KEF have been manufacturing Loudspeakers for the last fifty years but 2013 marks a significant change to their product line, which many may see as a surprise but in reality its a completely natural progression. The range features simply two models, the M500 headphones and M200 earphones. As a company, KEF are no strangers to innovation. After all, where do you start? The Uni-Q driver design and driver de-coupling are two game changers and with such heritage, these headphones stand to deliver much of the same and more. With headphones being a massive growth market, they’re at the forefront of the hi-fi stage now, with many brands competing for market share. Fancy marketing campaigns and celebrity endorsements add weight to a brand, but for us, sound quality is the defining factor.
Standing out in the market can be difficult but these two new models from KEF have already attracted intense media attention and both products have already received the coveted Red Dot design award (we anticipate many more to follow!) In order to ascertain exactly what makes these headphones work so well, lets take a closer look at each model in turn.
M500 Headphones
Impressive Design
Whilst sound is the most important aspect for us, you still want to enjoy wearing headphones in public so design and comfort come into play, and I’m sure you’ll agree that these wouldn’t look out of place anywhere. Some of the photos have made them look “plastiky” but this couldn’t be further from the truth; the silver parts are made from solid aluminium, the black parts are soft memory foam.
Smart Hinge
As you will more than likely using these on the move (they are just as competent in a home scenario as well) then the ability to store them in a compact manner is optimal, this said hinges (undergoing constant strain) need to be strong and efficient, this is more than covered and with the ability to move in multi directionally manner a comfortable and secure fit is a given.
Memory Foam
Headphones comfort is further augmented by the use of memory foam ear pads. Indeed, one issue we often hear from customers is that some on/over ear designs can be uncomfortable and fatiguing over long periods. In order to combat this KEF have employed the use of memory foam, this will naturally conform to your ears is breathable and sweat resistant adding to your listening pleasure! On the theme of listening pleasure the memory foam forms a seal around the ear offering a passive noise cancelling so you will not annoy those surrounding you or visa versa!
High Quality Drivers
Key to the abilities of the M500 headphones is their driver design. As already mentioned, KEF are no stranger to innovation in this area but they have excelled themselves once again with the M500. They feature a 40mm Neodymium driver to cover mid and bass frequencies and aluminium copper clad voice coil taking care of the higher register, clarity throughout is preserved with spine tingling accuracy.
Check out attention to detail on the driver below!
A true KEF driver, over engineered, meticulous detail and most of all sublime musicality. These where designed from a perspective that stated: “they must sound like a KEF loudspeaker”– we can confirm that from our own listening tests they have succeeded in this, capturing dynamics reserved usually for speaker aficionados!
How Do They Sound?
The final and most important point! Although they’re not quite in stock at time of writing KEF kindly bought us a pair to test out and take some exclusive photos of!
What struck me first was how comfortable these are, they sit nicely on the head and the ear pads cover the ear with a good seal, not painful in the slightest. The source used was Spotify on iPhone – the M500 are on home ground here, the impedance is at the right level to be driven with ease with this device, coincidentally both the M500 and M200 are designed for and Apple approved. From the first note of Arvo Part’s “Spiegel Im Spiegel” I was hooked, they are well balanced, natural and (I say this carefully) correct, meaning they sound right. I am personally very fussy about sound, as I am sure you all are! These headphones have the ability to bring performers to life and don’t need exaggerated bass or over inflated highs! Final thought: if you are looking for a portable headphone that sounds “proper Hi-Fi” then look no further!
Works With All Devices!
True to their hi-fi heritage, the M500 are true hi-fi headphones and deserve to be listened to through a good headphone amplifier like the Graham Slee Novo or similar to get the most out of them. That being said, unlike other hi-fi headphones that need a good amplifier to sound at their best (and otherwise can sound very thin and bass light), the M500 are very efficient, which allows you to use them with other portable music players and your iDevice and enjoy excellent quality sound with good bass definition.
M200 Earphones
There is beauty in simplicity, and KEF have kept things simple to start, with a single headphone model and single earphones model, yet like with the M500, the M200 are equally as groundbreaking.
Driver Design
The M200 features another KEF innovation, a Dual Dynamic Driver (DDD) comprising of a 10mm low frequency driver and 5.5mm Neodymium high frequency driver, this combination provides a tight controlled and very natural sound with exceptional detail retrieval.
The DDD combination provides resonant free bass due to the driver being behind the HF driver and directly connected to an aluminium housing:
You can see from the above KEF’s attention to detail, these earphones go way beyond what could be seen as a standard design.
Comfort and Innovation
Quite often the key to great earphones is comfort and this is something taken into account fully here, the personal nature of earphones mean a comfortable fit can be make or break – including in the packaging are three sizes of ear buds ensuring you get the best possible fit – this is important, it prevents unwanted noise from leaking in and valuable sound from leaking out.
They also feature a “secure arm”, another innovative feature. Those of you familiar with in ear earphones will understand the frustration of having the bud drop out every five minutes – especially when you are half way through your favourite record riding on a bike or public transport! The secure arm can be adjusted and stays in place behind the shape of your ear to keep them in place and comfortable.
Works with all devices!
As with the M500, these are deigned to work with and approved by apple – that said, they will also work the majority of other smart phones on the market. The included microphone is a pretty much standard feature but again the KEF quality shines through offering crystal clear response! Although we would rather be listening to them than making calls!
Safe Listening
KEF are also taking our hearing seriously, which is very reassuring given that damage to hearing is quite possible with headphones especially in loud environments. Thankfully, both models are designed to comply with CENELEC standard EN60065/A12, so you can enjoy all the subtle nuances without worry. In addition, despite being an “on ear” design and not being an active noise cancelling design, the M500 are very capable at blocking out external noise and when we listened to the demo pair with KEF, we couldn’t hear them from a few meters away when someone else was listening to them. So they’re very capable at keeping external sound out and keeping others from hearing what you’re listening to! What more could you ask for?
Summary
In conclusion, this new direction for KEF appears to be a fruitful one, moving into the headphone/earphone market requires serious effort towards design and sound. Indeed, rebranding OEM products would not have done the job and I am pleased to say here this is not the case, quality is, as you can guess sublime sound is crisp with breathtaking accuracy – short of strapping to LS50’s to your head (not recommended at all, CENELEC and so forth!) you will struggle getting that sound anywhere else regardless of price.