REVIEW SHOP SHARE LEARN
KEF Audio XQ30 Main / Stereo Speaker
KEF Audio XQ30 Main / Stereo Speaker
MSRP: $

More Floorstanding Speakers from KEF >>
Search AudioReview forums for the KEF Audio XQ30 Main / Stereo Speaker >>
   
Store Name Store Rating Price Notes Buy Now
$1499.95New
$1499.95Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com!
$1500.00Get free shipping on orders over $25!
More Prices >>
Popular Floorstanding Speakers
more...
Top Ranked Products from KEF.
102
Rated:
Coda 7SE
Rated:
K160
Rated:
more...
 |  Sorted by Latest Review |  Sort by Best Rating >> |  Sort by Worst Rating >> | 
Rating
Reviewed by:

dfwatt

(AudioPhile)

Review Date
April 1, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Rate this review?

Review 1 of 1

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is an exceptionally revealing speaker, which is just a touch on the bright side, a brightness that is missing from the Reference Series, which is a step up in price and quality (in other words the XQ series is a step down from the Reference Series). Works well with jazz and classical, tends to be very pleasant to listen to. On overly bright or grainy recordings the speaker can be tough to take, as it sounds just a little too hot sounding for my tastes on that kind of material. However with smoother recordings, it is exceptionally revealing, images beautifully, and doesn't do a bad job in the bass for such a fundamentally small speaker with a 6 1/2 inch woofer and not a lot of cabinet volume to work with.

I think if KEF had just spent a little bit more time toning down what sounds like a hotspot around 10,000 Hz (no such hotspots exist in their superb new reference series), I would give this five stars. In terms of workmanship and cabinetry, the mahogany version of the speaker embarrasses your best furniture. It's the nicest finish I've ever seen on any piece of wood, let alone a loudspeaker. A great speaker for a room with a lot of dampening materials such as lots of carpets or Oriental rugs, drapes, etc. Probably not such a good match in a very live room.


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Company Pages

Audio & Video company review pages. Browse product user reviews, compare prices, top ranked products, and compare specs by manufacturer.

Bowers Wilkins Reviews
Bowers & Wilkins
NAD Reviews
NAD
Marantz Reviews Marantz
Denon Reviews
Denon
Klipsch Reviews
Klipsch
Sony Reviews
Sony
Yamaha Reviews
Yamaha
Rotel Reviews
ROTEL
McIntosh Reviews
McIntosh
Bose Reviews
Bose
Polk Reviews
Polk Audio
Paradigm Reviews
Paradigm
Onkyo Reviews
Onkyo
JBL Reviews
JBL
KEF Reviews
KEF
Pioneer Lens Reviews
Pioneer
Harman Kardon Lens Reviews
Harman-Kardon
Panasonic Reviews
Panasonic
Press and News
Submit News & Press...
Audio and Video News & Press Releases.

Latest and Greatest

Best Floorstanding Speakers Under $1000

So many to choose from! Lets us boil it down. How to Choose a Floorstanding Speaker that fits you:

Marantz MA-9S2 Reference Series Power Amplifiers Review

Marantz MA-9S2 Power AmplifierThe list above has one tenet that I continue to hold true: high powered amplifiers are necessary to reproduce the full dynamic range of music with most speakers. This became apparent when I changed from the 100 Watt per channel Bella Extreme 100 to the 250 Watt.....

Lowther’s DX-65 driver in the Teresonic Magus XR Review

A new driver from Lowther is real news. A new five inch driver is even rarer news, so it was with great anticipation that I waited on this pair of speakers to arrive.

Aune Mini Headphone DAC User Review

The unit arrived from China well packed and everything seem to be in place. No external abuse by the carriers. The only problem was the power supply it came with. The box came with a cheap step-down converter.

Aural Symphonics Chrono b2 balanced interconnects Review

The Aural Symphonics Chrono b2 is more a study in contrasts than most cables. Chrono b2 refers to balanced version 2.

Three Koetsu cartridges

The Koetsu line consists of 18 different cartridges divided into four sub categories. The aluminum body Black Goldline at $1800, the Rosewood series starting at $2600 and up to $5900, the Urushi line starting at $4300 to $4900, the Stone Body Platinum series starting at $8000...

Cambridge Azur 840E and 840W Review

If this combo would surmount the challenges and rise to the same level of performance, Cambridge would have a trinity of tasty components worthy of consideration by anyone...

Audio Tekne TFM-9412 integrated 300B amplifier Review

A Dagogo featured article: In the negotiation of his wish to become the U.S. Importer of Audio Tekne, Yujean was given a set of “rules” by Mr. Kiyaoki Imai, owner of Audio Tekne.....

Reviews and Featured Articles
Expert hi-fi audio reviews, blogs, and audio articles.