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

[Pistol Pete1]

Think I'm fine for now on that one.......

Anyway, got to sort out new av rack or mount the plasma onto a metal stud wall first so I can get the centre speaker in place.........

Then I need to order some rear speakers.....KEF 3001se eggs or KEF T101....hmmmm again it's another one to ponder......

But to do that, I need to sell my old Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 system plus 1030i floorstanders so I have some cash.....

 

[Frank Harvey]

I don't think you'll have a problem there Pete - there's probably a bigger second hand market for Q Acoustics than there is stolen mobile phones!

 

[Pistol Pete1]

David,

Your hopefully right....although they have been advertised for about 4 days now without any success (not on fee bay thou).........

The reason the bass has really kicked in....I changed 2 channel set up to 'large speaker', thus getting 'full band', rather than 'small' with x over at 60hz!!! DOH!!!

They are still set to small and 80hz for home cinema, though....

Cracking speakers......

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'm going to use the phrase "price point defining"

I'm still working on loaning three Q300's to try out in my AV system....

 

[Nas88]

Pete,

I am looking to purchase my first hi-fi system and I just wanted your thoughts on the Q500s? I will be using them mostly for music and maybe some movies now and again. I did have B&W 684s on my list as well, but judging by your review it doesn't seem as response as the Q500s which are newer and at the same price.

Since I have a CD player already, I can extend my budget on a 2 Channel Stereo Amp. Did David tell you of an amp that these speakers would work best with?

Your help would be much appreciated.

 

[Frank Harvey]

We've yet to find and amplifier that they don't work well with. They're an easy load, so no problems there, and they're not too lean, nor too warm to not suit anything particular.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

David beat me to it today........

The Q500's are excellent speakers and I'm extremely happy with them for music and movies....

Depending on your budget, the Naim Nait 5i might be a worthwhile audition.......

Saying that, as the Manchester show, KEF were using Marantz amplification to demo these speakers.....might be worth looking into too......

 

[Nas88]

Thanks for the info David & Pete.

The thing is I didn't really have a set budget in the first place because I wasn't sure if a pair of floorstanders like the IQ5se would give me the same pleasure of listening as a pair of B&W 684s for an extra £300?

So when I went to Canterbury Hi-fi they suggested that I look at the new Q500s, I didn't have time to audition them but he did offer one day to hook them upto a marantz amp and test out some of my music.

A point he made as well is that nowadays manufacturers don't focus on 1 type of music when developing their speakers. They try to satisfy all types of genres, David would you agree with this?

My room is about 16"x11.5"....and these Q500s won't be too over-bearing will they?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Nas88:A point he made as well is that nowadays manufacturers don't focus on 1 type of music when developing their speakers. They try to satisfy all types of genres, David would you agree with this?I think most manufacturers will try and cover most music genres anyway, although there are some speakers that are blatantly geared to specific genres.

My room is about 16"x11.5"....and these Q500s won't be too over-bearing will they?Not at all, they're quite small as far as floorstanders go - if it were me, I'd be using Q700's in there!

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Mine are in a 14' x 12' room, and are perfect size for it....in my opinion......

Have a look for yourself........

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/1/551273/ShowThread.aspx

 

[Hems]

Probably a silly question but now I'm considering an upgrade to the Q500 for the fronts but I currently don't have any space to house a Q200c. Would my system sound bad if I kept my HTC3005SE?

Thanks

 

[Pistol Pete1]

My friend has that centre speaker with his KEF IQ5se's and is very happy with the results...

It would be better with the Q200, obviously.....

I would suggest getting a demo before you buy to make sure your happy with this combo....

 

[Anonymous]

i used rx6 speakers as fronts with a bronze centre for a while and it worked fine. it was better when i upgraded the centre to the rx but not by a huge amount...

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:I don't think you'll have a problem there Pete - there's probably a bigger second hand market for Q Acoustics than there is stolen mobile phones!

How much second hand and fully boxed would you say a Q Acoustics 2000c is worth? Recently replaced it with a MA BX Centre to match my Stereo Fronts

 

[Frank Harvey]

Your seling price may be dictated by buyers, but you could start at £70 and work your way down if you need to...

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:We've yet to find and amplifier that they don't work well with. They're an easy load, so no problems there, and they're not too lean, nor too warm to not suit anything particular.

But which AV amp gets the absolute best all round music and movie performance from them, or is that too subjective?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Usually I'd say it depends on the speakers being used, but I think the KEF's are balanced in such a way that you wouldn't put a particular AV receiver with a set and think, "that sounds naff". They all seem to sound good through the KEF's, which is slightly weird in a way.

As for hi-fi amplification, same again really. The Q300's sound fantastic on a Nait 5i, but then again, they tend to sound pretty amazing on almost anything. KEF used marantz at previous shows, we've used Yamaha, Marantz, Naim, Audiolab, Cyrus, Roksan, Arcam, Rotel - I think the only amp we've not used here is the ATC and Bryston.

You can tailor the sound slightly depending on the amplification used, so as you said, it would really be subjective.

 

[Anonymous]

Tried an SC-LX83 yet

?

 

[Nas88]

So David, if I was to go for a more warm sound amp, which one would you suggest? I have arranged a demo at the hifi shop with the Q500s, and he has suggested the PM6003 for my budget(£400max). But won't these be a little underpowered?

I'm still a newbie to all this hifi mumbojumbo....so enlightened me almighty jedi

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Marantz PM6003 would be a good starting point.......

KEF used it to demo the Q300's at Manchester Show.......

May wanna try that Yamaha A-S500 too, if £400 is your budget....or maybe the Rotel 04se....

 

[Nas88]

Thanks Pete.....my dad warned me about getting into the world of hifi. Its doing my head in on what to choose!!

Since I am a young padawan eager to learn about HiFi, wouldn't an amp like the A-S500 with 100w per channel, sound better than an amp like the Rotel 04se with 40w per channel?

I know I should try to avoid thinking like that, since I used to be one of those yobbo's with a bassbox in the back of their car disturbing the peace.

Also, a friend of mine said you can get a stereo amp that if in future when you felt the need, you can add an active sub woofer to it? Is this true?

 

[Pistol Pete1]

The Yamaha is 85 Watts per channel....Rotels figures are normally very conservative....

The Yamaha amp has a sub output, so adding one would not be a problem.....not all have this feature though....

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Yamaha-A-S500/

 

[Anonymous]

afaik, an active sub with line in inputs can be used with stereo amps that don;'t have a sub out..

 

[Frank Harvey]

c0pperhead:Tried an SC-LX83 yet

?
Not yet unfortunately, it's just been too busy!! I'm selling my 82 to get an 83 anyway, so I'll soon hear one in my own set up anyway, and hopefully with the Q300's

 

[Frank Harvey]

Nas88:
So David, if I was to go for a more warm sound amp, which one would you suggest? I have arranged a demo at the hifi shop with the Q500s, and he has suggested the PM6003 for my budget(£400max). But won't these be a little underpowered?

I'm still a newbie to all this hifi mumbojumbo....so enlightened me almighty jedi

As Pete mentions, KEF were using the 6003 with the Q100 and Q300 at a few shows recently, and I think the pairing with the Q500 will be loud enough for most people. In larger rooms, or if more power is needed for whatever reason, and the 85wpc AS500 will give you a little more to play with. Along with the Rotel RA04se, these three will give you as much power as you're going to get for your budget. I think it'll be all you'll need.