KEF Reference 5 loudspeaker

Mr Spock

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Of all the speakers I have most enjoyed in recent years, two were from British manufacturer KEF: the LS50 Anniversary Model ($1500/pair), which I reviewed in December 2012; and the Blade Two ($25,000/pair), which I reviewed in June 2015. Though these two speakers lie at opposite ends of the price scale, they have in common KEF's unique Uni-Q drive-unit, in which the tweeter is mounted on the front of the midrange unit's pole piece, so that the lower-frequency cone acts as a waveguide for the higher-frequency output. Not all Uni-Q drivers are identical, of course—the one in the LS50 must cover frequencies down into the upper bass, whereas the Blade Two's Uni-Q is relieved of having to undergo high excursions by being crossed over to four woofers. But having one drive-unit with two concentric diaphragms that together cover almost all of the audioband gives you, in effect, a single sound source with no interference between the drivers, and with all the benefits that confers on dispersion and soundstaging.
The Blade Two may sound superb, but its idiosyncratic styling—it resembles an old-fashioned straight-edge razor stood on end—was not for everyone. KEF therefore introduced the Reference 5 ($19,000/pair), which uses almost identical drive-units—a similar Uni-Q driver with a 1" tweeter and a 5" midrange, plus four 6.5" woofers—in a conventional cabinet of the same internal volume . . .


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-reference-5-loudspeaker#4fi4WK3oPy1EC4TU.99
 





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