A big KEF-owner rampling follows:
I have not heard the KEF IQ series, but I own a 5.0 setup of KEF Q series speakers (2 Q5s, 2 Qcompacts, and 1 Q9c; I've heard nothing spectacular and some ominous things about KEF subwoofers).
As any audio hobbiest, I've continued to listen to speakers since buying the KEFs and I'll say there are many speakers I've liked better. But I do like them very much considering their respective price. They're a touch bright and slightly bass anemic (apparently, less so the higher up their line you go); not anemic-awful, just anemic-use-a-subwoofer-for-movies. They seem to sound noticably better the farther they are from walls. The Q5s take approximately six feet for the drivers to "integrate", I don't like how they sound closer than that. To a lesser extent the Qcompacts have a similar integration distance issue.
I didn't know nearly as much about the potential benefits and downfalls of coaxial drivers when I purchased them, it didn't even come into the equation. Now I do know plenty about such designs. I've realized I can't really immediately notice any of the benefits aurally. The center (the Q9c in my case) is one of the better two-way centers I've heard though, I suppose that could be due to the coaxial arrangement, but I've done no real solid tests to show that one way or the other. So, I'd say they make a solid home theater speaker setup.
The wire posts are quite nice, but the jumper plates are annoying (they don't lend themselves to "staying put" when tightening down the posts on the wire termination, so I've had "huh, no tweeter?" moments a couple times). The vinyl finish could be better, but has held up decently. The grill, likewise, could be better but is great for the price range, in my opinion. My Q5s (the last models the store had in stock) did not come with speaker spikes (for some reason) and KEF will not call me back about a replacement set (the aftermarket ones I've tried do not fit; I do not have the proper tools to gauge what threading they are). It's purely cosmetic in my opinion, but a slight reflection on their customer service (I mostly post negative customer service whines online, but I do have positive ones too, they just haven't come up in conversation yet!
).
