Retro Review - KEF Coda 2 - the Golden Age of KEF

Is it possible to review a product after having your mouth frozen at the Dentist? - Apparently not

[@peterzorlakki8199]

A magical decade for British speaker manufacture. Wow!!!!!

[@ramblerandy2397]

Kef 104/2s were and still are fabulous sounding speakers. I got mine in 1989 and they're attached to my Naim NAC62/NAP140. With Linn Sondek/Ittok/Troika. And that's why they sound fabulous. At the time of purchase I auditioned them against as many other comparable speakers as I could using the same front end. The 104/2s beat them all. Their problem is they need excellent control and this is what the Naims provide. My Kefs are in use virtually every day.

[@cbaboxsqueeze]

I have just bought KEF LSX 2 active speakers, best grand I ever spent, brilliant connectivity and fill my over furnished small room with well balanced detailed sound.

[@bradmilne863]

Very well done

[@wFullSnakeOilHighMileageSynthe]

Totally agree.

[@neilphilip2320]

Very informative and honest - old school one might say and all the better for it.

[@benjoe999]

I have a pair,bought them for £18 with one faulty tweeter. I changed with another original from another coda 2. I cleaned the magnet hole from the sponge dirt and replaced. I tweaked the crossover a little,because 7mf capacitor was 11mf,so it needed to change them. I love them!

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

oldies but goldies

[@djgibby1301]

I still have, and use, a pair of Kef Cantor 2's, a sort of big brother to the Coda's. I love them!

[@emilesprenger]

Nice post. LS50 meta with LC62 sub sounds wonderful (to my ears). Thin is the last thing I'd call them.

[@chrisclose7793]

My dad had a pair and survived me as a baby in 1988 pulling the logos off etc and I remember how good they sounded I loved my dad's codas aswell as b&w dm110s

[@billywindsock9597]

I have a pair of Coda III, still!

[@richardsinger01]

I listened, "auditioned", if you like, to these in around 1981 and bought the Mission 700 instead. No contest to my 18 year old ears. I wonder what I would pick today?

[@pauldavies6037]

The B139 was unique in having polystyrene as the cone material causing a very clean HF roll off

[@christopherward5065]

I liked the AR 18 and the KEF Codas the Mordaunt Short festival II. They could be placed after a Linn/Naim system and sound exciting and engaging. I am using some KEF Reference 103 speakers and they are really good. The Linn Isobarics were two KEF kit 104 speakers per pair by the look of them.

[@dougg1075]

Last time i auditioned KEF’s , I wasn’t impressed at all. Seemed to tame and un exciting. Enjoyed the review and thoughts. I would describe the shape of the midrange driver as rotary like:) as in rotary engine

[@gargunza4141]

Monitor Audio MA1 (Their first loudspeakers) used B139 and B200 drivers. I owned a pair in the 70s, driven by a Leak stereo 70 amp. Also KEF obtained a licence in 1993 and produced 4000 pairs of LS3/5A speakers..

[@wFullSnakeOilHighMileageSynthe]

Also had KEF 104.2 Reference with Kube.... irreplaceable.

[@LexTNeville]

Hope the tooth is sorted now. I'd love to get your input on a setup I'm putting together for my home cinema / guitar play-along room. Particularly weak points and things to listen out for. I've inherited 2 KEF Coda 9.2 passive floor speakers from my departed grandfather. So I've tried researching to see what I need to support them. My initial setup will be the KEFs front left and right with decent 14 gauge cable running ~7 metres into a 'Nobsound 20G' 2x100w amp with a 19v 4.74amp power supply (so expecting ~90w max output), then 3.5mm aux to my projector. I'll have an active 37w Logitech subwoofer taking signal out of the amp too, probably placed front middle. Curious to hear if there are any older amps I should look into, and whatever recommendations come to mind - even if it involves throwing stuff in the bin :) I get that you know your stuff, and I'd like to have a decent try at this.

[@clausolsen856]

Nice little history lesson👍 Don't think though, that the bas drivers are faulty. Usually it's the crossover that needs some love and care, espacially the condensators. Try and change them and I think you will be surprised🙃

[@normanbott]

I'm pretty sure you could build these from the KEF "Constructor" series plans, which I regret not pursuing at the time.

[@jimsregaturntableshifijukebox]

Very interesting.I have some Kef 104.2 reference speakers on my channel. Jim 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙂

[@sexytasmin]

Hi Philip I agree with everything you say about KEF.

[@chrisclose7793]

you should do a little demo of these legendary kefs

[@christopherlatuswhite7350]

Northern honesty and classic self depreciation. Do you know anything about the Kef coda 2 SEs ? Thanks Mr. Chris from Hull😊 😊

[@engjds]

I had some TannoyM3's, worst loudspeaker I have ever had, floorstander that punched bass like a wet fish. Then got the Kef Q35 and I never really liked them either, first satisfying speaker I had after that was the Opera Duetta, which was a little gem, punch, clarity beyond its price. Now have the Jamo Concert 8, which is not only my best speaker I have owned, but the best I have ever heard too.

[@705johnnyboy]

my restored 104/2 are my endgame speakers they are a pain to match with amps but my meridian mono blocks do the job ,fantastic real sound ...

[@sbwlearning1372]

I have been looking at these and others in the family tree. How much power per channel can the monoblocs deliver ?

[@swingmanic]

I love my 104/2 speakers. They seem to suit my Cayin A-88T mkll amplifier. They have that warm 80's sound and seem to suit my jazz genre in music.

[@gerbs4009]

ooh...coda 2s....i auditioned them ....alongside AR18s and Boston A40s...think i also listened to a Celestion...cant remember model....ended up with the 18s.....

[@Benvos]

I’m fully with you on the LS50s, never liked them, find them equally thin. To be honest I’ve not got on with coaxial drivers, always found them to produce a smaller sound in terms of scale.

[@cephalotus59]

Heybrook HB2 was my speaker of choice from that period

[@richardsinger01]

Something you said made me realise I've never considered magnet degradation. How significant is this? Been looking at vintage speakers recently but I've never considered that.

[@raceingdemon6464]

Use a Pair On My Computer Setup With a Mission Cyrus 2 Amp And a Audiolab Q Dac Sounds Wonderfull And Also Use a Pair Of Kef Coda 2s On My Main System With a Audiolab A8000 Amp And a Rega Planar 2 With a Rega RB250 Arm And A Ortofon 2M Black Cartridge Again Sounds Wonderfull 😀 Regards mike.

[@user-cn4dy4vg9h]

How do the Coda 2s compare to the Cantor 2s? thanks Bob

[@davidfarrow5357]

That looks like an Audax tweeter.

[@ianbigsand7]

They did use Audax tweeters

[@Funkywallot]

Golden age for KEF (For me) are the 70´s not 80´s . Cadenza,Calinda,Corelli, Choral and the reference series. All serious full range speakers unsurpassed for vocal and acoustic music.And they are begining to cost serious money second hand.

[@blownouttransmission5832]

the coda mk1 sp1032 are superior speakers , the coda were designed as a boundary use design so get them farther back to get a more balanced bass performance .

[@michaelharris6106]

Do you mean the coda sp1034 if so a lovely little speakers I use a pair in my bedroom Quad system 34/306 66cd player bluesound node 2i lovely lying in bed after a night shift listening to ambient

[@mahessilva7504]

Thin sounding LS 50? Probably poor electronics. I drive my LS50 Meta's with a Chinese 300B tube amp called Reisong Bouuyoyrange A 50 inegrated with only 7.6 watts on tap and iam amazed at the sound of these wonderful speakers. Probably not having deep bass can be misunderstood as being thin.