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At Gramophone, we’re excited to welcome one of the audio world’s most iconic speaker brands. Visit us to audition KEF from England, on display now in all three Gramophone Showrooms, with select products also available by mid-July online @ SKY by Gramophone.

Who is KEF? A venerable British brand, KEF has been winning awards for great sound since its founding in 1961. Raymond Cooke was a music lover, electrical engineer, and innovator, who founded Kent Engineering and Foundry - KEF - to create audio products that would come closer to the original performance than the speakers he was hearing at that time.

In 1973, KEF became one of the first companies to use computer technology to design and measure their speakers. In the 1970s, The British Broadcasting Corporation, the world’s oldest national broadcaster, began using custom KEF drivers - the B110 and T 27 - in the iconic LS3/5a mini-monitor speaker for recording and broadcast use. First produced in 1975, this is one of the longest-running speakers in audio history, with several manufacturers still producing and selling versions of it today. It is one of the first compact speakers to ever deliver accurate sound quality from a small cabinet, a real achievement!

What speaker products does KEF specialize in now? Name a category, and it’s likely that KEF builds it! A few of KEF’s best-selling categories:

Blade: What is possible? What can a loudspeaker do to recreate music in a truly life-like way? This is the question the KEF engineering team was asked about 15 years ago, and their answer was the amazing original Blade speaker. The series was fleshed out as time went on with the addition of Blade Two. KEF’s Meta technology pushes the boundaries even further, with Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta. You truly have to hear these to believe them. Blade One will be on display at our Columbia location as of mid-July 2023.

LS 60 Wireless Series: LS 60 Wireless design is a triumph of form following function. These high-performance all-in-one speakers combine robust streaming capability with the high level of sound quality that KEF is known for. WiFi, Apple Airplay 2, Google Chromecast, and Bluetooth are all available. With the KEF Connect app, you can stream Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon Music - you name it, the LS 60 series likely enables it. This series also supports the connection of wired sources such as CD players, gaming consoles - even turntables. An HDMI eArc connection provides high-quality sound reproduction from your TV too. Care to add a KEF subwoofer or two? Go ahead. Do you wish to add additional rooms to your system, for a seamless home integration? Adding additional KEF LS Series products can fill your entire home with music. These beautiful LS 60 products are also finished to an amazing level of cabinet quality.

LS 50 Collection: Some folks who want amazing sound quality simply aren’t interested in the physically larger speakers that compose so much of the high-end speaker market. If you are part of that group, the LS 50 Collection is music to your ears. LS 50 and LS 50 Meta sound amazing. They boast revolutionary technology and high-end speaker performance, from a gorgeous cabinet that is roughly one foot tall, one foot deep, and 8 inches wide. You will be impressed by their sound, and happy with their small footprint. The LS 50 Wireless II is a powered version with WiFi, Bluetooth, and Apple Airplay 2 - very popular with our customers.

Reference Speakers: KEF Reference Speakers are a joy, and we’ve got the product on display at Gramophone! Other brands of speakers compare their performance against KEF’s Reference products. KEF is now on the 12th generation of their Uni-Q® driver, which brings a solid, cohesive image that closely mimics live music. In combination with their MAT™ (Metamaterial Absorption Technology), Reference brings the best of KEF engineering together with a maze-like absorptive structure behind the tweeter - essentially a black hole for the tweeter’s rear sound propagation. When you are only hearing the detail from the front of the tweeter, rather than a combination of intended, forward-projecting sound and undesirable, rear-firing sound, you hear details in your favorite songs that previously were masked. 

Do you like music? You owe it to yourself to listen to KEF at Gramophone!