KEF Q Series Speakers

[ace0001a]

Hi everyone, I tried doing a forum search about the current "new" KEF Q series speakers and didn't come up with much or even much about KEF speakers in general. Are they not popular here in the US? I noticed reviews in UK Audio Gear magazines and UK Audio forums, but not much in our forums here. Anyone got opinions on KEF Speakers? I noticed they are sold on many of our online stores like Vanns and 6th Ave. I've seen Youtube videos on the Q900 floorstanders. They look cool, though I wish they had covers. I'm interested in them, but my sound tastes have always been with the likes of Paradigm Monitor and Studio lines of speakers. So if anyone here can chime in about they way KEF speakers sound, in particular to the current Q series, please do so.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm interested also.

I would like to audition the KEF 207/2, but I can't seem to find a dealer around here that has them either.

I've auditioned "British" speakers like B&W, but not any British KEF.

I did not like the B&W, and so I would like to know about the KEF.

I hope the KEFs are not like the B&Ws.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Whitey80 recently auditioned the KEF 207/2 speakers and said they sounded much better than the Paradigm S8, so from that I can guess that the KEF speakers may not sound like the B&W & Paradigm speakers.

I thought Paradigm sounded very similar to B&W.

I think Whitey80 owns KEF speakers also.

 

[darien87]

The only experience I ever had with KEF speakers was in a buddy's car in the 90's. But they did sound good.

 

[zieglj01]

KEF IQ30
http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/kef/iq30.html

From my limited experience - they sound more alive than the Paradigm Monitor's.
I like their Egg speakers.

 

[Andytoo]

I demo'd the KEF Q300 bookshelf recently along with the KEF XQ20 and B&W 685. The XQ20 is cost prohibitive as it runs around $1500 so I concentrated on the other two. I first listened to the 685 which has gotten uniformly great press from just about everyone. I found it it to be, as I've found other B&W's speakers to sound, a bit flabby or overly bass heavy. I've never been a B&W fan so having brought that bias in, I moved over to the Q300's quickly.

For $599 bucks this speaker floored me with it's poised but potent sound, it's wide soundstage, very nice imaging and controlled bass. It just did everything right. I couldn't have been more pleased with the presentation. It also remained unflappable and not compressed sounding at high spl's. Like I said, a poised speaker and at a great price too. They look rather boxy, because they are, but that uni Q driver is something to look at with the grills off. I demo'd them with the grills on. At 10% off, they're a bargain. I'd recommend the Q300 in a minute.

 

[Whitey80]

As previously stated, yes, I did audition the 207/2 and compared to the Paradigm Signature 8, it was literally night and day on the same recording.
The KEF's soundstage was MASSIVE, and it's low-end extension was much deeper and cleaner.

I also do own the previous model of Q7's which I have been exceedingly impressed with. You can seen what I run them with in my sig. They are very clear and detailed and produce a very accurate image. Probably on of the best in their price range, most certainly.
One noticable deficiency with them: They are spec'ed to be pretty efficient, but I have to disagree with what they lead you to believe. Another forum member visited my house with a pair of tube amps to hear them on the KEFs....not impressive range, especially low-end from the low powered amps (his Klipsch would rock on the same power). They really open up alot when you're pushing them with something heavy. I use large mono amps on them because they sounded somewhat anemic running off of just a larger reciever.

 

[ace0001a]

I've seen Youtube videos of people running Q900 speakers off of just a receiver and saying they loved the sound. No doubt using good amps will get more out of these speakers, but I'm thinking maybe a good receiver will run them good enough too. Still, I wish more people would comment about their experiences here. I'm surprised Audioholics hasn't done a review on them too.

 

[Whitey80]

I've seen Youtube videos of people running Q900 speakers off of just a receiver and saying they loved the sound. No doubt using good amps will get more out of these speakers, but I'm thinking maybe a good receiver will run them good enough too. Still, I wish more people would comment about their experiences here. I'm surprised Audioholics hasn't done a review on them too.

I ran them directly from a Pioneer Elite VSX92TXh and also tried an Onkyo TX-SR707 in bi-amp mode, both in pure direct.....even with both of these very high-output recievers, putting them on the power of the class A mono's really opened them up....highly recommend to have a dedicated amp for them.
Not saying they didn't sound good off of just the recievers, but, it was a very noticable difference at a reasonable listening volume.