Loudspeaker KEF Reference 5 Review (Part 3)

Disappearing act

If daunted by the size and weight of the packing boxes I must say that, once set up, the Reference 5s had a pleasing and thoroughly harmonious look: their slim frontal aspect means that they don’t unduly dominate the room.

You might find it hard to believe that a speaker of this size can ‘disappear’, sonically. But it does, creating a soundstage effortlessly disengaged from the boxes that are producing it.

This was obvious from the first disc that I played, which was Mitsuko Uchida with Debussy’s 12 Études [Philips 422 412-2]. Here the bottom-end sound of the Reference 5 gave a striking and realistic weight to the lower registers of the piano. It seemed you could hear not just the strings vibrating, but the whole frame of the piano. This substantial instrument just had a very palpable and lifelike presence.

Beyond that, though, the KEF Reference 5s also passed the acid test of this demanding recording by being totally unfazed by the effect of the reverberant acoustic when the music gets fast, high and loud. For once there was really no sense of unpleasant confusion.

Above is Latest Uni-Q driver. Along with the tweeter surround and the mid cone itself, the segmented ‘tangerine’ in front of the tweeter forms a sophisticated waveguide system

On vocal tracks too, the Reference 5s seemed to get of the way completely and let the singer’s performance become as intimate and heartrending as you could wish. With Katia Guerreiro and Fado [Milan 399 269-2], the distinctive ringing sounds of the Portuguese guitar also became something special, with a wonderfully springy and immediate quality. And again, a recording that can often sound too bright and hard became simply inviting, very well detailed, with plenty of attack and life, but free of hard edges.

It didn’t take long to tune in to the difference between KEF’s two alternative bass ports in my particular room conditions, with the speakers around 0.8m from the back wall. First I listened to the double-bass intro on ‘Easy Money’ from Rickie Lee Jones [Warner 256 628]. With the long port lining as supplied, the bass was very good, even and uncoloured and in good proportion. But switching to the shorter port brought a real benefit in some ways, with the double-bass sound now feeling richer and warmer, with a seemingly more free or open quality.

With the long port lining as supplied, the bass was very good, even and uncoloured and in good proportion

With Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’ [21, XLCD 520], switching to the shorter ports made the big bass-drum sound really come to life – truly gut-wrenching. Finally, when I put on the great Eddy Louiss track ‘Blues For Klook’ from Sang Mele [Nocturne NTCD 101], using the short ports the subterranean keyboard bass was a killer, sounding big, warm and hypnotic.

Open midrange

On other tracks, with either port tuning, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the combination of clarity and power at the bottom end, but it was ultimately the very pure and open sound in the midrange that kept me listening. I put on Boz Scaggs’ Greatest Hits Live [Gray Cat GCD 4001] and soon found myself grooving as Scaggs’ big-sounding band got going on tracks like ‘Lido Shuffle’.

Here, the Reference 5 really brought out the way every band member contributes to the arrangement as Scaggs gave out on his most successful song, ‘We’re All Alone’. His unique vocal style came over even more poignantly on the regretful, bluesy ‘Somebody Loan Me a Dime’. On this recording, which is almost too carefully crafted to be thought of as live, the KEF speakers once again did their disappearing act, and left behind a great big soundstage that welcomed you into the music.

The soundstage was disengaged from the boxes producing it

To give the KEFs something to bite on, I played Florence And The Machine’s ‘Dog Days Are Over’ [Lungs, Island/Moshi Moshi 2709059], and loved the way everything stayed intelligible right through to the climactic ending. With track 2, ‘Rabbit’, it seemed the sheer transparency of the KEFs was excellent at revealing the producer’s musical intentions and yet at the same time it also clearly told you about the grunginess of the electronics in the recording chain!

Turning to the natural vocal sound of Luke Pritchard on ‘Seaside, from The Kooks’ Inside In/Inside Out [Virgin 0094635072426] the Reference 5 delivered a really up- close-and-personal view, portraying his breath noises so vividly that you could almost see his facial expression. After this, ‘Eddie’s Gun’ was even more of a shock than usual, as its post-Punk guitar was really ear-shredding.

Shimmering sounds

By way of contrast, I put on some Archiv recordings of Bach violin concertos, with Trevor Pinnock’s The English Concert [463 725-2]. Here the KEFs put forth the lively sound of the disc, giving a realistic impression of the hall ambience along with impeccable clarity and singing string tones. The attack of the violins sounded just right, with lower strings full-bodied and woody.

Returning to the more processed sounds of pop, the Reference 5 could give you a bright, upfront sound that shimmered between the speakers, but never got too sharp or edgy. Picking tracks off KEF’s own 50th anniversary compilation CD, I lighted on The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’ from 1992, which the KEF’s turned into an admirable confection of plinging guitars, throbbing bass and bass drum, with Dolores O’Riordan’s vocal like a slightly tangy topping. It was sweet.

KEF Reference 2014 models

Specifications

·         Sensitivity (SPL/1m/2.83Vrms – Mean/IEC/Music): 88.7dB/89.1dB/89.1dB

·         Impedance modulus min/max (20Hz-20kHz)            : 3.1ohm @ 33Hz 13.3ohm @ 2.4kHz

·         Impedance phase min/max (20Hz-20kHz): -31o @ 4.4kHz 37o @ 1.3kHz

·         Pair matching (400Hz-20kHz): ±1.5dB

·         LF/HF extension (-6dB ref 150Hz/10kHz): 55Hz / >40kHz/>40kHz

·         THD 100Hz/1kHz/10kHz (for 90dB SPL/1m)            : 0.3% / 0.1% / 0.1%

·         Dimensions (HWD): 1350x205x470mm