Monitor Audio Pl 300ii vs. KEF Reference 5


I own the KEF Reference 5s.  I borrowed the Monitor Audio Pl300 ii speakers for comparison, which is still under way.  Thoughts so far:  Both are good speakers.  The KEFs provide a lot of detail.  Listening to classical music, you can hear orchestral instruments and sections pretty clearly.  Background and counter melodies can be identified. Piano music is very realistic.  The MAs do not provide as much instrumental detail but they do have a more mellow, deeper, broader sound.  Which is better is really a matter of personal choice.  As I said, I’m still listening so these are some quick preliminary reactions.  More later.  
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Showing 4 responses by audiotroy

Bo I have to agree with some of the other poster, you make specious claims without even hinting at what your process is.

We have been setting up high performance systems for 30 years, there are really very few setup gurus out there and those that are out there generally work on similar protocalls. 

We were taught speaker setup by David Wilson, there are those who use lasers to align the speakers, and plumb bobs for leveling and rake angle, there is acousitcal tunning, vibration reduction, emi and rfi reduction, power conditioning and maximizing a systems setup by making sure the components are working well together along with cabling.

As per Monitor vs Kef the Kef Ref Fives are awesome loudspeakers, we have a pair on display and they are nothing short of amazing sounding, they are extremely lifelike and they throw a huge well focused soundstage, they have very tight bass and great dynamics. 

We also sell the Legacy line that uses German made Heil drivers, the Heil tweeters are soft sounding, as they are basically flexible myler film which has been folded many times, Heil drivers sound like electrostats which is their high frequencies are more delicate with less upper octave sheen and less aparent detail then a really good metal driver, the Heil AMT tweeters are wonderfully musical but do lack a bit of the clarity that you get from the best Beryillium, or Diamond tweeters. 

To state that Monitors AMT tweeters are better is sheer ridiculousness, a good driver can be made out of any material, if you like the Monitors that is great, but that doesn't mean their drivers are better or that anyone elses are better, Monitor loudspeakers are very good and have their own set of strengths. 

The Kef Reference series are extremely well designed and use state of the art coincidental drivers, The fact that your high frequencies and midrange frequencies are all comming from the same point in space has a lot of advantages over the conventional tweeter above the midrange alignment that most speaker designers do, as designing a properly functioning dual concentric is very difficult to pull off. Kef has been making dual concentric drivers for 11 generations so they feel that they have perfected them. 

The OP allready owns a fantastic set of loudspeakers the issue is what he is using to drive them, the Ref 5 are very revealing loudspeakers like any of today's uber high resolution models so all of the matching equipment must be up to snuff. 

The AQ cables do have a tendency to sound a bit brighter then some of the other cables and the Vega is very out of date, we used to sell the Vega and it was great 4 years ago but way of date, also the Unitiserve is a good but not fantastic sounding server.

Just changing the server to a server which provides for upsampling will make a very noticable improvement with the Vega.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ




yyzsantabarbara,  perhaps we can assist you in your endevor

We have the entire Reference line, we have the One Monitors, we have the Three and Five Floorstanders and we have the Blade 1. 

So perhaps that trip to NYC that you were putting off might just be due, heck the tax savings alone would make it worth it, just saying.

As per Bo, what planet are you from? The best audio systems we have ever experienced in 30 years of professional audio  design are system which are experimented combinations of cables, power conditioning, amplifiers, preamplifiers, loudspeakers, source components and room tuning. 

If you notice the market usually finds setups that work synergistically together, such as the famous 2C3D Avalon/Spectral/Mit setups of the 90.s or the current pairing of Wilson and Dagastino. 

The normal world order in audio is:

1: Select the speaker that works for you size, visual look, amount of bass, clarity, soundstage

2: Select the electronics which work to bring out the speakers

3: Find the source components which work with the electronics and speakers

4: Find the cables that work.

5: Install, setup and tune the room add power conditioning, and accessories to focus and bring out the best attributes of the system.

If you are insisting your method is not trial and error, how did you come up with the pairing of Pass and Monitor? Pass doesn't make loudspeakers really, and Monitor doesn't make electronics so someone, you, had to try this pairing and you proclaimed it to be good. 

Personally we would think this to be a terrible combination, the Monitors tend to be very warm and so is the Pass gear, so you should get mud.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ






Sutts, the Blades can work that close. We have the Blades in a room where we are sitting pretty close and if you get the toe in correct the image is both wide and well focused. 

As per driving them both the Bats and the Veritas can easily drive the Blades we auditioned the Blades on the Veritas and they were way too dry for our tastes, the T+A gear is way better, the BAT VK 150 are excellent tube amplifiers and they will drive the Blades well.  

We also have a demo pair of Blades if you are interested. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
At Home you have got to be kidding, Kef Reference soft on top?

They are rated to 45k high freuency response, they are anything other than soft. 

What are you running yours with to come up with your feeling that they sound soft?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