Pistol Pete1:
I, and others, have heard the KEF 'Q' series, and I know that people are buying them instead of MA RX's, B&W 600 series, etc. All are 5 star products.
Totally respect the opinion of anyone who's heard the speakers and decided to buy them - enjoy
But to refer to them as five-star products (in a specific WHF sense) is something only our test team can do. We obviously love the Q300 speakers - they got five stars in both their First Test and a Group Test, beating some tough competition from just the ranges your mention, but we simply didn't feel (again, after much comparative listening) that the Q700 speakers are as impressive.
It's fairly common for speakers within a range to get different star ratings. Not only are they up against different competitors at each price point, but different form-factors can mean different performance from the drivers/designs involved.
Again, going back to the B&W 600 series and Monitor Audio ranges you mention - neither received five stars across the board.
Neither, indeed, did KEF's previous iQ range - where one model was a double Award winner and another got three stars.
As I say, it's typical to encounter this kind of variation, so don't understand why this example should be seen as exceptional.