Crave

(Credit: KEF)

The KEF Concept Blade is a set of one-off speakers engineered to demonstrate the British hi-fi specialist's technical know-how. Developed over a three-year span, these life-size boomboxes are a work of art in both aesthetics and performance.

Clad top to bottom in woven carbon fiber, these sexy concept speakers are capable of supporting the full audio spectrum out of the box. To achieve this feat, they employ four side-firing woofers to boost bass extensively and the company's Uni-Q driver for more natural-sounding vocals.

(Source: Crave Asia via Audiojunkies)

(Credit: Home Cinema Choice)

The lads over at Home Cinema Choice recently got a sweet surprise from British loudspeaker manufacturer KEF. It came in the form of an impeccable replica of the company's popular 3000-series KHT home theater speakers, affectionately known as the "KEF Egg" among enthusiasts. Rather than the usual boring showpiece, it was a yummy dark chocolate treat that they mercilessly smashed apart and devoured. I wonder if any of our TV vendors will ever send us something similar, molded in the form of an oversized 42-inch flat panel, of course.

(Source: Crave Asia)

You have to see them for real.

(Credit: KEF)

KEF, one of Britain's leading speaker manufacturers, had a press event earlier this week in New York City to show off their new Muon speakers. I was curious to see the speaker in the flesh, and now that I have I can say the pictures don't do it justice. They are the most beautiful speakers I've ever seen.

Designed by Ross Lovegrove (a top industrial designer), they are indeed works of 21 century art, fabricated from malleable sheets of heated aluminum. The process was required to produce the Muon's complex curves, dictated by the design's acoustical properties, and of course, Lovegrove's aesthetics. The raw material, starting out as six foot long hunks of aluminum are milled and formed over a one week period. I couldn't keep my fingers off the undulating, thoroughly sensual surfaces. Best of all the shape is said to be in large part responsible for the speaker's extraordinary sound. Each Muon weighs 253 pounds.

They are great sounding speakers, with prodigious bass response, awesome dynamic range, and great finesse on classical music, but they are more than that. The Muon is a work of art. The markets for high-end everything are booming--cars, boats, watches, clothes, even refrigerators and stoves--it's about time audio manufacturers started making exquisite products for the rich and famous. The Muon NYC premier took place in a lavishly appointed penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park, and the speakers looked right at home. In fact, when I stop and think about it, a plain Jane Bose system would have stood out like a sore thumb. It never ceases to amaze me that the folks who live well rarely seek out state of the art audio.

Wireless speakers usually come with a lot of wires.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Fact is, all of the wireless speakers I've reviewed for CNET still use speaker wires to do what speaker wires always do, deliver audio signals from power amplifiers to the speakers. And since wireless speakers have built-in power amplifiers, they need to be plugged into an AC wall outlet. So where a standard speaker has one wire, the wireless speaker has at least two! The "wireless" part refers to the system's ability to wirelessly transmit audio signals from the front of the room to the surround speakers.

The two wireless transmission systems, infrared and radio frequency, are fraught with problems. They all too frequently add noise, hiss, and pops--and when they're not adding those nasties--they just quit entirely and the sound cuts out. Infrared systems beam light from a transmitter, usually placed somewhere near the A/V receiver or home theater in a box DVD player, to the wireless speakers (so there must be a clear line of sight between the transmitter and the speakers). Depending on the room's physical layout, that may or may not be easy to implement. Radio frequency systems get around that hassle, but can have noise and radio frequency interference problems of their own.

Oh, and for the most part wireless speakers are pretty lame sounding speakers. They're typically woofers only, one-way systems--eliminating the tweeter gets around some of the noise problems associated with wireless speakers--and always at the cost of eliminating treble detail. Hi-fi they're not.

KEF's Universal Kit.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Now, that's I've totally trashed the wireless fantasy, there's one wireless system that I can get behind, KEF's Universal Wireless Kit. The "universal" tag refers to the kit's ability to be used with almost any speakers: big ones, small ones, you name it. I used the kit with my high-end Dynaudio Contour 1.1 speakers, and came away impressed with the wireless KEF's sonics. That said, even the KEF system comes with a big mess 'o' wires. Reality bites.

(Credit: Pocket-lint)

Yes, we know. Life as a media technophile can be so tiring sometimes.

It took forever for you to find the right home theater projector, but persistence paid off because you snagged a $10,000 model for only $99,995. And then there's the $150,000 turntable you stumbled across at a neighborhood garage sale.

But what, praytell, will you do about speakers? Apple industrial designer Ross Lovegrove has just the answer for you with his "Muon" masterpiece, which goes for a mere $140,000 a pair. These auditory wonders employ a technology that "doubles the available volume through absorption of air molecules by activated carbon--aka 'magic dust' by the audio industry," Pocket-lint says.

Shockingly, this is a limited edition--only 100 pairs have been made. Perhaps that's because British manufacturer KEF ran out of space: Each Muon is 7 feet tall. Given the speakers' "super-formed aluminum" casing and Evard Munch-looking curved design, the warehouse must look like something like a cross between a modern art museum and an alien rave.

But no matter, for your uber-media center is now complete, and no buyer remorse is necessary. Wait... What's this thing they call "La Sphere"?

The KEF FiveTwo Model 11 tower speaker

(Credit: KEF)

The KEF FiveTwo Series speakers got a lot of coverage when they were announced in the fall. "Two speakers, sounds like five," declared Gizmodo, and that was indeed the draw. Available in two versions--the 15-inch-high Model 7 and 40-inch-tall Model 11--the FiveTwo Series speakers are KEF's first stab at virtual surround. Using multiple drivers (each model is named for the number of drivers it utilizes), the FiveTwo speakers deliver the five (front left/right, center, and surround left/right) channels of a true surround system from just two front speakers.

CNET was able to put both FiveTwo Series speakers to the test, and the results were impressive. The KEFs delivered some of the best sound quality we've heard from virtual surround speakers. Discriminating listeners will find the KEFs--especially the Model 11 towers--to be worthy of the company's audiophile reputation. But there is an important distinction: while the sonic quality was among the best we've heard from these types of speakers, the surround effects--while palpable--weren't quite as enveloping as those found on the single-speaker Yamaha YSP-1100 Digital Sound Projector, which is still the king of the virtual-surround hill. In other words, go for the Yamaha if you want better surround effects; opt for the KEFs if you want better sound overall.

The KEF HTB2 subwoofer

(Credit: KEF)

A couple of other caveats: you'll need to provide your own subwoofer if you want any sort of decent bass for either of the FiveTwo models. Fortunately, KEF's matching HTB2 is an excellent choice. Aside from providing excellent complementary bass for the FiveTwos (or any other speakers, for that matter), the HTB2 can be mounted horizontally or vertically. It's also easily one of the coolest-looking subs you'll ever see. And while the speakers' pricing may induce a bit of sticker shock--$1,200 a pair for the Model 7s, $2,000 for the Model 11s, plus $800 for the aforementioned HTB2 subwoofer--it's worth noting that these speakers are in a whole different league from the ones you'll find on a sub-$500 home-theater-in-a-box system on sale at Costco. Like a luxury automobile, the KEFs cost more, but they're worth it. And--unlike a lot of HDTVs and video equipment--quality speakers should last for years, if not decades, and they won't be obsolete anytime soon.

Still intrigued? Check out the full, hands-on reviews of the KEF FiveTwo Series Model 7, the KEF Five Two Series Model 11, and the KEF HTB2.