I have owned my 105.2’s for about two years now. I have them on my main 2 channel system that I rotate different speakers. Of the speakers that I have on rotation I like the 105’s best overall. The others include Paradigm Studio 100 V5, Warfedale Lintons, Energy 22’s. The 105’s produce a very holographic sound stage that I really enjoy. The bass is strong and accurate with a good amp and the highs are clear but not fatiguing.

My woofers had the sag problem that they are famous for when I purchased them. A local speaker repair shop fixed them by disassembling them then re aligned and re glued them. They required no new parts. They are perfect now and completely original less the glue. After the woofers were repaired I got to play them for the first time and was extremely disappointed. The sound was flat and very 2 dimensional. My plan was to sell them as they were functional and cosmetically perfect. However, the more I played them the better they sounded. The previous owner had not used them for 25 years. I believe the crossovers needed some use to function properly after all those years of storage. My advice for anyone who purchases old speakers that may not have been used for a long time would be to play them for at least 20hrs before attempting to rebuild the crossovers.

These speakers are really good. They sound silky smooth at low or high levels. They are driven by a wadia 23 CD player and Quad pre and power 606 amp. I’ve had this set up for nearly ten years and do not get tired of listening to them.

Non that I’m aware

The KEF 105 reference series was highly-acclaimed in their day, and for good reason.
I've wanted a set of these since first listening to them back in 1980. At almost $3K, they were a bit out of my price range back then. Well, I recently found a pair locally for 1/10th what they sold for new. There was an issue with one woofer, which I've since resolved. After applying a little polish to the finish, they look beautiful as well.

Sonically, they project a wide and deep sound stage with excellent imaging. These speakers sound superb with the best recordings, while still being kind to lesser-quality source material.

The bass is clean and tight, with plenty of punch. I use them in conjunction with a pair of Fried Super Monitor subs (12", 1/4 wavelength folded TL), crossed over at 40Hz. which takes the bottom end down well below 20Hz and gives me some added dynamic range. These don't require any kind of subwoofer though, as they hold there own quite well.

The midrange is honest and clear, not quite as honest as my Quad ESL63 but still quite pleasing, and capable of far greater dynamic range.

The top end is articulate and extended, with no hint of harshness. I find I am listening to these more than any other speakers (I have quite a few). and I never seem to tire of them.

These speakers need power. They sound best with 150-200 watts of quality amplification.

I bought the kef105/II,s four years ago,the first thing I heard was the massive soundstage and range,down to the lovely lows, achieved without a transmission line,I have several good speakers including quad63,s and mission770 "s"version I probably use the kefs most I paid £500 from an old gentleman they are still in beautiful condition and were made / stamped1980 inside the bass chamber
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paid £350 for these speakers in good condition about 3 years ago. they sounded ok. i listen to music at fairly low volumes, by design this means that the woofer is probably not even working. anyway i set about doing some major mods, i reasoned that i will be the last owner and they were quite cheap for me to buy. firstly i completely stripped them. i plastered and put broken tiles inside the bass enclosure. refitted the bass unit-not forgetting to turn it 120 degrees a job that should be done annually. then i hard wired it using dnm cable through one high quality inductor to the amp. i also lined the enclosure with some lambswool loft insulation. i also fitted some new castors, the new ones are larger and have rubber tyres which help isolate the speaker. i then moved onto the upper enclosure, this i completely stripped. i also lined it with lambswool, i refitted the mid range unit, this was also hard wired with dnm cable and a small high quality inductor and cap fitted. the midrange drive units fitted are lets say quite forward, so i had to attenuate them about 5db. i got rid of the tweeters- they are nasty harsh things. i purchased a pair of huge ribbon tweeters. these are held onto the front of the enclosures using several elastic bands and the enclosure is sealed with a large piece of polystyrene which also acts to isolate the tweeters. the tweeter neede just 1 cap in line , then it was hardwired again using dnm cable to the mid range speaker. so the speakers are bi-wired. the top enclosure then sits on a sheet of sorbothane. the result is great, detail never before heard, and a soundstage and tight deep bass to die for, this is no doubt helped cos i drive them with an old krell ksa50.

they just play the music, whatever it is. tom jones, napalm death, bill dixon, they do it all without fuss. they look quite unique as well.

very heavy.

as standard these speakers are quite dull, veiled. i have done a lot of tweaking and now i'm more than happy with their sound. the bass cabinets have been concrete and tile lined, the x-overs are enclosed in copper and fitted externally. all of the other circuitry has to be removed. all wiring is then hard wired from the x-overs to the three drive units. i use dnm cable, its cheap and better than virtually any other cable. the cable from the amp is doubled and hard wired to the x-over. swapping the castors for spike i imagine would bring some sonic benefits but the issue of moving them would manifest itself. they weigh 80lbs without the addition of concrete. i will experiment by removing the 4-120ohm caps as suggested by one of the reviewers. i stand them on concrete paving slabs which then are on a slab of polystyrene. this is cos we have a wooden floor, this wouldn't be necessary with a solid floor. they have been polished and the grille cloth replaced and now look pretty good.

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jm labs, toooo bright, that titanium tweeter is awful.
quad els 63. to fussy, not dynamics enough for all types of music, very specialised.

Hello,
i just bought a pair of these great Kef 105-2.
How do you remove the OTT protection ?
Unsoldering the wires linked to the board is enough ?
Would a Quad 606 amplifier be a good choice ?
Thanks,
Laurent.

Massive soundstage, impact, bass. Nice vocals. Sounds like a nightclub in your front room (if you have nice neighbours!). Very easy to modify. Very nice to look at. Hold their value very well.

Laid back. Need sympathetic electronics -preferably with great bass control and a forward character.

This speakers has numerous plus points but needs careful partnering and plenty of TLC to bring it up to speed. First of all: 1) replace the crossovers - preferably with all new polyprops and inductors, hardwired onto a new board 2) replace all internal wiring with some decent silver coated OFC 3) remove the OTT protection circuitry from the head unit This renovations bring massive improvements in high frequency detail, reductions in colouration, bass control, vocal presence etc. etc. But...there are still caveats to this speaker: It is still very much 'laid back'. aka the soundstage is not pushed forward vocally as is often the case in loudspeakers - if this the sound you're after (i know the feeling!) i would suggest some very opposite electronics - mainly Naim! - to compliment it. The second problem is the huge 12" bass driver! It takes a some controlling - not that you couldn't run it off 30 watt Arcam integrated, but god, can you tell the difference in power and control when you change to a decent pre power! The Kef 105.2 is probably technically very 'correct', but it's neutrality means than it needs proper partnering and I would suggest it may lead to you changing your amps and cd player.

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There are no similar electronics - these speakers are unique. If you want Cerwin Vegas with hifi characteristics these are the ones! But they're not perfect (what is!). But...they are the nearest i've

Mid and tweet

need space!

My 105 is a new old stock from UK. and I bought it as new. This is one of the best in the price range even though it is the 80s speaker. I am using 300B single end amplifer(8W) to push these speakers. 3D sound and nature tone of this british speakers are great!

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KEFs

I purchased my KEF 105.4 speakers in Arizona in 1982 adn I still love them.They are powered by a pair of McIntosh 240's and a McIntosh C22 preamp. The
sound is very warm and natural. A superb combination of components.

Before purchasing them, I also listened to the 105.2 model but I thought the bass sounded too imposing and not as natural as the 105.4 model. But then,
this is all personal taste isn't it?

When comparing these KEFs to speakers costing as much or more and especially
the electrostatic or ribbon speakers, the value is hard to beat.