Cheeflo

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $450.00 from KEC Sound Singapore

Summary:
I had the speakers for many years, I forgot whether it was 1998 or 1999 that I bought them brand new to up-grade from my Coda 9. After breaking-in, the detail and imaging was really impressive. Although it was slightly lean. Initially I was slightly disappointed also with the bass response of the speakers compared to the Coda 9 that had a downward firing bass driver. I added a subwoofer as many recommended and they sound wonderful. Later in another up grade I changed the power-amp to a more powerful Classe DR-10 that was rated at a very conservative 100watts and the subwoofer was not needed anymore. With enough power driving the speakers and having tube pre-amplifier, the Q35 really sings. The vocal is full, warm and detail, the imaging crispy sharp and the music and soundstaging are wonderful. I use it in my study/guestroom which is not very big and the fullness and detail are magnificient. I have tweaked the speakers with adustable spikes under two pieces of birch wood cutting boards and put amother piece of Jarrah wood on top to form a very low platform. Then I put the Q35 with spikes on baseplates over the raised wooden platform of Jarrah and Birch. Then I biwired them with a good pair of higher model British made pursonic multistrand copper cable driving the bass and a pair of Hisago silver plated copper cable driving the high. The bass, music detail,and image quality are much more enhanced. I then gone through another up grade to full tube pre and power. This time a 75 watts KT-88 power amp. The warmth and detail and punch got even better. It seems the wonder of these speakers never ends. With each up-grade they sound nicer. With each additional signal processor, jitter control, cable change, each tube up-grade, each capcitor up-grde, each little tweak, the results can be heard through these speakers. They are trully revealing. But the ultimate amazement that brought out the best of these speakers came several years ago when I read about the ten different speaker placement method in an on-line audiophile website. (or a magazine) There was this method that I had not tried before, which was about using your speakers like headphones in an ultra nearfield monitoring state. I then tried placing the speakers apart with the top front inner corners of the speakers just touching my finger tips when I sat spreading and stretching out my arms about 160 degrees to the front with my back bending leaning forward in my armchair. When I leaned back on the back of the slightly reclined chair that was the ultimate listening position I would ever want to listen to these speakers. Probably because of the Uni-Q construction, and the very well design drivers and cabinet, the speakers are most suitable for this type of nearfield monitor position. (even better than some professional studio monitors that I have heard) With the speakers so close-by, the speakers disappeared completely and all I heard was music with very detail 3 dimensional quality. Vocal would be dead centre, and vary between recordings, positioned foreground or middle-ground. Music would have very distinctive positioning of each instrument. Some can be very near when they are foreground and there would be very distinct space in between foreground middle ground and background instruments & chorus. This would be in therms of width, depth, height and presence. I have had many audiophile friends at my place trying out this phenomenon. Even the skeptics were convinced. Try this nearfield listening position if you have a pair of the Q35s before you trade them in for other speakers. The Uni-Q speakers with the clarity and imaging would give you the amazing soundstage, beautiful music with openess and realistic natural sound that surpass speaker many times its cost. I heard this kind of sound several times in my life. First time was in early sixties from my dad's Quad 2 driving huge Goodman full range speakers. Another time in a friend's home in the 70's listening to his McClintosh driving Dalquist speakers, Yet a more recent time at my neighbour's place listening his 300B Audio Note monoblocks driving Advant Garde Speakers. For the kind of heavenly sound from such economic speakers as the Q35, is it possible? With some patience, up grading and tweaking, it's possible. Even after several speakers up-grades, I still have the Q35 permanently set up as an alternate pair of speakers in my music room. Just try the Q35 with good sources and try the very little known ultra nearfield monitoring of the Q35. You'll be amazed too what these speakers can do.

Strengths:
Clarity, imaging, musicality, sweet sounding, detail, nearfield monitoring. Uni-Q drivers. Very good finishing. Very affordable and small size for a pair of well-built British floorstander.

Weaknesses:
None for the price, Just need good sources and needs a bit of power. Not for most low power SE tube amps.

