Anyone own the KEF Q Series yet?
- Thread starter Pistol Pete1
- Start date
Frank Harvey
Well-known member
These are so good I'm quite tempted to try out and LCR set of Q300's in place of my MK's - it'll be an interesting comparison!
I was listening to the Q700's again yesterday with the Audiolab 8200a - great match. The only problem is, they're making all the speakers below them sound quite bad!!
I was listening to the Q700's again yesterday with the Audiolab 8200a - great match. The only problem is, they're making all the speakers below them sound quite bad!!
Hi, this is my first post in a couple of years...my doesn't time fly!!
Anyhow...I had an extensive demo of the Q300 speakers yesterday and was so impressed I bought a pair (in black ash)
I find (and it's my personal opinion) that many modern speakers whilst offering plenty of detail are far too fatiguing when pushed hard and listened to for a long period. I've owned more recently Monitor Audio Br2's and RS1's finding the Br2's too shut in and the RS1's...well..just too bright, too detailed. Whilst the latest offerings (RX1 & RX2) are smoother they still have many of the RS characteristics and being rear ported a bit fussy about placement.
So the demo came down to being between the B&W 685 (old faithfuls) and Kef Q300's. The B&W are very good speakers and I am not surprised they are rated so highly. Detail is amazing, if a bit too much for me, with a vey wide soundstage. Whilst the Kef's in comparison are not bright at all. They are detailed but even with a poor recording don't exagerate any grating brightness.. that's not to say you can't pick out detail...I was hearing subtle bits of instruments I've never heard before!
But...the main determining factor for me is their bass. To me, it is truly incredible. very low and felt but not booming. I listen to a wide range of music but mainly Classic, melodic and progressive rock. I also put an ipod through my system so was eager to get the speakers home to see exactly how they'd fair with my room acoustics. The answer...amazing straight out the box. Warm them up for 30 minutes or so then give them some welly. I have them about 10" from the rear wall and 10 ft apart slightly toed in. They even make compressed ipod recordings sound good with more than passable bass and no shrill treble. The real pleasing aspect for me is how they sound with vinyl. My Linn has never sung so sweetly. The realism is just stagering!
Bad points...well they look..ahem..interesting and are a suprisingly large speaker. A bit too large for my Atacama stands.I bought them in black ash finish. They are very reminiscent of 70's/80's large bookshelf speakers but the concerns about the looks soon pale into insignificance as they envelope you with that lushes sound...and as for sonic booms...welll it can hurt your chest!
In summary...these are fantastic all round speakers forgiving of poor source material, fantastic with vinyl and detailed sweeet treble with incredible bass..
I'll let you know what my thoughts are after living with them for a few weeks.
Anyhow...I had an extensive demo of the Q300 speakers yesterday and was so impressed I bought a pair (in black ash)
I find (and it's my personal opinion) that many modern speakers whilst offering plenty of detail are far too fatiguing when pushed hard and listened to for a long period. I've owned more recently Monitor Audio Br2's and RS1's finding the Br2's too shut in and the RS1's...well..just too bright, too detailed. Whilst the latest offerings (RX1 & RX2) are smoother they still have many of the RS characteristics and being rear ported a bit fussy about placement.
So the demo came down to being between the B&W 685 (old faithfuls) and Kef Q300's. The B&W are very good speakers and I am not surprised they are rated so highly. Detail is amazing, if a bit too much for me, with a vey wide soundstage. Whilst the Kef's in comparison are not bright at all. They are detailed but even with a poor recording don't exagerate any grating brightness.. that's not to say you can't pick out detail...I was hearing subtle bits of instruments I've never heard before!
But...the main determining factor for me is their bass. To me, it is truly incredible. very low and felt but not booming. I listen to a wide range of music but mainly Classic, melodic and progressive rock. I also put an ipod through my system so was eager to get the speakers home to see exactly how they'd fair with my room acoustics. The answer...amazing straight out the box. Warm them up for 30 minutes or so then give them some welly. I have them about 10" from the rear wall and 10 ft apart slightly toed in. They even make compressed ipod recordings sound good with more than passable bass and no shrill treble. The real pleasing aspect for me is how they sound with vinyl. My Linn has never sung so sweetly. The realism is just stagering!
Bad points...well they look..ahem..interesting and are a suprisingly large speaker. A bit too large for my Atacama stands.I bought them in black ash finish. They are very reminiscent of 70's/80's large bookshelf speakers but the concerns about the looks soon pale into insignificance as they envelope you with that lushes sound...and as for sonic booms...welll it can hurt your chest!
In summary...these are fantastic all round speakers forgiving of poor source material, fantastic with vinyl and detailed sweeet treble with incredible bass..
I'll let you know what my thoughts are after living with them for a few weeks.
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