KEF Q350 vs Q550

[laurentiu93]

Hi guys,

Half an year ago I bought a pair of KEF Q350 that I placed on stands and a SVS SB1000. I paired them with an older Cambridge Audio receiver that was laying around (no budget for fancy new stuff yet). I am listening to music, but I also watch movies, so I am planning to slowly build a 5.2 system, because I cannot afford buying the entire system at once. The plan is to have a dedicated stereo receiver for music running on the pre-outs of a 5.1 receiver.

Now I want to buy two more speakers. I can afford to buy another pair of Q350s and a center speaker, or I can go for the Q550s as the main stereo speakers and use the 350s as the back speakers. Are the Q550s worth the extra money for listening to music considering I am running subwoofers? Or should I wait even more and go for the Q750 for the larger drivers?

LE:
The prices I have:
q350 -340usd + 120usd for stands
q550-630usd
q750-830usd

 

[Pogre]

A stereo receiver hooked to an AV receiver..? Seems a little extraneous. You could save yourself a couple of bucks there.

I don't think you miss much using books with a sub or 2. That said, I do love tower speakers and it seems like I always end up with them. Towers will handle a little more power, tend to have better sensitivity and just look cool. Usually can play louder too.

This might bake your noodle... another direction to consider would be to get the next step up in a KEF bookshelf instead of towers for your mains and retire the Q350s to surround duty. I'll bet voicing is timbre matched still, and you'd be getting a higher quality main speaker. Then save up for the better center.