Adcrm Rcryner himself with KEF`s pioneering Uni-Q

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Adcrm Rcryner
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himselfwith KEF's
pioneeringUni-Q
driver technoloqy
- crno.enloys plcKlng
crndchoosing his
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for once,I am goingto give
Tust
tIt ' vou the meat and potatoes
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I straiehtawav,we canwaitfor
a momentfor the narrative...
Thesespeakers
arebloodybrittiant,
in manywaysandon a goodfew
levets.
Theydrawuponlotsof their
predecessors'
technotogy,
andwhi[e
goingrightup
KEFmakesspeakers
J
..* r.
.E
,:, t
tn r-nst-no-nhier-t lpvels this new
O Sericslas aeainst the stilt-sotd
.f-la<<ie
fl
V
(eriac'\
J L! , uJ
/
1 2 1 7 p [v 1c ^t r^l l
| , qv e
-r-1a
I l l quE
keenpriceforwhat
to a remarkabty
theydo.Thishasbeendoneboth
wherepossibte
by cuttingcorners
(thegrittes
aren'tmagnetic,
for
proven
instance)
and usingevolved,
designcunningfor the sonicresutt
to be so amazingty
uncompromised
a\/or\/\A/ncre
ptqc
\*
Memorylane
KEFwasoneof the veryfirst
high-quatity
UKspeaker
I everheardof.
manufacturers
Backin the day,my mate'sdad
was a typesetterfor the FinanciaL
Ilmes,whichenabtedhimto raise
hisfivekidsin a poshhousein the
Therewasa pairof KEFs
shires.
in histivingroomandtheywere
A listento PinkFtoyd
deticious.
afterwardswas atwayspart of
the pteasure
of goingoverthereto
chopwoodfor the Agato earnmy
S u n d a y[ u n c h !
Thon
:
forar \/o:r<:on
I h:r{
tn on
to KEFto review its mighty fortyH O M E C I N E M A C H O I C E F E B R U A R Y2 O 1 2
*:{i
f'r' t
REVIEWS59
AV/CV
PRODUCN
5.1mid-range
speaker
array
POSITION:
XQ
Betowthe
andRSeries
PEERS:
B&W683;
MonitorAudio
RX8:
PSBlmagine
thousandpound(wettit wasback
then...
) Reference
svstemin full 7.2
glory.Usingthe DenonAVP/POA
pre-power
combo(dubbedThe
DeathStarby the PRman)to run
turned
it on,| lovedit andpracticatty
with sound
the roomspherical
pressure
duringtesting.Putit this
looked
way- the receptionist
scaredof me whenwe cameout
of the room.
OneReference
customermade
the 'yes'decision
the weekthe review
cameout - so perhapsKEFhasa
softspotforHCC.Thatmightexplain
why,whenaskedto supplythe new
Q Seriesfor usto reviewtheyatl but
sentthe lot [er,actualtythat was my
f a u t t- E d l .
Yousee,I do have72 capabitity
i n m y h o m ew i t h m y P i o n e e r
LX-series
AVRdrivinga sizeabte
five-channeI
externat
amptifier
andanotherbig-bottomed
stereo
amp (asthe on-boardampsof
the Pioneer
arebtoodygoodbut not
:
!*,*
as'referencd
as I need- | useif
justfor the awesomeprocessing).
Butmy homeisset up to havethe
cinemadominateoneendof a
typicaIsuburban
through-[ounge,
with the sofaagainstthe watlas
againstftoatingin midftoor.So,
personatly,
I favourreviewing
a
5.1systemas it doesn'tinvotve
So
rearranging
alI my furniture.
whenI got sent
imaginemy surprise
l3.l channels
of speakers!
Pickingmy poison
Here'swhat I got andwhat I actually
wasa
triedout.First,the inventory
pairof the Q7O0towers,two pairs
of the Q500 towers,a bigQ6O0C
dipotes
centre,two pairsof QSOOds
to
anda setof Q300 bookshetfers
go with the Q40Obsubwoofer.
