KEF Q900 and Monitor Audio series

[ematthews]

Had a chance to listen to some KEF Q900's this morning over at my local HI-FI store. They don't ever carry anything I can afford but just happen to have these. Great speakers and very close to what I am looking for as stated in my other threads..In any case I know they will sound different in my home. My other two that I am looking at are the Monitor Audio RX6 OR RX8.
Now I can only go on reviews from sites on these, but it seems that the RX6 is super hard to beat for music only systems.
Who makes the better quality speaker and what speaker would you chose between these three. Just looking for some extra opinions out here.

 

[Bryceo]

XR8 only cause my friend had a pair and there a Gourgues speaker

 

[ematthews]

Well Hot girls aren't always easy to live with. Me... I could care or less about looks in a speaker. I want big, powerful, and full sounding speakers to annoy my hot wife...

 

[Spookyfoot]

The Q-900's are beasts and I love mine. You'll want to put them in a good size room to give them space and sound their best. I don't know how they compare straight up to the Monitor's but I cherish my KEF's.

They will be big, powerful and full sounding and will annoy all wives. If you wind up getting them I would be interested in your take on them once you have them home and hooked up.

 

[Bryceo]

Well Hot girls aren't always easy to live with. Me... I could care or less about looks in a speaker. I want big, powerful, and full sounding speakers to annoy my hot wife...

If your after big sound powerfull you need to rethink your choice and get a pair of Martin Logan

 

[DS-21]

If your after big sound powerfull you need to rethink your choice and get a pair of Martin Logan

M-L's are quite colored compared to the Q900's. Several blind listening tests have shown people preferred $500 MSRP Infinity towers with flat and extended FR over M-L's.

No, if that kind of color is your cup of tea, preference is preference. It's just a very different speaker.

No experience with Monitor Audio, though I wouldn't expect them to be in the same category as the KEF's simply because they stick their tweeter on a 180deg waveguide rather than providing any directivity control at the bottom of its passband.

 

[ematthews]

M-L's are quite colored compared to the Q900's. Several blind listening tests have shown people preferred $500 MSRP Infinity towers with flat and extended FR over M-L's.

No, if that kind of color is your cup of tea, preference is preference. It's just a very different speaker.

No experience with Monitor Audio, though I wouldn't expect them to be in the same category as the KEF's simply because they stick their tweeter on a 180deg waveguide rather than providing any directivity control at the bottom of its passband.

I have no idea what that means, but OK. I am a lifetime music lover but when it comes to SPECS, color me stupid... My dad is an engineer so I feel stupid around him too.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have no idea what that means, but OK. I am a lifetime music lover but when it comes to SPECS, color me stupid... My dad is an engineer so I feel stupid around him too.

I think KEF & Monitor Audio are both accurate speakers in that they have flatter Frequency Responses (+/- 2 or 3dB) than the likes of Martin Logan, Magnepan, B&W, Vienna Acoustics, Zu, Totem, Wilson, etc (+/- 5 or 6dB or worse).

I think most people will prefer the accurate speakers, but some people prefer the less accurate speakers. Whichever sounds best to people. Personal preference. No right or wrong. Whichever sounds better.

Measurements are not everything, of course.

I think in general (but not always), DefTech & Klipsch are between the "accurate"and the "inaccurate" speakers. Their frequency responses are like +/- 3.5 to 4dB. Some people prefer them.

 

[zieglj01]

I have no idea what that means, but OK. I am a lifetime music lover but when it comes to SPECS, color me stupid... My dad is an engineer so I feel stupid around him too.

Everyone has their own land of paradise, when it comes to preference,
taste and overall sound. I like good design and measurements - how
ever, I will not nitpick certain measurements or tweeter designs. You
are looking at some good reccomendations, and the choice is yours to
make. All I will say is, that it took less than 1 minute to notice that
the Monitor Audio RX silver speakers, really had something going for
them - the RX6 has better balance. Good luck with your decision, and
enyjoy your sound paradise.

 

[DS-21]

I have no idea what that means, but OK. I am a lifetime music lover but when it comes to SPECS, color me stupid... My dad is an engineer so I feel stupid around him too.

May I start by just saying how much I abhor the "celebration of ignorance" style of argument?

Had you understood my post instead of merely reacting to it, you would have seen very little in the way of "specs."

What you would have seen is a discussion of the results of listening tests.

Martin Logans, when people can't see them or know how much they cost, invariably fare poorly compared to higher-fidelity speakers. That's just a fact.

However, if you like their particular colorations, that's your preference. No shame or stigma to that. But they are very, very different speakers, both in terms of level of coloration (which is higher than many other speakers) and in terms of placement requirements (more specific than most speakers).

 

[Nuance AH]

There goes DS-21 being rude again - feel free to ignore him.

Out of those three speakers I'd go with the Kef's. They're a fantastic speaker company and offer a lot of great designs. The lower end stuff doesn't touch their reference line, but you still get good bang for buck.

With that said, listen to all three and choose the one that best suits your needs.

 

[GranteedEV]

I have no idea what that means, but OK.

It simply means the transition from woofer to tweeter is less obviously a negative compared to the typical speaker, where the tweeter will put notably more energy into the room than the midrange, messing with the balance.

Those Q900s are nice speakers. If I had one, I'd be inclined to do a bit of a crossover mod on it though.

 

[Nuance AH]

Those Q900s are nice speakers. If I had one, I'd be inclined to do a bit of a crossover mod on it though.

Are you talking about the excess energy in the upper mids/lower treble? To be honest, while it seems to be a good speaker for the money, I'm a bit surprised that the transition from the mid to tweet isn't smoother.

 

[jonnythan]

M-L's are quite colored compared to the Q900's. Several blind listening tests have shown people preferred $500 MSRP Infinity towers with flat and extended FR over M-L's.

No, if that kind of color is your cup of tea, preference is preference. It's just a very different speaker.

No experience with Monitor Audio, though I wouldn't expect them to be in the same category as the KEF's simply because they stick their tweeter on a 180deg waveguide rather than providing any directivity control at the bottom of its passband.

Incidentally, who ran those tests?