KEF is a British-based loudspeaker

Loudspeaker

A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...

 manufacturer with international distribution.
It was founded in Tovil

Tovil

Tovil is a civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, in Kent in the South East of England.It is a mixture of residential and industrial zoning, with an increase in commercial usage towards the centre of Maidstone, and more arable use on the outskirts....

, Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 in 1961 by electrical engineer Raymond Cooke and named after Kent Engineering & Foundry which previously occupied the site.
KEF is now owned by GP Acoustics, which is itself a member of the Hong Kong based Gold Peak

Gold Peak

-Over View:Gold Peak Industries Limited is an Asian battery manufacturer established in 1964 and based in Hong Kong. They are also involved in the domestic appliance cabling business via purchasing 16% of the stock value Chengdu based Ling Xu Cabling Corp in 2001.-Gold Peak Industries Limited...

 Group. Product development, acoustical technology research and the manufacture of flagship products still occurs on the original Tovil site.
In 1991, the New York Times characterized it as a "leading" audio company in Europe, also "well known to American audiophiles".
Raymond Cooke left Wharfedale where he was Technical Director and, with his business colleagues, founded KEF Electronics Ltd with a view to creating innovative loudspeakers using the latest in materials technology.