WhewlI coutdhavetried7l with
towersa[[round,or sidetowersand
rearbookshelf,or 7.1with two pairsof
dipotes.
As it was,I went 5.]with the
as rears,
speakers
Q3OObookshelf
out frontand
the Q700and Q6OOC
2O0W
the seeming[y
undergunned
10inQ40Obsubwoofer
on [ow-end
I alsotriedout the
duty.Afterwards,
dipotesas rears,
too.
Thiswascoolfor my roomas
of
it matchesthe configuration
myriadsetsof speakersI have
testedand meantthat the
fabulously
sweetUni-Qdriverarrays
werea[[the samesize.I canhear
the stightdifference
in unmatched
tweetersand midband,evenwith
genuineeffortsmadeby makersto
achieveevenvoicing.
Thatsaid,loU can assemble
%
::t
,*.
i'F;ti
any system you want to fit
your world, as that Uni-Q
driver array is a work of
-!
.;,i-,-'.:.
beauty. Hardtyanygubbinsinside
to getin thewayof the soundas the
drivers'rolloffshavea lot to do with
the control.I gatherthe passive
crossovers
areverybasic.
Andthe cabinetsarecleverly
made.ThemanuaIcaItsthem
'BassReflex'
in the specifications
but that isthe sameterm
breakdown
mostmanufacturers
useto describe
a oortedsoeaker.
Onewith a holein
- atthough
it,tikethe Q300speakers
thesedo comewith a foamport
bungso youcansealthemup and
havethem ptaya bit flatterand reach
I teftmineported,
a bit deeper.
figuringI'dratherbenefitfromport
gaincatcutated
by a geeky,gotdenearedKEFengineer.
Thecentreand front teft,/right
soeakershavewhat tooktike
Yettheydon't,
multipledrivers.
Bass
theyhaveABRor Auxitiary
F E B R U A R Y2 O ' ] 'H
] OME CINEMA CHOICE
i
:':*-::
60 REVIEWS
- as haopens
acousticshort-circuit
belowthetuningof a portedboxyougetthe speakers'driver
reaching
wilt attow.
as low as its suspension
Alt thistechtranstatesto driversthat
droplowerthan a snake'sbeltywith
aptombandcontrol- veryhi-fi.
The restof the arraycanshake
yourroom,too.I wasthinkingthe
Q400b subwooferwas measlyat
onty2O0Wbut it hasa heckof a
- a l0in jobthat gripsthe
transducer
andmelodic
low-endwith orecision
accuracy,
whichis far too rarea thing
in homesubwoofers!
Hey,good-tooking
As youcantett,I reattyenjoyedthese
anddon'tcarethat they
speakers
havesquarefrontsratherthat curvy
Infact,this
swoopywoodwork.
'industrial' design,as it's
no doubt called by the
marketing department at
KEFHQ,is something of
a breath of fresh air.
lalso lovedthat, unlikea
subwooferI recenttyauditioned
which used Ebony and offended my
these are
environmentaIsensibiIities,
made from eco-friendtymaterials.
Qn e onrocnr rc cpf nf sneakprs
Point to prove:
The Q700s
floorsionders
come with
optionol spiked
feet
Who's there?:
The Q800ds
r]inlaae
mnra
nrn{f
a
r]icnarcorl
sound{ield
Resonators.
Thesearedummy
cones-in-susoension.
Justtikethe
coneassembties
of the bassdrivers
that have50mm voicecoi[son their
behinds,
exceptABRsjustwobble.
ThisI discovered
whenprodding
them.Youcanseewhichdrivers
areconnected,
by micro-mimicmovements
of the othercones
you
causedby the backEIvIF
createwith an evenshove.But as
I pushedone,the otherjustpooched
out...interesting.
