New KEF Studio monitors - any good?

Well, i sincerely hope the mods don't remove all these posts since i answered the questions asked of me, because to answer just one more, what makes me determined to prove a point? Maybe start a thread? One thing above all else, it's to get fairness, fairness and openness to discuss something, even if it goes against an agenda, and i hope that this little interaction stays for others to see, i think that is only fair that it does, because it proves far more than data sheets and demoes do,IMO.

Thanks...

Well, enough of this circular tattle/reverse psychology, I'm off to bed. I've got rubbish passive speakers to audition tomorrow. If I hear "horrendous distortions", I'll be sure to pop on and set your mind at rest Max. In the meantime, take your time with those questions - you can answer in your own time

If you're going to join up to a forum and be so vocal about a subject or product, you have to be prepared to be questioned about it. Reluctance to answer is only going to reflect upon yourself.

Ok. Yes, I got the price wrong. I was reading about them on a US site silly me. But I am not nitpicking.

The point (if I remember rightly) was that one (if not 'the') reason for the sparcity of actives is an economics one as there is less money in it in both the short and long term.

But I imagine these baby Kefs will fit in perfectly with some systems. I personally like their look and would love to maybe see an active version of them too...

I've no issue with these threads Max, it was a question about KEF's new speaker, but it's yet another thread that's been derailed into active v. passive which you've played a handsome part in.  Matthewpiano was bang on and it helps no-one.  We don't need these things being dripfed in about which is the more technically preferable.  That's not always what people want, nor is it the driving force for every purchase.  Life ain't that black and white Max.

LOL @ the comment re: "my late night sermons"...cod psychology week seems to be flourishing in your part of the world Max.  

Wow, this really did cause some debate!

I didn't mean to start all this off really! Last year I came to this site for some advice on my home cinema system and there was a lot of useful information on here helping me make my decisions. In the end I went for a system based on what I heard for myself after making a shortlist based on that.

Because of this advice I came back to look for help with some monitors for my admittedly small and low-tech home studio, on the main page I saw talk of these new Kef monitor speakers, looked at their website where there some nice stories about the design and bold claims about the performance. I figured they must be good so asked for opinion on them, not realising that only a couple of people seem to have actually heard them yet.

On good advice from earlier in the thread I decided it was best to go and actually listen to some monitors for myself, I gave my opinion on this process which seems to have ignited more debate, I didn't mean my findings to cause an argument - I'm not part of some great active vs passive speaker debate, I use passive speakers in my cinema system and from discussion on "pro" forums and with the shop it seems that active speakers are just the accepted norm for the monitoring role.

In my demo I preferred active speakers for monitoring as well, sadly I couldn't try the Kef's and there wasn't a great range of passive speakers to really compare against, with the one passive vs active comparison from the same manufacturer that was available I much preferred the active. To me it sounded more accurate and natural, this is just my opinion, I'm not an expert so no offence to anyone who disagrees, I am not able to test all active vs passive speakers sadly so I have to base my view on that demo with that gear. I trust my own opinion over anyone elses when it comes to my choices.  

I am not making my purchase for the next couple of weeks so I may well get to listen to the Kef's at a dealer somewhere, however I haven't had the best experiences with Hi-Fi dealers before, being fairly pushy about me listening to what they wanted me to, not in the friendly advice way like the pro shop but a "we're right, you're wrong" kind of way as I said. I understand that not all dealers are like this but in no other place I've purchased anything were reviews and ratings quoted at me as fact that must be obeyed! This was similar at two dealers I went to so not a large sample group admittedly.

On the pro forums I've looked at no-one is mentioning these Kef speakers, no-one really talks much about passive speakers in general, not that they're right or wrong, it's just how it is. This is why I went off my own topic, when I came in I knew little about the current market but have since done more research of my own and spoken to people in that area. Frank said the Kef speakers won't be going to Pro shops which seems a strange choice as a Pro product to me but what do I know! As much as it will be interesting to hear his thoughts on them later I doubt it will be anything but a glowing review as I saw in another thread he was one of Kef's biggest dealers. This is not to say he is anything but honest and I mean no offence but I highly doubt he'd bite the hand that feeds him. Again thank you for the advice but I'll make up my own mind if I get the chance to hear them, though it's a shame I won't be able to do so against similar product directly.

As it stands I'm happy with the choice I've made but if I can get a demo of the Kef's I'll try to go back and listen to the Acoustic Energy's on the same day with the same material, that's if the shop let me after taking up a whole afternoon of theirs already!

In looking through this forum this week it seems to me that there is a lot of argument and generally unfriendly behaviour from quite a few people, I'm not sure why, it's just a forum about Hi-Fi, it's not life or death. It's almost like there are gangs and bullying going on as if it were a School playground! People should relax a little! Have a look around Pro forums and see what the atmosphere is like there, people are opinionated of course but it's taken as just that and no-one takes offence or gives it for that matter. I'm sorry if I'm out of line in saying this, it's just how it looks to me!

So once again, thank you all for the great advice where it's been given and thank you for the contributions from some fairly important people, it's all been useful to me in one way or another! I expect I'll pop back in and update nearer the time and if I have a demo of the Kef speakers. As I do with most of my free evenings I'm going to have a nice home cinema session tonight and if I may be so bold I'd suggest a lot of people here try that too, it'll help you unwind! That's why you buy this gear after all!! :rofl: 

Thanks again,

Rob. 

Well it all appears to have gone a bit Pete Tong, doesn't it...?