Summary: I have always wanted to try a modern KEF Uni-Q speaker, and had a chance to pick up a used pair of Q50s in near mint condition, and am I glad I made the purchase.
These floorstanders consist of a 6-1/2" Uni-Q driver (mid/bass w/ tweeter in the center of it in) the upper section, which is sealed off from the 6-1/2" bass driver that is in the lower section of the speaker. The top section is ported in the front while the bass section is ported in the rear.
These speakers reproduce sound better than their price dictates. They have a very neutral sound, not warm or cool, not forward or laid back. They have the sound of a quality stand-mounted monitor speaker with better bass, and have one of the most musical highs and clearest midrange I have personally heard in a speaker, while the bass is tight and not soft or sloppy. Dialogue is very easy to articulate, while cymbals, bells, vibes and other instruments producing highs sound just so sweet. Sax and horns have no harshness and plenty of transients. There is no one-note bass from this speaker, but easy to discern bass runs. They produce a nice dynamic sound with 3D imaging with instruments positioned in a nice big airy soundstage. Finally, overall balance is easy to adjust by moving the speaker out from the rear wall or closer to strike a nice balance in bass reproduction. Some speakers take endless tweaking to find the balance, but not with this speaker.
What can I say, but I love these speakers - for music first and definitely movies as well with its clear articulate presentation. No wonder people hang on to these speakers for a long time before upgrading. The purchase of these floorstanding speakers is a keeper for sure, pushing other speakers I own into storage.
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Summary: I had these speakers for a little over a year now.. I am fairly new to this whole Hi Fi scene, but I learn fast.. I was in the market for my very first loudspeakers.. At the time I was still in college so I had a limited budget.. I found these speakers on eBay and got them for $220.. I had already owned the KEF KHT3005 HT speakers, so I wanted to stick with the kef theme.. Once it arrived I hooked it up to my Onkyo TX-sr606 and I was amazed by the sounds of these speakers.. very nice highs and mids, however the bass was almost non-existence.. The bass didn't matter because I was only using them for my HT (home theater) set up which already had a sub, two actually.. The cabinet and the finish were very nice, I had the black ash Q50.. Nice and stable, looks great with or without grills, mids and highs were nice and bright but not too bright were it was uncomfortable.. Overall I think the Q50 are pretty good but not great as well.. I am thinking of just replacing the bass woofer with a different brand and see how that works.. Listening room dimension 21ftW x 16ftL x 10ftH ceiling.. Well hope this helps anyone..
Home Theater
Kef KHT3005 HT speakers 5.1
Kef Q50 tower speakers
Kef HTB2BK subwoofer
Onkyo TX-sr606
Sony PlayStation 3 (love movies)
2 Channel Stereo
Krix Lyrix loudspeakers
Nad 3020 intergraded amplifier
Sony CD player PS1 SCPH-1001 (just wanted to try it)
UPDATE:
I think I found a solution to the bass problem.. You have to use a thick heavy gauge wire.. Originally I had some 12 gauge speaker wire hooked up to them.. I moved my bigger, power hungry front tower speakers to my bed room and was to lazy to replace the wire that were hooked up to them to my amp.. I pluged the Q50 to the amp and then BOOM!.. wow there was the bass!.. Not as strong as my other tower but enough to feel.. i thought that both woffer were originally dead because i have never heard them before.. i believe that a 10 gauge speaker wire should do the trick!... Mine has 296 copper thread count (so they say) and it was really cheap..
Andrew671
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Rating Reviewed by: Meshach ( UK )(Unregistered User)
(AudioPhile)
Review Date August 11, 2007
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review 4.56 of 5,
9.00 votes
Review 3 of 15
Price Paid:
$250.00
from Audio Excelence ( Ca
Summary: I'v had Q50's for the last 10 years, acompanied by a Cyrus amp and a Lynx one sound card.
As a bedroom system, christ alive i cant think of much better for the money !!!
