Demo Day Results....B&W 684, MA RX6, KEF Q500 & Q700.

[Simon Lucas]

FrankHarveyHiFi:Hang on, is this the same monthly article where people couldn't hear the benefit of a higher end one box AV amplifier against a sub £1k one? Obviously not demonstrated properly....

Yeah, obviously. What with you being privy to exactly what happened and everything.

 

[Anonymous]

Pistol Pete1:maxflinn:Pistol Pete1:

Really? Must find that one then........

Edit: I think I've found it....American site, by any chance?

thats the one

And of course, I've just noticed a 'first review' of this receiver is actually in this month's what hifi? ..........

just read it, sounds like the stereo performance is nothing special

..

i reckon a decent stereo amp like a yam as-500, marantz pm 7003, etc, would be a decent purchase for you pete, those kefs are obviously lovely speakers, i know you dont listen to that much stereo music, (i didnt either till i got some nice gear to play it on earlier in the year, now im hooked and listen to more music than i watch movies),but i still think you would be selling those speakers short using an avr to run them in stereo..

 

[Frank Harvey]

maxflinn:there's been several surprising results from recent big questions, no difference could be found between high end and poverty spec bdp's either, its an informative test that big question..
Well I suppose it depends what source material is used - Bluray might by close (although this would depend on the screen being used), but DVD playback and CD playback would be quite different.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Simon Lucas:
FrankHarveyHiFi:Hang on, is this the same monthly article where people couldn't hear the benefit of a higher end one box AV amplifier against a sub £1k one? Obviously not demonstrated properly....

Yeah, obviously. What with you being privy to exactly what happened and everything.

Sorry, didn't mean to be nasty or anything, but £5k receivers would be pretty good with stereo, but if I couldn't hear a difference between them and a £200 hi-fi amp, I'd be a little worried...

 

[Simon Lucas]

But we didn't ask you, we asked three other people. We never have an agenda when we sit them down, we're not trying to sell them anything. We're not interested in margins or stock levels, we just demonstrate the equipment and ask for their findings. Don't imagine that if those findings differ from what you suppose you might find in their place, there must be a problem with the way the test is done. Be assured that we can (and do) demonstrate equipment competently.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Anyway.......moving on (swiftly)..........

 

[Frank Harvey]

Sadly, due to heavy snow in the Kent area (and KEF being situated at the bottom of a hill), the Concept Blades and Q900's won't be able to make it...

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Typical!!!! Tell them to 'Man up, and to stop making feeble excuses!!!'

Have mine turned up today???

Have a great Open Evening this evening, David........hope the snow will not put other's off...

 

[Frank Harvey]

Thanks Pete

Yup, they're here

We've had quite a few calls to see if it's still on as the weather doesn't seem to be deterring people...

 

[Pistol Pete1]

When you say they are here........don't you mean they were here, and are now shipped out to me????

Or did they miss the collection van today?

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Don't worry about the above question(s)....just found my dispatch email.....

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Ok......my Q500/Q200c have arrived this morning....

Spend a good hour setting up the Q500's onto their spikes, adjusting, setting up bi amping, and connecting.....

Had one spike stand thread from the bottom of the speaker come out at one stage......once you screw the bolts in, DON'T try taking them out again, as the thread inserts come out with the bolt........wonder if KEF has ever heard of glueing before???

Anyway......these speakers defo look the part, and I bi amped them onto my Denon AVR2310 and played some cd's via my Marantz KI player, using the Chord Odyssey 2 cable...

After a few tunes, all I can say is....

Love them even more than after listening to them in the demo room. Was a little concerned about the amount of bass these speakers produced, but in my lounge the bass is spot on....in fact I'd describe these as a perfect balance of bass, mid and detail, with a massive soundstage......

In hindsight, I think the Q700's would have been too much in this room (not only size, but amount of bass too)

Anyway...they are on repeat for the rest of the day to settle down a bit, and then I'll experiment with the Chord silverscreen speaker cable.....

Awaiting a tv unit before I can connect the centre speaker, so I'll guess that will have to wait a while.....

 

[Frank Harvey]

Pistol Pete1:After a few tunes, all I can say is....
Love them even more than after listening to them in the demo room. Was a little concerned about the amount of bass these speakers produced, but in my lounge the bass is spot on....in fact I'd describe these as a perfect balance of bass, mid and detail, with a massive soundstage......
The Q500's are ideal for smaller rooms, or rooms where the speaker needs to be very close to the wall - I think the Q700 and Q900 will need a little more room to breathe.

In hindsight, I think the Q700's would have been too much in this room (not only size, but amount of bass too)
Good job you didn't hear the Q900's then - KEF's demo ones turned up this morning!! 24 hours late, but hey, we've got them until our demo ones turn up

 

[Pistol Pete1]

FrankHarveyHiFi:Pistol Pete1:After a few tunes, all I can say is.... Love them even more than after listening to them in the demo room. Was a little concerned about the amount of bass these speakers produced, but in my lounge the bass is spot on....in fact I'd describe these as a perfect balance of bass, mid and detail, with a massive soundstage...... The Q500's are ideal for smaller rooms, or rooms where the speaker needs to be very close to the wall - I think the Q700 and Q900 will need a little more room to breathe. In hindsight, I think the Q700's would have been too much in this room (not only size, but amount of bass too) Good job you didn't hear the Q900's then - KEF's demo ones turned up this morning!! 24 hours late, but hey, we've got them until our demo ones turn up

Not sure the couch would fit in the room with Q900's in it too.......

 

[Frank Harvey]

They are a lot bigger to be fair - only bigger rooms recommended for these I think!

 

[Lee H]

Sigh.... serious envy kicking in now

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Lee H:Sigh.... serious envy kicking in now

Go on....treat yourself....

 

[Lee H]

Pistol Pete1:
Lee H:Sigh.... serious envy kicking in now

Go on....treat yourself....

When adding in the cost of the inevitable divorce that would follow it could be pricey.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

 

[Pistol Pete1]

It has been mentioned in another forum that biamping/bi wiring is a MUST with these speakers.....

After listening to bi amped Chord Odyssey 2 cable most of the day, I have now done some tests and here are my findings......

Single wired with Chord Odyssey 2 cable..............Dull, lifeless and thin sounding....vocals are poor....

Single wired with Chord silverscreen.........Vocals improve from the first test, but with the loss of detail and bass extension.....

Back to bi amped with Chord Odyssey 2.........WOW....completely different speaker....

These KEF Q series HAVE to be bi amped, otherwise your wasting your time........not sure if bi wired will produce the amount of difference I have just been subjected to, but I'm wondering how good, sonically, the new KEF Bi amp/single amp knob/switch is????

hmmmmmm..........

 

[Frank Harvey]

It might be worth pointing out that these findings are using an AV receiver - this may not necessarily be the same using a hi-fi amplifier

 

[manicm]

David are you saying the Q500s work close to walls? Is this because it's a closed design?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Q500, Q700, and Q900's are all sealed designs, but the Q900's will still need some room. The Q700's would be ok in some rooms, but might need a little, and the Q500's seem to be fine against a wall - obviously their smaller drive units don't produce as much bass as the larger speakers.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Ok these Q500's have been on for 3 days solid now.......

I have found using 'Direct' rather than 'Pure direct' adds a touch more clarity to the vocals and alround sound quality, for some reason....

These speakers are sounding absolutely awesome......the bass is unbelievable considering the size of cones being used......

These have been the best purchase for ages.......well pleased....

 

[grdunn123]

You'll be looking at a receiver upgrade soon to get the best from the new Kefs..