Kef Reference 103'a -1976

[HackneyRF]

Blimey. That's a stonking bargain. What are you early impressions Dan?

[dantheman91]

Steel, leather covered baffles and super quality drivers. Enjoy.

I will Geoff..

[dantheman91]

Blimey. That's a stonking bargain. What are you early impressions Dan?

Hi Loz

Testing with a cheap Yamaha Receiver - First impressions they have given me the electric feel of music IE goosebumps they have passed and warming them up the artist could be in the room they are so good superb but i need to sell something now to justify keeping them.

[DSJR]

Nah, didn't like 'em back then, even on master tape material!

Like many UK speakers roughly this size, they major on mid-bass warmth. To prevent screech, the B200 related main driver was crossovered to an inch of its life and so was the tweeter used, which blends into the warm tones quite well I think. They're smooth and 'comfortable' but like many of their type, I found them boring and dynamically restricted. The 104ab was a musical breath of fresh air in comparison I remember.

Use 'em well out in the room on tall stands as getting them close to the wall really will make them sound like a small radiogram I think, all tubby and warm.

Best bit of them is the metallic front baffle I think. Maybe with a modern 'pro' amp able to put out hundreds of Watts for not much dosh (Crown XLS types are cheap enough and utterly reliable I gather), they may spring to life, but back then we had crown D series, Phase Linear 400 and BGW and I seem to remember even Spendor BC1's had more sparkle to them...

Hopefully, you'll get totally different results to my memories of them You'd get your money back selling just one of the tweeters I reckon

[dantheman91]

Nah, didn't like 'em back then, even on master tape material!

Like many UK speakers roughly this size, they major on mid-bass warmth. To prevent screech, the B200 related main driver was crossovered to an inch of its life and so was the tweeter used, which blends into the warm tones quite well I think. They're smooth and 'comfortable' but like many of their type, I found them boring and dynamically restricted. The 104ab was a musical breath of fresh air in comparison I remember.

Use 'em well out in the room on tall stands as getting them close to the wall really will make them sound like a small radiogram I think, all tubby and warm.

Best bit of them is the metallic front baffle I think. Maybe with a modern 'pro' amp able to put out hundreds of Watts for not much dosh (Crown XLS types are cheap enough and utterly reliable I gather), they may spring to life, but back then we had crown D series, Phase Linear 400 and BGW and I seem to remember even Spendor BC1's had more sparkle to them...

Hopefully, you'll get totally different results to my memories of them You'd get your money back selling just one of the tweeters I reckon

Blimey David I cannot say that about them very musical will keep a look out for a Crown - If they need oomph Then my Musical Fidelity / Denon / Technics should do just fine - Im happy with them

[oldius]

I rate them highly. They are not an easy load though, with an efficiency of about 85db, and I accept that they can sound underwhelming with the wrong amp, like any inefficient speaker. Get it right and they are sublime.

[Bencat]

Glad to see another pair being saved . As an aside I have a pair of upgraded crossovers with some high quality poly capacitors on . As these have been removed so that I can go active they are just being stored in a chest in my spare room . Let me know if you would be interested . I know that many people like to keep things as original as possible and understand this but I can confirm that these CR's are a big improvement on the originals that were in my units when I bought them (the improvement may be just the upgrade in components , the return of the CR to original specification or a combination of both) .

[steve-z]