You could pick my system up for £500 and the sound you will have, !!!! WILL compete with the likes of quad, naim, and verious others !!!
Strengths: I got a kickin system !!!
I got alot of love for Cyrus
And alot alot of love for KEF !!!
When it comes to sound,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! British is best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Weaknesses: The police cmplaine too much !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Similar Products Used: Trio
Naim
Meridian
Quad
Alchamey
Roksan
Nad
Mission
B&W
Wilson Bensech
Nice sounds !!!!
TRUST !!!
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Summary: I've read through all of the reviews here and agree wholeheartedly with the positive reviews of this speaker. For the price, this was indeed a heck of a bargain for the sound quality you received.
Getting to the point, I also noticed that a number of users purchased theirs through Ebay or some other "second hand" source. This makes sense as these speakers went out of production several years ago. On this note, let me say that these were some of last "good" speakers made by KEF. You see, the owner/founder of KEF died a few years ago and the company has been sold to a "Chinese holding company" as I've been informed. What's more, the once "high-end" status of KEF can be found not only at Circuit City, but even at Target. Obviously, KEF ain't what it used to be.
Okay, so let me put out my own little "buyer beware" about these speakers.Although I enjoyed my speakers for almost nine years, I discovered today that my tweeters were fried----not "blown" per se, just non-functional. I'm not a metalhead or rivethead who blares these speakers to full volume either! After talking with a few fellow audiophiles at the local dealer, I met another who had the same exact experience I had. Then, the sales manager piped in that this very speaker was the primary reason they dropped the entire KEF line. Too many customer complaints and too many repairs convinced the dealer to quit KEF forever (f.y.i. this dealer is supposedly the first North American KEF dealer and had carried them faithfully since the mid-1970s).
Since they no longer carry KEF they no longer service them. I was told that I could take them to a local repair shop that is well-known for repairing speakers, but that I should be prepared to shell out a cuople of hundred dollars. Forget it!!!!! I'm the proud new owner of a pair of B&W 602s.
Some might say that since I got almost ten years of use from these speakers I shouldn't complain. Okay, yeah right! I have a pair of vintage Celestion Dittons in my son's room (once they were my main speakers) from around 1973 or 1974 and they've NEVER been in the shop. My Spica Angelus' I bought new in 1989 and later sold to a friend are still in tip top shape.
In short, these are great sounding speakers but be mindful that they have a dismal repair record!
Strengths: Great imaging!
Weaknesses: Fragile tweeters
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Summary: The imaging is amazing for such a budget minded audio enthusiast speaker. I have a basic HDTV set up for casual viewing and home theater, these units were a perfect addition. The Uni-Q drivers are amazingly capable and whether you are just a casual listener of music or a home theater buff these will fill the room with sound as if you were standing on the street in the movie. Room size would no doubt play a factor and a full 5.1 system with these would make them even better, but they are amazing on their own.
Since they are no longer available and are considered an old model you can find some amazing deals on them which make them a true "10" in the value department.
Some reviews have mentioned the lack of bass response on them. I guess that depends on what you are looking for truthfully. If you want to feel it in your chest then go buy some CV 15's and put 500 watts to them. If you want a terrific speaker that is amazingly balanced and has a terrific range over all the frequencies then this is your perfect purchase. It took me the better part of a day to find the sweet spot for placement. Now they have an amazing amount of bass blended perfectly into the music or movie.
A friend has a set of reference series Kef's and although there is no denying the superiority of the reference series, these are amazingly adept and a true value in the price ranges found currently.
Strengths: terrific imnaging, excellent balance of all frequencies, contrary to other reviews I think the bass response is terrific, although my Sansui tends to be a bass heavy reciever. Build quality is good and frequency response is very well balanced... not colored in any particular range like so many others in this price range
Weaknesses: don't really care for the cabinet finish, you will have to work on placement to tweak the sound for your liking.
Similar Products Used: B&W, Klipsh
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