Kef speakers?

For Christmas, I've picked up my dad some KEF Celeste III's (bookshelf speakers), as he said once that he had heard them at a friends, and was blown away by the sound quality of them.

Now, I certainly hope that memory wasn't at all, simply that, a memory.

Does anyone have any knowledge with these speakers?

Waiting on delivery now, but he has no idea really that he'll be getting these, and the delivery is being sent to a friends address as to not spark wonder.

I looked them up and saw that they have a frequency response of 70hz-20khz... 70hz doesn't seem all that low to have a grand scale of sound, but maybe you don't need those lows to have a great speaker?

He has some Maudant Shorts at the minute, that go a lot lower, at around 45hz I think) that are also bookshelf speakers.

I'm kind of worried I guess that his speakers he has now could be better than the ones hes previously heard and registered them as being the best he's ever listened to.

I certainly hope they sound great :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by cel4145 

Kef lists the -3db point of those speakers as 60hz. So yeah. Like many other bookshelves, they would benefit from a sub. But if your dad is using bookshelves without a sub already, I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like a nice gift 

Your looking at the concorde version. The one below is the Celeste III.

Thanks, I hope so. He doesn't use a sub at the minute, no, but the speakers he has now go a lot lower.

I just hope for example where he listened to them, he wasn't already using a sub

If he is right though, the quality of the sound should outweigh the bass response... I hope anyway

Quote:

Originally Posted by cel4145 

 

Oppps. You are right. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it. The thought of your gift is remembering those speakers and allowing him to own a pair himself.  It's a cool idea.

 

What kind of tips does he have on the end of his speaker cables? Something that will plug into the Kefs, too, or just bare wire? I'm betting the Kef's have spring clips on the back? Might be good to get him some of these plugs so he can switch the speakers in and out easily with his MS bookshelves. 

Hey, I'm not one to not say thanks, and not reply so here goes. Sorry for the very long delay.

Thanks for the suggestion, and you are right, I think they have spring clips yeah, not plug in cables.

I can't wait for him to open them now

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiteki 

I listened to the Q300, XQ and LS50 a few nights ago.

 

 

Which Mordaunt Short's does he have?  Is the Celeste III a vintage model?

Yeah, the Celeste III's came out in the 70s.

I can't really find much on them, reviews or otherwise, but my dad really loved the sound, but they were out of production so couldn't get a pair.

Like I said though, I hope his friend at the time wasn't using a sub with them when he heard them.

They only go down to 70hz at the low end, and I don't know what to expect myself.

He has the MS902s Signatures at the moment that do sound pretty good, and they do go down quite low (55hz I believe)

But there is more to sound than the bass frequency.

Playing Lindsey Stirling through the ones he has now, and they do sound good... I just hope the KEF's are better.

If they are, I may take the speakers he has now, and get an amp and put them in my room.

They beat the Logitech Z-5500's in clarity/spaciousness in every single way but that is no surprise really.

That said... playing my Spotify library (though directly through his laptop sound), the treble is... too shrill in my opinion. Quite fatiquing.

CD's sound so much better, so its probably the source...

I tried my Samsung Galaxy S 3 as well, with the same result as the laptop sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trog 

Well one of my TV room has a strictly 2.0 set up for HT/Music but floor standers with 12" woofers With bookies i'd not worry about low end with the view to add a nice 10-12" active sub later down the road

Thanks :) Will have to see how they fare anyway

All I can say is wow!

He loved them (I brought them down after all had been unwrapped). Almost in tears he was.

The sound that comes out of them is so warm and detailed, and the stereo imaging is amazing!

Considering they only go to 70hz in the low end, they don't lack bass AT ALL. The bass is just right in my opinion.

For example, he put on some Mahler, and the organ sounded so deep and rich in the song. A lot of punch.

I'll be taking in his older ones and putting them in my room, but they sound so cold and metallic in comparison! Still a lot better than Logitech set though!

Does anyone know of any warm sounding amps that may pair well with them? Hopefully under the £100 mark, that won't break the bank but sound good connected to my X-Fi sound card?