Info wanted on KEF speakers.

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Dwayne89

Enthusiast
Hi people. What do you guys know about KEF their Q series. Are they any good. How do they compare to Klipsh. Will they clear at lower volume levels. I would some info one these please. Thank you
 
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Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't KEF speakers considered much higher end than Klipsch?

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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Would depend on price point and which model mostly. KEF may be more expensive at the top end...
 
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Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
Would depend on price point and which model mostly. KEF may be more expensive at the top end...
I never heard KEF but would like to. I saw there sight they have some extremely expensive bookshelf speakers, I want to say 7,500 bucks. I'm curious what that buys you?

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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I would love to see Klipsch try to top the $200k Kef Muons...
Top in what way? Speakers are still a preference and some of the old large Klipsch speakers still sound pretty awesome. I'd like to just hear the Blades :)
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Hi people. What do you guys know about KEF their Q series. Are they any good. How do they compare to Klipsh. Will they clear at lower volume levels. I would some info one these please. Thank you
Kef Q series speakers are considered to be very good for the price. Klipsch will have a greater dynamic range (they will be able to get louder), but I wouldn't think they will be as neutral. That might have changed with the Klipsch RP series, but there hasn't been any good measurements that we could compare the two with.
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Top in what way? Speakers are still a preference and some of the old large Klipsch speakers still sound pretty awesome. I'd like to just hear the Blades :)
Top in having something that can pretend to justify that kind of price! Maybe make the horn out of silver and the bass driver cones out of Beryllium...
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Top in having something that can pretend to justify that kind of price! Maybe make the horn out of silver and the bass driver cones out of Beryllium...
How can one justify 200K? I couldn't. Even if I were filthy rich I probably couldn't just buy someone else's idea of what is worth that much, especially at retail, lol. Hire Jim S and Dennis M away from their usual slavery and entice them to build their dream maybe? :)
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Fwiw, I had some of the older Q series speakers, the Q100 and the Q700. IMHO, the Q100 was a fairly good speaker for the money, albeit with the limitations that come from being a compact bookshelf speaker. I wasn't quite as hot on the Q700s, but it was still a step up in my book over the Klipsch RF-5s that I also owned (more neutral, the Klipsch midrange was recessed). Can't say how the latest Klipsch offerings would compare though.
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
How can one justify 200K? I couldn't. Even if I were filthy rich I probably couldn't just buy someone else's idea of what is worth that much, especially at retail, lol. Hire Jim S and Dennis M away from their usual slavery and entice them to build their dream maybe? :)
I said pretend to justify.. In terms of audio performance, there is no way to justify that kind of cost, unless you are doing sound for a stadium. Many speakers pretend to justify that cost through stuff like exotic materials, as you know. Others justify it by combining the science of speaker building with art, like the Volya Bouquets.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I said pretend to justify.. In terms of audio performance, there is no way to justify that kind of cost, unless you are doing sound for a stadium. Many speakers pretend to justify that cost through stuff like exotic materials, as you know. Others justify it by combining the science of speaker building with art, like the Volya Bouquets.
I got it :) I'd rather just pay guys who know what they're doing if I'm going to spend that kind of coin and going with their judgment as to a cool design for my room with a finish that would be awesome....
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I got it :) I'd rather just pay guys who know what they're doing if I'm going to spend that kind of coin and going with their judgment as to a cool design for my room with a finish that would be awesome....
We should ask Dennis or Jim what kind of speaker they would make on a 200K budget ... After a certain point, sensible goes out the window, and you are using exotic materials just because you can.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
My son has a 7.1 system of KEF Q series. They're Q500 mains, Q200c center, Q800ds surrounds and IQ10 rears (and an SVS PB2000 sub.) He also has a pair of Q300 for his master bedroom 2-channel system. I recently gifted a pair of Q300 for his 2-channel system. I have an R series 5.1 system.

My brother reports that compared to his B&W DM302 Prism speakers, it's no contest. The Q300's hit lower, have better midrange and a smoother tweeter, but the biggest improvement is in off-axis performance. He listens while working in his art studio. Painting large canvas, he's moving around a lot and loves how even they sound across the room, from side to side.

When I compared KEF Q900 against Klipsch RP280, the RP280 did present a room-filling soundstage, but it lacked depth and definition. The Q900 did a better job with placing the various instruments at different depths and locations around the stage. The RP280 definitely went deeper, but to me the subwoofer takes over enough at those frequencies that it's not a factor with a DSP in play.
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
I have R500 from KEF and I love these speakers, have also heard Q-series and they were pretty good for their price point as well. Haven't heard any Klipsch speakers so cant say anything about them, but what I have read people have liked KEF over Klipsch most of time.
 
A

Apple777

Audiophyte
I decided to upgrade my Hi-Fi recently due the size of my new living room, had a Marantz pm 6002 amp which I replaced with a pm6005 which was a waste of time. Upgraded from Monitor Audio RS1 Silver bookshelf’s to the Kef Q700 floorstander, older version, speakers and experienced much of the documented bass problems. Took a leap of faith upgraded to the lesser reviewed Marantz pm 7005 amp as I wanted the bass control to try eliminate any potential problem from the speakers and thought maybe the extra power would improve the bass control ? Well I am glad to report for my personal taste it is a great Amp / speaker pairing I have not experienced the previous bass problems with the speakers and I am very happy with the system. Personally recommend this amp/speaker combination.
Of course if you have the cash the R series in my opinion are fantastic.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
The Q500 has been reported to be the "sweet spot" within the the floor standing models, assuming a subwoofer is well integrated. The Q700 does need some space to work and as you've found, with careful attention to fine tuning bass output it's better when you don't have a sub.

You're correct, the R series really steps up the game. My son attests to that almost every time he comes over and I have my R500's singing. He notices the difference over his Q500.

Check KEF Direct and local dealers because they're blowing out remaining stocks of the recently discontinued previous version of the Q series, starting 11/23. Going to be some killer deals, some already showing such as LS50 (original passive version) are marked down from $1500 to $1000. The M500 headphones I got two years ago for $250 ($100 off the original list) are now $180!
 
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Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I said pretend to justify.. In terms of audio performance, there is no way to justify that kind of cost, unless you are doing sound for a stadium. Many speakers pretend to justify that cost through stuff like exotic materials, as you know. Others justify it by combining the science of speaker building with art, like the Volya Bouquets.
I agree.

With that kind of money, you can travel and go to a lot of concerts and hear the real thing instead. And if you can afford expensive speakers such as those, you can also afford to hire small groups, or orchestras to perform in your home if your listening room is large enough.
 
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