Similar Products Used:
Celestion SL6S, Artison, PSB Stratus Mini, Yamaha NS10M Studio, Monitor Audio Gold 9, Monitor Audio MA-800, Monitor Audio Studio 2, Sony SS-M3, Jubileam DACT Limited Edition, & many other makes.

Price Paid:  $175.00 from English Audio

Summary:
My Current setup is as follows CD: Marantz CD6000ki Amp:Tag Mclaren 60iRV QED Qunex 2 interconnect QED Silver Anniversary (Biwired) Room Size: 4m x 6m Speakers placed 15cm from the longer wall Music preference: Rock (heavy and classical) Both the Marantz and the TAG are rather revealing and resolve higher frequencies well. With the KEFs at the end of the system the balance seems to be on the brighter side. For most part the bass has great definition. Only at very low frequencies it sounds a bit lumpy. Although the KEF's upper frequency resolution makes it a joy to listen to acoustic or light rock recordings such as REM's Reveal or Tracy Chapman's debut album gritty rock of The Darkness can be rather harsh on the ears. With heavier rock of Metallica (the black album, Korn, RATM bass is both deep and dynamic enough. With all I can hear transient detail I have not heard previously with my Mordaunt Short Pearl 20s.

Strengths:
Upper frequency resolution. Life like reroduction of vocal and acoustic music

Weaknesses:
Lacks a little warmth to hide the deficiencies in rock recordings.

Similar Products Used:
Mordaunt Short Pearl 20i

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Private

Summary:
A short review to say, if you have £200 to spend on a pair of floorstanders, In my view, you money couldn't buy a better pair! I was impressed by the detail as with others in the KEF Uni-Q range. As with comments that these speakers are not honest, I would point to the fact that for the retail price of £400 they are as honest as you'll get for that money. Value for money if ever I saw it.

Strengths:
Imaging, detail, hold their value.

Similar Products Used:
KEF Q15.2's KEF 100C KEF 104.2's

Price Paid:  $1500.00

Summary:
My opinion of these speakers is a little at odds with many of the reviews that I have read. Perhaps my contribution here is more a statement of personal preference than pure analysis. Note, the purchase price of $1,500 is NZ$. I have owned my pair of KEF Q35.2 speakers for only 18 months but I choose not to use them these days. I know that this review is a little late, considering the release of a new model. However, I would like to offer my opinion of these speakers, perhaps as a counter-balance to other reviews. I have not tried these speakers with a lot of different equipment, but I have put them against some mid-priced electronics (namely a Plinius amplifier and the Meridian 507 CD player). I have also used it with lesser electronics such as an Arcam 50W amplifier and an Arcam CD player. I would like to get straight to the point and say that the KEFQ35.2 is not a particularly honest speaker, meaning, that it does not seem to portray music all that well. I experienced a dry bass lacking a little in extension, coupled with a cold sounding midrange. The occasional over emphasis in the treble added to the lack of realism these speakers offered. Having said that, detail and imaging definitely belongs to a much more expensive speaker, but at cost of musicality. I have heard cheaper bookshelf speakers portray the weight and tone of a piano more realistically than the KEF Q35.2, and more warmth from rock music. Partnered with the right amplifier or perhaps with an active subwoofer, these speakers may sound more balanced, producing the warmth, detail and imaging that would make for good music reproduction.

Strengths:
Imaging, off axis ability and detail.

Weaknesses:
Cold and thin sound, limited extension, slightly gritty treble.

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Saturday Audio

Summary:
An incredible pair of overachieving speakers. The speakers are capable of reaching low levels that one would think they should never get near. The tweeter does an outstanding job of conveying the higher frequencies. The Uni-Q driver setup seems to be synergistic, in that it seems to convey much more musical information than a conventional tweeter/woofer setup. Soundstage seems to be very good, and placement is simplified by having the bass port on the front of the cabinet. The build quality is very good, and the finish is excellent. (Best "kodak" wood I have ever seen.) These speakers fit in very well with my Creek integrated and CAL CD player.

Strengths:
Clarity, soundstage, ability to reproduce bass in the low 40's hertz, build and finish.

Weaknesses:
biwire-able, but oddly so.

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm, B & W, Acoustic Energy, Mission