KEF Cresta 1 Bookshelf speakers

The body of KEF Cresta 1 is lighter than the older model; however, its design effectively contributes to the reduction of parasitic sounds. The loudspeakers have very similar LF/MF drivers - the woofer of Cresta 1 is slightly smaller. Passport value of peak power is 70W, Cresta 2 has 100W of rated power. The developers considered it superfluous to output an additional pair of terminals for separate connection of the bands.

The sound of Cresta 1 firstly attracts by the natural plasticity of the timbre balance. Tonal correctness, emotional neutrality, absence of unmotivated brightness are a worthy example of the "shelf" version of English sound. The lower register is practically weightless, but the structure of the upper bass is well read. There is no characteristic nonlinear suspension near the lower boundary. I really liked the quality of midrange; the sense of dynamic depth of solo vocal is indicative in this connection. Curiously that with formally zero imbalance (from medium to high frequencies) sometimes there is the impression of a lack of high-frequency details. By increasing frequency, the sound becomes more transparent. Of course, it is difficult to expect convincing transmission of powerful energy bursts of symphonic origin from a compact monitor. The image of space is unusually neutral for this class - the stage is three-dimensional with stable geometry.

KEF Cresta 1 is good for music lovers, fans of classical music and even professional musicians as a "quiet" home monitor, the compactness and moderate cost of which completely redeems some limitations of sound potential (due to compactness and cost).