A passiveradiator,
as theseare
callcd pcnerirallv acts as
both port
andsea[ed
box.Youget
the extra
[owsfrom
the airbeing
shifted
andyet as
thereis no
super-Low
frequency
H O M E C I N E M A C H O I C E F E B R U A R Y2 O 1 2
whoseUni-Qtechnotogy
means
tinktyhighsof fabu[ous
deticate
transparency
and beauty.
They
do get a bit harshif youdrive'em
too hard.but youwi[[be raising
a[[levetsof hettandexcitement
beforeyou achievethat.
Demomateriatinc[uded
the new
DeNiromovieLlmltlesson Btu-ray.
I hadto screenit twiceso I could
takemorenotesas the KEFsystem
quicktyhadme suckedintothe
action.lt tappedup the fitm's
stuff
excellentstereorear-channeI
- in barsand streetscenes- aswe[[
asthe hugefat richness
fromthe
frontarray.
I alsoswappedout the Q300sfor
the Q80Odsdlpotes.
Theseangutar
cabinets,
with theirtwo out-ofphase5.25inUni-Qdrivers,
are
pukka.Theycreatea rearstagethat
seemingly
disappears.
lt'sjust'there'.
Britliantty
crafted,but I stitttovethat
morediscrete
sound,so for me,it'd
be a f,l50 savingon the useof Q300
ratherthanQ8O0ds.
Eitherway,thesenewQ Series
speakersarecleartythe offspring
of someverycleverparentsand
out-performmanysystemsfrom.
othermakersat higherprices.
And
bestof at[,it'satIin a richhi-fiflavour
betoved
of Britishaudiophites.
Clean,
grippyyet not overbtown.
PureKEF-ness,
for a bit lessss
+Specifications
KEFQTOOfloorstander
1x 6.5inUni-Qmidbass
Drive
Units:
driverwith co-incident
Uni-linvented
dometweeter;I x 6.5in[ow. frequencydriver;2 x 6.5inAuxitiary
BassRadiators
Enclosure:
Two and a hatf-way
bassreftex
nse:
4OHz-4Okl1z
Frequency
Respo
Sensitivity:
BTdB
l30W
Power
handling:
295(w)x 9]7(h)x 3-l2(d)
limensions:
l5kg
Weight:
KEFQ6OOccentre
Drive
Unit:I x 6.5inUni-Qmidbass
driverwith co-incidentUni-linvented
dometweeter;I x 6.5in[owfrenrrencvdriverI x 6.5inABR
Enciosure:
Three-waybassreflex
Frequency
Respo
nse45Hz-4OkHz
BTdB
Sensitivity:
Powerhandting:
l5OW
cirnensions:
629(w)x 2.l0(h)x 302(d)
l4.lkg
Weight:
KEFQ3OObookshelf
I x 6.5inUni-Qmidbass
Drive
Unit:
driverwith co-incident
Unilin vented
oometweeter
,
Enctosure:
Two-wayported
Frequency
Respo
nse42Hz-4OkHz
Sensitivity:
BTdB
Pcwerhandting:
l20W
Drmensions:
210(w)x 355(h)x 302(d)
77kg
Weight:
KEFQ4OObsubwoofer
l xi li O
DriveUn
: in
Inclosure:
Sealedfront-firing
Respo
nse:2BHz-1
4OHz
Frequency
power:
Onboard
200 RMSCtassD amp
Dimensions:
330(w)x 335(h)
x 330(d)mm
Weight:
13.6Kg
Connecticns:
Stereophonoinput(right
channelmaybe usedin monofrom
and
LFEfeedas'SmartConnect')
inputviasupptied
high-tevet
speaker
quick-retease
ptugsystem
HCC VERDICT
KEFQ Series5.1
Approxg2,4OO
Highs:
Wonderfut,deticate
gripand controL;
transparency;
eyecatchingaesthetics
gritlesleave[egLows:
Non-magnetic
hoteswhen removed;cansound
harshat veryhightevets
Performance:
W
Designffi.ffi{*
Features:
Overall:ffi: