Sharing the same DNA but with more modest dimensions than the range topping 5 this svelte floor standing design has the same uncanny ability to generate an intricate, totally natural-sounding 3D soundstage. The two 165mm (6.5 inch) bass drivers are positioned perfectly above and below KEF’s latest 125mm (5 inch) MF/HF Uni-Q driver array in a D'Appolito configuration.
With a state-of-the-art 25mm (1in.) vented aluminium dome tweeter at the exact acoustic centre of a highly sophisticated 125mm (5in.) midrange driver, both act as a single source that floods the listening space evenly with a flawless natural soundfield, no matter where you sit. Capturing all the nuances of the human voice, whether whispered, spoken or sung, it sounds as if the person were right there with you in the room.
Clean, rich and articulate bass will underpin your enjoyment of stereo or multi-channel sound, and like everything else about The Reference, KEF’s new 165mm (6.5 inch) LF driver is in a class apart. With a massive vented magnet assembly and a large aluminium wire voice coil driving an exceptionally light, stiff and strong alloy cone, the dynamics and power handling are superb.
The Reference drivers are set in a smooth, strikingly distinctive front baffle engineered to eliminate response anomalies caused by diffraction. Made from an exceptionally strong laminated aluminium/resin composite and secured via high-loss pads and high tensile bolts, it adds tremendous rigidity to the inert cabinet. The Reference has innovative adjustable ports for fine-tuning the bass output to your personal taste and the room characteristics. The flexible port technology pioneered for the multi-award winning LS50 is used to reduce midrange port resonance, with the flare and profile of each port calculated by computational fluid dynamics to avoid turbulent air noise that might colour the sound.
Uni-Q’s broad inclusive dispersion means everyone in the room can enjoy the same rich, spatially precise acoustic imagery without being restricted to a narrow sweet spot when listening to KEF Reference speakers.