I had a pair of Kef R103s from 1978-84 they were very well balanced speakers except for a slight bump at around 100hz (Hifi Choice found it to be about 4dbs above ref level) but tbh at the time I could never afford an amp that could do them justice, their efficiency is very low, I drove them with an A&R A60 whose 30watts was woefully insufficient, my normal listening level had the volume level at the 1-2 o’clock position which meant big transients just couldn’t be handled comfortably, I think you’ll find they’re a lot less efficient than 85db/w I think I saw the sensitivity in one mag test quoted at 78.5db/w and it’s not helped by the impedance being higher than average, although they are quoted at 8 ohms the minimum impedance is over 9 ohms and the average is quite a bit higher, HFC recommendation for amp power was up to 250 watts with a minimum of 100 watts, from my own experience I think that’s spot on.
If you have a big enough amp and the crossover components haven’t gone out of spec over time they can be an excellent listen particularly if you equalise out the bass peak which could show up if they are anywhere near a back wall, above 150hz they kept within +/-2db limits which was pretty incredible for that time era, a friend of mine at that time had the 104ABs which were better in the bass but inferior to the R103s in the midband and treble.
The version of the B200 bass unit used in the R103s had quite a heavy cone because of the infinite baffle loading which by the standard of today’s speakers possibly makes them a tad slower on transients, hope you enjoy them, I did.


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[Bencat]

My pair are now digital active with crossover L&W a 24 DB slope . as per the KEF driver sheet Bass units crossover at 3000 hz to the tweeter. I use them hard up against a wall as I do with all sealed baffle units I have owned and do not recognise the description of them as Tubby and Warm . Then again I might well be deaf so what you hear is what you hear.

I love the sound of these speakers both as passives but more so as active units . I will have my pair at Kegworth if anyone is interested in having a listen . By all means if you feel these are not dynamic and musical as I do let me know any hints on areas to improve with be useful . I know we all hear very differently and it is more of a surprise to me when there is a general consensus on what sounds good rather than others not hearing what I think I hear.

[Svend N]

I had a pair of Kef R103s from 1978-84 they were very well balanced speakers except for a slight bump at around 100hz (Hifi Choice found it to be about 4dbs above ref level) but tbh at the time I could never afford an amp that could do them justice, their efficiency is very low, I drove them with an A&R A60 whose 30watts was woefully insufficient, my normal listening level had the volume level at the 1-2 o’clock position which meant big transients just couldn’t be handled comfortably, I think you’ll find they’re a lot less efficient than 85db/w I think I saw the sensitivity in one mag test quoted at 78.5db/w and it’s not helped by the impedance being higher than average, although they are quoted at 8 ohms the minimum impedance is over 9 ohms and the average is quite a bit higher, HFC recommendation for amp power was up to 250 watts with a minimum of 100 watts, from my own experience I think that’s spot on.
If you have a big enough amp and the crossover components haven’t gone out of spec over time they can be an excellent listen particularly if you equalise out the bass peak which could show up if they are anywhere near a back wall, above 150hz they kept within +/-2db limits which was pretty incredible for that time era, a friend of mine at that time had the 104ABs which were better in the bass but inferior to the R103s in the midband and treble.
The version of the B200 bass unit used in the R103s had quite a heavy cone because of the infinite baffle loading which by the standard of today’s speakers possibly makes them a tad slower on transients, hope you enjoy them, I did.


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Steve, you are absolutely spot-on in your assessment. Well written.

We have a pair of Ref. 103.2 in our living room now, given to us by my wife's father. In his house he was driving them, in a large room, with a diminutive little Quad power amp, and that combination sounded flat and, well, boring. Very uninspiring sound, no dynamics. He swapped them for a pair of much more efficient floor-standers, and we got the KEFs just to try them out in our room. Well, much to my surprise, they sound terrific. I honestly wasn't expecting much, having heard them at the in-laws. But here they are being driven by a Belles 100W power amp, with preamp and upstream source components that have a lot of dynamism and energy. Our room is smaller too, with hardwood floor rather than carpet. So even though the power amp is only 100W, in this space and with the rest of the system being very energetic, it works extremely well. If we moved them into a larger room with less lively acoustics, then I could see needing a more powerful amp to make them sing.

All in all, they sound wonderful. The midrange in particular, is just so fluid and luscious, it's a treat to hear. They have replaced our main speakers and will likely remain there for a long time. An unexpected outcome, but to our great benefit.

Cheers,
Svend