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From: jeff@tesla.UUCP (Jeff Frey)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: loudspeakers
Message-ID: <249@tesla.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Nov-83 09:49:25 EST
Article-I.D.: tesla.249
Posted: Mon Nov 28 09:49:25 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Nov-83 01:27:35 EST
Lines: 42

I regard my old feeling that the law of diminishing returns in loudspeakers
begins to apply immediately above the Large Advent loudspeaker (or whatever
number they give it these days) as now verified, by having listened to
a pair of KEF 105.2 and 104.2 loudspeakers.  Naturally the listening
conditions, etc., were not the same for the KEF/Advent comparison so
purists may quiver but at least the signal sources were the same, several
CDs with which I was familiar, including the Delos Tchaikovsky 5th,
Canteloube Songs of the Auvergne (Kiri Te Kanawa), Schubert`s Trout
Quintet, and a few others.  The KEFs were driven by a Kyocera CD player
and a Mark Levinson amplifier.  I found them to have a marvelous presence
in the mid and high ranges, but also to have a bass that was not too
well defined.

The mid/high performance of the KEFs is due to the small free-standing
boxes those drivers are mounted in (among other things, of course)
so when I got home I pulled my two-Advents-per-Channel out of the large
bookcase they were in and stacked them (vertically) on one another,
woofer-to-woofer.  I also replaced the Radio Shack #256 gauge speaker
wire they were wired up with with #14 twisted pair.  The purpose of
bringing the speakers out of the bookcase was to eliminate reflections
from the surrounding planes, thus approximating this aspect of the KEFs.
I did a little voltage-drop calculation on that RS wire and figured
that exchanging it for something heavier might be a Good Thing, which
would be reflected in a greater effective dynamic range.  The tweeter
on the lower Advent, by the way, is effectively out of business because
it`s right on the floor and the speaker response is switched to "high cut".

THe result of all this was a reduction of sibilance on the vocal material,
a reduction of sound localization at the speakers, and somewhat greater
bass clarity, which I ascribe to room dynamics.  I`m glad I heard
the KEFs, and was able to calibrate my own system against them.  Four
large Advents probably cost around $600 with discount today; the KEFs
are $3200.  

I heard the KEFs at Gala Sound in Rochester, a place with an excellent
selection of really top-quality equipment.  Joe Gala really knows his
stuff and doesn`t apply too much hype (although some is excusable when
a $3000 sale is possible).  The place is really worth a trip of a couple
of hours (a three-star audio shop, as Michelin would rate it) if you
are interested in comparing all the topmost-quality stuff in one location.

Jef