How bad is bad?

[admin_exported]

About 18mnths ago i bought a pair of Kef iQ7s after a long demo and although they hadnt recieved a 5 star review (4star at the time but since demoted to 3) I felt they sounded better than the MA RS6s that i also demo'd. I was impressed with the mid range and the scale of the Kefs over the MAs but now have doubts as to whether I made a big mistake. Ive never heard the Kefs sound as good as they did in the shop but attribute that to my source. My question is, when products are rated as poor how relative is this to price? I accept there may be far better for the £600 I paid for them but would a much cheaper product also leave them in the dark e.g MA bronze range? The reason i want to know is before i spend more on electronics am i fighting a losing battle until i change the speakers? I know this is all subjective but id appreciate any opinions. Cheers chaps!!

 

[Anonymous]

absolutely this is subjective! but to help us advise you can you let us know what the rest of your system is? ratings arent the be-all and end-all although they often can point you in the right direction. to give you an example, i recently sold my (much acclaimed) CA AZUR 640c v2 cdp for an Arcam CD72 and was blown away by how much better (to me) the Arcam was! BTW although your Kef's cost 600 quid new you would be very lucky to get even half that if you sold em so keep that in consideration...

 

[Anonymous]

The rest of the system is a Yamaha rxv2600 amp, (bi amping the Kefs) QED micro biwire, Chord Chrysalis interconnect. Did have an old Cambridge cd player but gave up the ghost so looking at the rega apollo to replace. I did post another question about how much to spend on a cd player before it outclasses the amp but no replies so advice on that would be good too if your feeling generous.

 

[JoelSim]

Rega Apollo is a good choice. But what do you mean biamping when you only have one amp? The iQ7s should be good enough with a better source. If it was my choice I would buy a different amp, this in an AV amp and hence will probably sound tinny and bright compared to a 2 channel.

 

[Anonymous]

totally agree with joel, as good an av amp the yamaha is you definetly need a dedicated stereo amp and this is certainly how you heard the KEF's in the shop

 

[Thaiman]

ditto

 

[gregory]

hello,i think leemal has biwired as opposed to biamped and yes a two channel amp is the way to go.dont give up on your speakers,you say the rega is next on your list then how about the brio amp to go with it depending on funds.the rega cd is around £600.00 while the amp is £329.00 this combination should sound very nice.if funds are tight then the cambridge range of electronics may be up to the job.you may also like to check out the creek evo cd and amp on special offer at superfi.hope this helps,gregory.

 

[Anonymous]

No loudspeaker is bad until it hurts your ears.

Come to think about this. Anyone who has been using a Wharfedale Diamond pair. He would be delighted on buying a KEF iQ7 and absolutely thrilled with the sound.

Your speakers are bad, is in your head. Move on.

Yes, like has been said, try to get a good integrated stereo amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers everyone for posts, The rega is a definate maybe but will be booking an extensive demo first. Just to clarify a couple of points though, the speakers are bi amped. The 2600 can be set to reconfigure the surround rear channels and drive the low end leaving the front L&R channels to deliver the high end stuff. Also the demo was with an AV amp but it was arcam and and even the source was an arcam diva DVD player. The shop used these as the demo originally started out tested Home cinema set ups.

I definately want to look into a dedicated stereo and if the speakers stay then all the better as the money can be put towards an amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Just been checking out the Brio 3, is it only rated at 49watt??