Kef Q300’s…I bought them!!
Hi all, I haven’t posted for a couple of years but as there has been mixed views on these speakers I thought I’d add a little if long review and my experience of these speakers a week on and counting.
I have recently been experimenting with speakers having gone from floor standing (mission 734’s & M74i’s the latter being awfully bright!!) to standmount ( AE Aelite 2’s, MA BR2’s and RS1’s). Overall, standmount suit my listening room (17ft by 12ft 6" with speakers firing across the 12ft 6" part) as positioning floor standing speakers with enough room to "breathe" especially in the bass department, has proved too tricky. I found the Aelite 2’s to be good speakers, well made with a smooth sound if a little too polite and lacking in the bass department. The MA offerings were just too bright for my liking especially when pushed hard. I also listen to my ipod through my system (I know, not exactly hi fi) and the MA’s made listening at volume very fatiguing.
Anyhow, I arranged an audition at my local Sevenoaks store. Staff was very helpful and I was originally looking at MA RX1 & 2’s and the B&W 685’s. It was Andy, the store manager, who suggested the q300’s and if I’d found MA’s to be bright in the past, I would probably find the RX1 & RX2’s of a similar sound characteristic if though a vast improvement on the BR2 and RS1’s. I hadn’t heard of these speakers before (q300) and did some quick research before the demo. I discovered there wasn’t a lot of review information out there but agree with previous posts that at first glance, the look is a little dated. Very much down to personal taste.
Anyhow, Sevenoaks didn’t have any NAD amplification to go with their arcam CD37 CD player (a similar match to my CD73T?) and it wasn’t feasible to take my old and trusty NAD pre/power combination in. So, the arcam A38 did the amplification duties and the CD37 the disc spinning bit.
I took a large selection of CD’s from my collection of Classic and Prog rock and thrash metal (a result of having a 19 year old mosher as a son!). The 685’s were up first and although they’ve been around for a while it was my first listen. I can understand what all the fuss is about…these are really good speakers. First up was Spock’s Beard latest album X, which I have been listening to extensively, so had a good idea of what to compare the sound with.
They sounded detailed with the arcam electronics but on extended listening a bit bright for me. The bass was a little lacking also. They are great for positioning due to the front port and were very close to the back wall. This is how they would be positioned at home so was a fair comparison with my room acoustics. Next up was a Mostly Autumn track, which is a little lacking in bass, and can sound harsh if played loud. The 685’s coped with the track very well with precise instrument positioning and a detailed male and female combined vocal presentation. Decent bass was also on offer with a not too harsh top end. Next followed RUSH "The Main Monkey Business" an instrumental track off of the Snakes & Arrows album. It’s a fast flowing piece with plenty of highs and deep lows in the form of sonic booms. I could pick out individual instruments, follow the bass guitar line and the intricate percussion. But the impact of the sonic boom was lacklustre and something I just couldn’t live with after hearing/knowing what the impact can and should sound like. Next up Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" Now this is a very bass heavy production and as yet my previous speaker offerings have not been able to control. The 685’s did a very very good job indeed. Bass was well controlled the overall sound detailed but the lovely warm enveloping feeling of the album was missing…not for me. My final disc was Dio’s "Holy Diver". An old early generation AAD recording that can sound particularly harsh on the top end with Dio’s voice appearing shrill. The 685’s sounded politer than my previous MA variants but still too bright for me.
So…next up came the Kef q300’s. I have to agree not the prettiest to look at and I wasn’t expecting much. It’s not to say they’re not well built and innovative in the speaker department but very oldfashioned looking and quite a large speaker. Being front ported again they were positioned close to the rear wall (as would be at home) and I was told would need a little warming up and were only about half way through their running in cycle. Immediately to me there was a vast improvement in bass (over my previous speakers and the 685’s) both in impact and depth. Even better than my Mission 734s Imo. The Spock’s Beard X CD sounded awesome. Deep bass, detailed soundstage and extremely listenable. The same goes for the Mostly Autumn CD. The positioning of the combined male/female vocal was incredible. Shut my eyes and it really felt like the vocalists were in the room with me. Even the bass was far deeper and controlled than I’d ever heard before. As for the Rush track..The sonic boom was immense both in weight, depth and above all feel. Smashing Pumpkins up next. Well…just the sound I’ve been looking for. Very deep defined bass, always in control and that lovely lush, enveloping feeling…bloody fantastic! The final CD…Dio. No harshness but plenty of detail and for me…heavy metal sounding at its best especially played loud! That was it as far as I was concerned. Job done and to listen further (MA RX1 & RX2’s) to me would have confused my judgement as I’m a great believer in stopping once you have found the sound you like…well for now anyway.
So having lived with these speakers for a week how am I getting on? How are they on the end of my NAD combo? The answer is even better than the demo electronics. At the time I had no idea how much the Arcam A38 cost and at around £1500’s worth I was amazed how poor sounding it was up against my own NAD amplification. I’ve been playing everything from Lamb of God to Take That (not my choice…honest!) and the sound is perfect for me. Plenty of detail excellent controlled bass and most of all non fatiguing when pushed hard for long listening periods and due to the excellent mid range, they are very listenable speakers. Thanks for reading if you've made it too the end!
