KEF Audio was founded in 1961 by Raymond Cooke OBE and in his words, ‘returns music to its rightful habituation’. Exec Digital learns more
By Ellie Duncan and Jessica Summers
When Raymond Cooke OBE set out to create a loudspeaker engineering company in 1961, innovation was to be at the heart of everything it did. And today, KEF Audio, in its fifth decade, is still developing world-beating products. Scientific innovation and hands-on experimentation continue to underwrite its reputation as the audiophile’s ultimate loudspeaker manufacturer.
Cooke started out as a radio operator in the Royal Navy before obtaining a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of London. He went on to join the BBC in its Engineering Designs Department and it was there that he became exposed to the work of Dudley Harwood and DEL Shorter.
Their pioneering work in the development of loudspeakers planted the seed for the type of design work he was to bring to the market at KEF Audio. Working alongside contemporaries such as Gilbert Briggs of Wharfedale fame and using the latest in materials technology KEF began developing products such as the K1 Monitor and the bookshelf ‘Celeste’.
The idea behind KEF Audio was to harness superior acoustic quality to reproduce recordings as natural as the original performance. Cooke himself said of the medium: “When KEF returns music to its rightful habituation, your ears and mind, they aim to do so in the most natural way they can... without drama, without exaggeration, without artifice.”
Reference Series
While today KEF produce loudspeakers, surround sound systems, subwoofers, outdoor/custom install and ipod/MP3 docks for purely for domestic use, KEF’s famed Reference Series is still regarded by many professionals as the closest reproduction of the natural sound available and it is still very common to find today’s Reference Series being used as studio monitors in professional applications.
The new Reference Series extraordinary acoustic capabilities were demonstrated beautifully by the award-winning classical music label Octavia Records, commissioned by KEF. Legendary engineer/producer Tomoyoshi Ezaki of Octavia’s Exton division duly re-mastered a breathtaking five-channel SACD recording of the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D. For Mr Ezaki, “It reveals the dynamics and intense musicality of the new Reference Series. The lack of distortion is phenomenal – the illusion of presence is uncanny” he says.
Another example is Trutone Mastering Labs, one of the world’s top music mastering studios, whose artists range from James Brown and Whitney Houston to Stephen Sondheim, Cyndi Lauper and The Killers. The quality and accuracy of their audio monitors is crucial – and after comparative tests they concluded that Reference Series Model 207 reproduced the most faithful sound. For mastering engineer Carl Rowati, “Sound quality is our business, so our audio systems have to perform equally well across every type of music from hip hop to classical. Only Reference sounded really great with every genre. They’re incredibly accurate, and there’s nothing they can’t handle.
When you’re perfecting digital soundtracks for movies like Star Wars, Superman and Gladiator, only the best technology will do. And for Anvil, the UK-based feature film audio post-production division of Technicolor, which means specifying KEF Reference for their mixing studios and dubbing theatres. “Anvil has always sought to push the envelope,” says Technicolor’s Rupert Scrivener, “and we’ve found nothing that reproduces recorded sound as naturally as the new Reference Series”. Impressively the KEF Reference Series 7.2 System won Reference Status Product of the Year (Speaker Winner) at the Home Cinema Choice Awards 2009.
Products and the Muon
One of KEF audio’s landmark innovations is the Uni-Q point source driver array. The device produces sound quality unachievable by conventional speakers. The outstanding acoustic clarity and off-axis dispersion has been continuously developed over 20 years and is unlike conventional speakers, the sound that is critical to the experience comes from the same point in space, and is produced in a controlled and continuous way over the whole audio range.
This technology is also the key to KEF’s Muon, a four-way speaker system described as ‘perhaps the most extraordinary loudspeaker ever conceived’. The two-metre high loudspeaker was the result of a collaboration with innovative industrial designer Ross Lovegrove. The design brief was to create an ‘ultimate’ in terms of innovation, quality and performance. They indisputably achieved this.
It also uses Acoustic Compliance Enhancement Technology which doubles the available volume through adsorption of air molecules by activated carbon. Fabricated from a 6mm thick super-formed aluminium shell, the rigid structure minimises sound-distorting vibrations.
Excellence
The four cornerstones that KEF attributes its success to are Quality, Honesty, Dedication and Innovation. The company prides itself on it professionalism throughout the business.
KEF Audio has had a fantastic 2009 so far, and the future is certainly looking very bright indeed, having already won a number of awards. These awards include a Playback Recommended 2009 award for the XQ20, and a ‘Selection 4 star’ for the C-series and ‘Recommandee 5 star’ for the XQ20, both from La Revue du Son.
KEF’s habit of triumphing at UK magazine Award ceremonies continued at the recent Home Cinema Choice Awards 2009 at London’s prestigious Piccadilly Apollo Cine-Theatre with KEF products picking up three finalist category prizes, including Best Loudspeaker System under 2,000 pounds with the KIT160 and Best Loudspeakers over 2,000 pounds for the Q Series.
So what’s coming up in the near future? KEF showed an amazing new speaker at the Munich High End show on May 21st. ‘Concept Blade’ is a stunning carbon fibre enclosure with the very latest 10th generation Uni-Q driver and featuring four ten inch bass drivers which are mounted firing sideways to create a ‘single apparent source’, extending the Uni-Q concept to all frequencies being played by the speaker. The bass units are also rigidly coupled to each other so that the forces cancel and no additional unwanted sound is radiated by the already super stiff cabinet.
KEF Audio is certainly around to stay, with the company servicing export markets throughout the world. The company firmly and passionately remains true to its proven innovations and philosophies; Uni-Q® Drivers, Ferrofluid Cooled Tweeters, Rubber Isolated Decoupled Driver Mountings, Long Throw Bass Drivers, Oxygen Free Internal Wiring, Gold Plated Bi-Wire Terminals, Computer Matching (using the most sophisticated and advanced of computer techniques) and the importance of quality audiophile-standard Home Theatre Systems.
And, each and every pair of KEF Reference Series loudspeakers is still hand assembled by one expert craftsman.
It is these characters, traditions and above all qualities that have ensured that KEF’s reputation for audio excellence is one of the finest in the world. KEF also plans to ensure that their undoubted position as world leaders extends into the future.