now would be a subwoofer. But I'm having problems finding one that is quick and accurate enough to keep up with the Keilidh's. Five Stars!

Lovely bass, midrange smiles at you, treble to die for.

NONE!

You really can't go wrong with these speakers, my system consits of LINN Kairn, Karik, 2xLK85, full Linn cables (highly recommended), and active modules.
These speakers exceed themselfs when are active, bass extension well balance, treble clear crisp, I have heard many other system but I will aleays go back to mine, if any body is having second thoughts about these speakers don't! these speakers are made for live, unless you have the money for some kabers, or some keltiks.

Great open, but controlled sound. Excellent soundstage. Probably best if fully 3-way active.

Would work best with quality amps

After spending several hours auditioning the Kelidihs, I determined that these speakers will be the ones for me.

I compared them to a fully active set of AV5140s, and I must confess that I still liked the Kelidihs. Of course, the room where the 5140s was set up was a smaller room then where the Kelidihs were, so that probably made a difference.

The source was an Ikemi CD player (which will compliment my Linn System). Most likely they will be powered by three pairs of LK240's, with Kairn Pro preamp.

I have not listened to any music other than classical, and my test CD, with Duthoit and the Montreal SO playing Holst's "The Planets" presents a superb soundstage on the Kelidihs.

However, another long-time favorite CD of Mahler's 6th Symphony (Solti/Chicago SO) sounds much more hissy that before. I guess that the better the system, the more imperfections will be brought out. Still, the Mahler sounded outstanding

I did compare the Kelidihs with a pair of Dynaudio 1.8mkII, and found that, despite the lower price, I like the Kelidihs more than the Dynaudios.

When my system gets in, set up, and broken in, I will post a follow up.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio 1.8mkII

I set out to buy Canadian-made speakers which are very good bargains. But, I fell in love with the Linn Keilidh's (pronounced Kay-Lee). I listen to alot of soft or old rock and blues. Guitars sound fabulous on these beautifully made speakers. They not only sound great but are as good looking as it gets. The quality is there inside and out. They also offer steps to upgrade from bi-wire to bi-amp to active amping.

build quality, depth of soundstage, upgradability

upgradability

ahem! wel, I bought the speakers finally. After experimenting with room placement and some different cables I was able to get satisfactory sound from the Keilidhs. Now, I´m back on the hifi merry go round again, hoping I will hit the lottery to upgrade my amps and go for the aktive crossovers. DOH!

Similar Products Used:

see below

The Linn Keilidhs simply make music.Forget about the " audiophile " sound. Think as a music lover and you'll discover in these speakers such emotion, that you're just stuck on your chair ! !
They make the impossible compromise between live music and beautiful sound.
They don't need expensive source or amp, just good ones. Some people will tell you the opposite, but it's always because they know how far they can go with high-end electronics !
I got very good results with an Audiolab 8000A, a Cambridge CD6 , and a Rega Planar 3.
Now , my system is better : a Linn Kairn preamp, an Audiolab 8000PX amp, a Copland CDA-266, and always the P3 turntable.
The evolution path is wide open. Going active is just marvellous, and it's absolutely not absurd to spend fortunes in amplification and source, because the Keilidhs play in an other category than their price could let you think.
Actually, I know very few speakers costing up to 5500 US $ who can beat them, in terms of listening pleasure. ( Among them, are the ProAc Response 3.5, or the Linn 5140 but both are difficult concerning amplification and room positionning).
For the same budget than the active set-up, you can also choose to feed them in passive with a Mac MC-500 or the old MC-275. That depends on your taste.

More details about the sound : the treble is crispy and yet soft ; the medium is charmful and weighty, the bass is just amazing : deep and colorful.

Don't trust me, or anyone else on this site, trust only your ears. So take a listen to these speakers : they are more than a bargain, simply a bless.

The Linn Keilidhs simply make music.Forget about the " audiophile " sound. Think as a music lover and you'll discover in these speakers such emotion, that you're just stuck on your chair ! !
They make the impossible compromise between live music and beautiful sound.
They don't need expensive source or amp, just good ones. Some people will tell you the opposite, but it's always because they know how far they can go with high-end electronics !
I got very good results with an Audiolab 8000A, a Cambridge CD6 , and a Rega Planar 3.
Now , my system is better : a Linn Kairn preamp, an Audiolab 8000PX amp, a Copland CDA-266, and always the P3 turntable.
The evolution path is wide open. Going active is just marvellous, and it's absolutely not absurd to spend fortunes in amplification and source, because the Keilidhs play in an other category than their price could let you think.
Actually, I know very few speakers costing up to 5500 US $ who can beat them, in terms of listening pleasure. ( Among them, are the ProAc Response 3.5, or the Linn 5140 but both are difficult concerning amplification and room positionning).
For the same budget than the active set-up, you can also choose to feed them in passive with a Mac MC-500 or the old MC-275. That depends on your taste.

More details about the sound : the treble is crispy and yet soft ; the medium is charmful and weighty, the bass is just amazing : deep and colorful.

Don't trust me, or anyone else on this site, trust only your ears. So take a listen to these speakers : they are more than a bargain, simply a bless.

These speakers kick ass. With the exception of limited bass extension, they do EVERYTHING well: very detailed and tight yet smooth, great imaging and soundstage, absolutely 100% uncolored and neutral. Most importantly, they are musical. The Aktiv setup extends the bass a bit. The 5 star rating is for for aktiv setup. (3.5-4 stars for passive - the passive setup is a bit muddy and boomy at the mid-high bass and lacks the detail). The Aktiv Keilidhs are easy to place.
These speakers sound almost exactly like the $10K Keltiks (same tweeter I believe), though a little without the ability to "slap" (and without the bass extension). Though this may be because I am running an LK100 and LK140 rather than the Klout.