Just need to upgrade my surround sound speakers, centre and rears but most definitely will go for the q200c and q100’s
Cheers
Hi all, I haven’t posted for a couple of years but as there has been mixed views on these speakers I thought I’d add a little if long review and my experience of these speakers a week on and counting.
I have recently been experimenting with speakers having gone from floor standing (mission 734’s & M74i’s the latter being awfully bright!!) to standmount ( AE Aelite 2’s, MA BR2’s and RS1’s). Overall, standmount suit my listening room (17ft by 12ft 6" with speakers firing across the 12ft 6" part) as positioning floor standing speakers with enough room to "breathe" especially in the bass department, has proved too tricky. I found the Aelite 2’s to be good speakers, well made with a smooth sound if a little too polite and lacking in the bass department. The MA offerings were just too bright for my liking especially when pushed hard. I also listen to my ipod through my system (I know, not exactly hi fi) and the MA’s made listening at volume very fatiguing.
Anyhow, I arranged an audition at my local Sevenoaks store. Staff was very helpful and I was originally looking at MA RX1 & 2’s and the B&W 685’s. It was Andy, the store manager, who suggested the q300’s and if I’d found MA’s to be bright in the past, I would probably find the RX1 & RX2’s of a similar sound characteristic if though a vast improvement on the BR2 and RS1’s. I hadn’t heard of these speakers before (q300) and did some quick research before the demo. I discovered there wasn’t a lot of review information out there but agree with previous posts that at first glance, the look is a little dated. Very much down to personal taste.
Anyhow, Sevenoaks didn’t have any NAD amplification to go with their arcam CD37 CD player (a similar match to my CD73T?) and it wasn’t feasible to take my old and trusty NAD pre/power combination in. So, the arcam A38 did the amplification duties and the CD37 the disc spinning bit.
I took a large selection of CD’s from my collection of Classic and Prog rock and thrash metal (a result of having a 19 year old mosher as a son!). The 685’s were up first and although they’ve been around for a while it was my first listen. I can understand what all the fuss is about…these are really good speakers. First up was Spock’s Beard latest album X, which I have been listening to extensively, so had a good idea of what to compare the sound with.
They sounded detailed with the arcam electronics but on extended listening a bit bright for me. The bass was a little lacking also. They are great for positioning due to the front port and were very close to the back wall. This is how they would be positioned at home so was a fair comparison with my room acoustics. Next up was a Mostly Autumn track, which is a little lacking in bass, and can sound harsh if played loud. The 685’s coped with the track very well with precise instrument positioning and a detailed male and female combined vocal presentation. Decent bass was also on offer with a not too harsh top end. Next followed RUSH "The Main Monkey Business" an instrumental track off of the Snakes & Arrows album. It’s a fast flowing piece with plenty of highs and deep lows in the form of sonic booms. I could pick out individual instruments, follow the bass guitar line and the intricate percussion. But the impact of the sonic boom was lacklustre and something I just couldn’t live with after hearing/knowing what the impact can and should sound like. Next up Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" Now this is a very bass heavy production and as yet my previous speaker offerings have not been able to control. The 685’s did a very very good job indeed. Bass was well controlled the overall sound detailed but the lovely warm enveloping feeling of the album was missing…not for me. My final disc was Dio’s "Holy Diver". An old early generation AAD recording that can sound particularly harsh on the top end with Dio’s voice appearing shrill. The 685’s sounded politer than my previous MA variants but still too bright for me.
So…next up came the Kef q300’s. I have to agree not the prettiest to look at and I wasn’t expecting much. It’s not to say they’re not well built and innovative in the speaker department but very oldfashioned looking and quite a large speaker. Being front ported again they were positioned close to the rear wall (as would be at home) and I was told would need a little warming up and were only about half way through their running in cycle. Immediately to me there was a vast improvement in bass (over my previous speakers and the 685’s) both in impact and depth. Even better than my Mission 734s Imo. The Spock’s Beard X CD sounded awesome. Deep bass, detailed soundstage and extremely listenable. The same goes for the Mostly Autumn CD. The positioning of the combined male/female vocal was incredible. Shut my eyes and it really felt like the vocalists were in the room with me. Even the bass was far deeper and controlled than I’d ever heard before. As for the Rush track..The sonic boom was immense both in weight, depth and above all feel. Smashing Pumpkins up next. Well…just the sound I’ve been looking for. Very deep defined bass, always in control and that lovely lush, enveloping feeling…bloody fantastic! The final CD…Dio. No harshness but plenty of detail and for me…heavy metal sounding at its best especially played loud! That was it as far as I was concerned. Job done and to listen further (MA RX1 & RX2’s) to me would have confused my judgement as I’m a great believer in stopping once you have found the sound you like…well for now anyway.
So having lived with these speakers for a week how am I getting on? How are they on the end of my NAD combo? The answer is even better than the demo electronics. At the time I had no idea how much the Arcam A38 cost and at around £1500’s worth I was amazed how poor sounding it was up against my own NAD amplification. I’ve been playing everything from Lamb of God to Take That (not my choice…honest!) and the sound is perfect for me. Plenty of detail excellent controlled bass and most of all non fatiguing when pushed hard for long listening periods and due to the excellent mid range, they are very listenable speakers. Thanks for reading if you've made it too the end!
Just need to upgrade my surround sound speakers, centre and rears but most definitely will go for the q200c and q100’s
Cheers
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