Kef 103/4 tips??

well, trading back in the kef c-45's i just got on friday along with a set of snell E/III i found yesterday on a set of KEF 103/4's. in the hifi shop they really sounded stupendous and would like to try to make them sound hopefully as good here at home. in the store of course the walls are treated, floor is treated and they were using all Naim gear which i certainly don't have so i know they won't sound QUITE as good but would like to tip the scales a bit in my favor.

so, any and all tips/suggestions on placement ect. would be great! and if anyone has a flyer or brochure or manual that they could email me that would be great also. my listening area is 12x12 basicly, with speakers and gear against a wall with openings on either side of the speakers. wood floor, no rug..stereo facing a window with blinds with couch in front.

thanks!

 

The snells need to be placed right into the corners of the room ....

I'd imagine the kef need loads of free air around them ...but they are a model I'm not familiar with ...

like most rooms you need to make certain its not too "live"...

stand in the middle of your room and clap your hans once and listen to the echo decay if its last a relatively long time you may have a probelm with room reflections ....if its fairly short decay all should be well !

 

Hi, and welcome to the club. I've had the Kef 103/4 since 1994. I gather they cab be quite sensitive to amps. I power mine with Cyrus Power amps in Mono configuration, around 200 W into 4 ohm. The better the amp the better they play. Previously I powered them with a Cyrus III (which was 50w into 4ohm). They were perfectly ok with the Cyrus III. They are revealing of any changes (component or cable) you make. I have XLO cable of 10 years ago, today equivalent being the Ultra series. You could certainly better that I gather and for much cheaper prices.

My room has wooden floor but has a rug. The Kefs are 0.5M from rear wall and about 1m from any side walls.

I bought some Mana Acoustic Sound Stages and they made a big difference although I can't say what exactly since it was almost 10 years ago. Also get them onto the spikes; an absolute must, this one thing with them that sticks in my mind. I know you have a wooden floor but just put 4x10p coins under the spikes. The floor won't get damaged. I checked this after some years.


My room is about 4m x 6m and my Kef's are not firing down the room. The distance to them from where I sit is 3m. They are 2M apart. I've got them bi-wired.

It strange I was thinking of maybe selling my Kef 103/4 for something more ' modern' but I just really love the sound of them. They can be bought quite cheap 2nd hand. I think it's case if you have a pair then you can understand someone else (like you) raviing about them.

Let us know of your other components and how you get on with them.

jaspal.

 

thanks for the info! i am either going to power them with my crown power base 1 or my adcom 545mk2, currently i am bridging a proton d940 to power my wharfedale xp2 shelton center and using the adcom to power my castle warwick rears. so at least power shouldnt be a problem. may have to invest in a rug but will shuttle things around a bit and see how they sound w/o investing too much in "room treatments"