KEF Audio 208, 209 manual 2000’s

The 2000’s

The millennium ushered in a new era of groundbreaking audio innovation.

Among the most important was the launch of a new Reference Series - the forerunner of today’s design - in 2002. This redefined the benchmark for high-end loudspeakers by incorporating signature KEF technologies such as Uni-Q and the ‘pod’ concept.

The decade had begun with the introduction of a product destined to become a design icon in its own right: the KHT (KEF Home Theatre) 2005 system. With satellite loudspeakers nicknamed ‘KEF eggs’ because of their distinctive elliptical shape, KHT2005 represented a real breakthrough not only in terms of the build quality and sonic performance that it offered but at a price that many found “very reasonable indeed”.

With the rising demand for home entertainment systems, the KHT series steadily grew to encompass both smaller and larger variants. The concept proved a worldwide success, with all models earning enthusiastic reviews and a plethora of awards, and the expanded range remains popular today.

Another patented KEF innovation of the 21st century was Acoustic Compliance Enhancement, or ACE. This technology was developed in the constant quest to resolve a fundamental dilemma of loudspeaker design: how to optimise the trade-off between the large cabinet size required for maximum bass extension and popular demand for smaller, less obtrusive loudspeakers in modern living rooms.

ACE largely succeeded in overcoming these conflicting constraints by adding granules of activated carbon inside the driver enclosures. By a molecular process known as adsorption, the presence of the granules makes each enclosure sound twice as big as it actually is.

Yet more KEF innovations soon followed. The KIT (KEF Instant Theatre) concept, for example, proved an immediate hit - an integrated multimedia home entertainment system for consumers who want a complete, user-friendly package that offers quality sound without being complicated to set up.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of the design is that it delivers the apparently impossible: a three-dimensional surround sound image from only two loudspeakers. This was achieved by adding two flat panel drivers behind each front loudspeaker driver to act as rear loudspeakers by radiating the sound behind the listening area. This radical concept has since been applied to other KEF home entertainment products.

The launch of the new Q Series in 2005 further strengthened KEF’s position as an acknowledged market leader in mid-priced audiophile quality loudspeakers. With its high performance Uni-Q driver array, distinctive curved cabinets and outstanding build quality and finish, the new range was soon being referred to as “the baby Reference”.

Since then though, the Reference has evolved further still. True to our vision and roots as high-end audio designers, KEF engineers have been concentrating on raising the bar in terms of ultimate sonic performance. And the result, it has to be said, is outstanding. When the latest KEF Reference technologies were showcased at the prestigious High End 2006 audio show in Munich, prototypes for our new ‘Austin’ (pictured opposite) concept loudspeakers were voted by some the best sound of the show in independent comparative tests.

Now as in ‘61, it’s all about greatness by design.

49