KEF - CODA W (PAIR) - Vintage Burgundy

If you’ve never heard a sound system that presents a soundstage where music seems be magically coming from the thin air in front of you, the coda Ws will make your jaw drop. Audiophiles, however, may not be impressed. Firstly, these speakers have been named such that they’re practically false advertising. Other than the Bluetooth, there’s nothing wireless about these (see pic). Second, built-in amplification provides a convenient way to power speakers without needing to find space for other components, but I find these to be a bit underpowered and a little cold, perhaps due to the nature of digital amplification compared traditional amplifiers. I think this also makes the volume scale weirdly as you turn them up. Comfortable volume with a decent soundstage is between 90-95%. Max volume is extremely disappointing compared to other competing speakers with similar wattage. Additionally, these speakers don’t seem able to handle actual line level signals on the analog input without clipping. Also, the USB-C plugged into my Mac causes clipping at almost all volume levels above 75% and the blackbox nature of the KEF Connect app provides no fine tune adjustments. You would think that since all audio processing is offloaded to the DAC in the speakers that volume levels would be consistent across sources, but no. You’ll be fiddling with the volume a lot every time you change sources to coax an acceptable sound out of them that should just be happening automatically. I should also note that I get random dropouts across all HDMI sources. I’m not sure if this the speakers’ fault, or the LG C5 tv it’s using as the hub to access other HDMI devices, but no matter which combo of PCM/Bitstream settings you use the dropouts persist at a rate of 1 every few minutes on HDMI, and somewhat mercifully, quite less frequently with Bluetooth-maybe once or twice an hour. It probably sounds like I dislike these speakers, but they do sound reasonably good, occupy very little space, and eliminate the need for a separate amp and receiver. I think these are amazing computer speakers, or stand-alone music listeners in a small space, but there a lot of exaggerated hype over these speakers that may be selling some use cases that I don’t consider appropriate for speakers this size and power. I’ll also note that I’m using the 10” KEF sub with these and would suggest most people would be happy without a sub. These little speakers have an amazing low end and I would recommend giving them a try without the sub to save yourself some cash.

The sound is beautiful on these speakers. They are clear and have sparkle. Not too much bass, which makes them ideal for office use. They aren’t super fancy looking, but they are more stylish in person than they show online. I opted for these over the LSX IIs due to more reliable connectivity. So far no issues at all. They make great high end desktop speakers.

Very clean sound. Nice soundstage. Very good low end for everything but super loud rap music. The right size for the average American living room. A larger speaker would be needed for a large like 20 x 30 room or bigger. Instrument separation and texture very good. Percussion is tight and clean unlike most of the stuff in this 1k and under price point. You have to spend much more like thousands to really get much better than this. I’m streaming tidal via Bluetooth via hdmi for my source. Applause to the team at KEF who worked so hard on these. They look good too.

Great sound! Paired them with new 55inch LG OLED evo. The sound is so natural, and with the built-in amp. I will be adding a trune-table for LP's.

I am impressed with the sound and volume these speakers provide. Also, a surprising amount of base.