KEF Q300 + PM6004 + CD6004.....Bright ?!

[ea25]

Hi All,

I just finished setting up my rig which as the title goes consists of the award winnings KEFs and Marantz equipment. Now many may think that I have rushed in and went for blind buying tempted by the good rep this gear gets around here. Well to tell the truth in my country there is a limited choice of musical gear and its very hard to get a good audition which features all components combined together. Therefore I only got to audition the KEFs (pushed by a Denon amp), the Marantz I bought after going through the reviews.

I'm absolutelty fascinated by the setup; high level of musical detail and fidelity, frequency response is good all round but I'm thoroughly disappointed by the bright tonality of the system. Now I'm hoping that this would improve by time as the speakers break in.

I would appreciate if some of you guys own a similar sound system and would like to share their views about the KEFs + Marantz experience.

Thanks.

 

[pantonius]

I heard the same sistem at one dealer and it wasn't at all bright sound.

Try te PM with "direct" button.

Should be better.

 

[Covenanter]

I think you are a speaker short of a system! I have this but with the Q500s - now that is really good!

Chris

 

[Campaign]

I owned a Marantz PM-6002/CD5003 combo in the past and although not the exact same models I would suggest bright isn't the word to use to express the Marantz house sound. Team it up with speakers that err on the bright side however and you might find the sound grates. My friend owns a Marantz 603 all in one with Kef IQ3s and I feel the Kefs can be a touch bright on some recordings.

My opinion is to let the speakers break in for at least a month and see if you find they change at all. How different did they sound with the Denon and what did you like about them ? If everything is brand new then definitely give it time before you go and sell anything, speakers and amplifiers can definitely smooth out within the first few months of ownership.

 

[Anonymous]

I had same set up but was using monitor audio bx2 i found the sound very bright i used the source direct vutton at first was not happy with sound use tone controls instead after a while when speakers had run in sounded much better..... in the end i sold it a couple of months ago and got a b & w zeppelin air great sound...

 

[Cypher]

Keep the Marantz PM6004 / CD6004.

Sell the Kef speakers.

Buy the Dali Zensor 1 or Tannoy V1 speakers.

Sounds better for less money.

 

[Frank Harvey]

:rofl:

 

[Frank Harvey]

Give it some more time - some speakers can take a good 30-100 hours to run in, sometimes more. For the Q300's, you're probably looking around 50 hours tops.

KEF have used Marantz amplification to show their Q Series at shows and exhibitions, so they do work well together - I've never once felt that they sound bright. Sometimes, people mistake detail for brightness. Also, many people mistake bright for harsh - they're quite different. Bright isn't offensive, harsh is.

A few things to check:

As mentioned, use the Direct button - don't add treble - any speaker will sound bright if you do that.

Make sure the Marantz is warmed up. They're a little like Rotel when they're used from cold, and can take an hour or so to settle down and lose their edge.

If you're using bungs, take them out. Using them will completely dull the bass and bring the treble and higher midrange more to the fore, giving the impression of brightness or forwardness.

Make sure the speakers aren't too near to your side walls, otherwise you'll get a lot of treble reflection, making them sound brighter. If this is the case, toe them in a bit.

Experiment with how much you toe them in too - this will affect their tonal balance.

Make sure they're not out of phase (positive to positive, negative to negative).

Experiement with the distance from the wall. Pull any speaker further out will calm the bass down, which brings the treble and midrange to the fore.

Do you have a laminated floor? If so, get a rug on the floor between you and the Q300's - it'll make a huge difference as you're removing the first reflection point (side walls are the second reflection point).

 

[ea25]

Thank you for all your replies guys, brilliant suggestions I must say.

Well I'm all ready using the source direct on the PM. The details which the speakers offer is outstanding, maybe the "brightness" that I'm hearing is a running in factor after all.

Anyways I'll give them some more time to settle in.

Thank you once again for your input