great imaging , with uniq you don't need diapole speakers in the rear, there isn't a sweet spot.

none in the role I have them used for .

the q1 makes an excellent rear surround speaker set. I built three ft stands for them to stand on. these are very precise speakers and with a good amp you can't go wrong with these. especially for your rear speakers, the recommended kef speakers for that purpose q8s just aren't as effective and they don't match the rest of the series. these speakers image very well and provide excellent service both for dvd audio and rear movie channels. with my experience using them, they don't have treble problems unless you crank them up all the way then they clip.

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q5's , q9c, marantz 8200 amp

This is my second review, and i must reflect upon the fact, that 2 other rewiever mentioned the lack of treble. I think it depends on the type of music. With complex music, it may cannot hold the beat, it gets a little confused, and that's when it feels like it has few treble. For jazz, soft rock (ayreon, pink floyd), it is great. See my opinion under the name Metheny for more details.

Bass range not bad for a speaker in this class. Bass nice and punchy on certain types of music. Q1's are very musical and transparent. Terrific value.

Suffers a bit in the highs (you might find yourself turning up the treble a bit) and bass (typical for a 'monitor' if you're not using a sub...Q1's go down to 45hz...not bad.)

I have to admit I'm being forced to write this review...out of sheer shock! I'm using these as my music audio-only speakers. The Q1's can't be casually passed over because they command attention. When I went shopping for a pair of monitors, I had my mind settled on B&W's 602 S3's... let's face it, a great speaker! I auditioned them and felt like I made up my mind til I was asked to listen to the Q1's. Ha! So much for making up my mind. The Q's had a certain depth to them that I could quite hear in the 602's. I'm of the mindset that you can't go by what you read in the specs (even though the Q's beat the B&W's on sensitivity, freq. range, etc.) This speaker is for real! Suffers a little @ the top and bottom end but it's an excellent speaker for classical, jazz and soft rock music. Not for the headbanging set but fills the room with music. I know the sound will get even better when the Q's are fully broken in. Buy the Q1. You will love this speaker. (I think we should stop calling it a monitor!)

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B&W 602 S3, NHT SuperOnes, Klipsch monitors.

Mids, decent base, very well built and extremely good looking. Decent soundstage and the uni-q does a good job of dispersing sound in a wide listening area.

Very weak highs. These speakers are not real wood veneers. I e-mailed Kef to ask if they were real like the Wharfedales and they responded back they were. Pretty strange indeed.

I was excited to get these speakers. I hooked them up to my marantz 2385 and got them going. For about 300 bucks these are not bad speakers. These should probably be used as surrounds or in a small apartment. The mids are great. The base is not too bad for a bookshelf also...but the highs are very weak. I had to turn up my treble on these just to get any depth up top (which you shouldn't have to. I guess this is the "laid back British sound" These speakers are good for Jazz, soft rock, and anything with a lot of mids to listen to. These speakers would sound good with more top end and tighter base. I guess that's why they made the new XQ series. My boss is an audiophile and asked me how I like them. After my response he told me that they are 300 dollar speakers and you usually get what you pay for. I think he's right.

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Marantz super audio Polk monitors (better treble response than the Q's.

-Soundstaging -Quality reserves -Imaging -Integration -It can make u forget about the problems u have and can really grow on you. Beautiful atmosphere creating abilities. -Lot of details

Bass i a bit limited, can't handle too much bass, bit grainy, can't rock

I own this product for half a year, and i felt free to write a review. This is my first quality system, which consists of pioneer dvd 350, denon 1803 receiver, kef q1, and the cables are vdh revolution. Like a lot of people said, these speakers are a bargain, for this price, u simply can't get better, however after listening them for half a year, they revealed their weaknesses. They can't handle deep basses, sometimes they resonate, mostly in films, but i encountered this problem while listening to music from Solaris. And sometimes they are a bit fatiguing. These problems can come from my other components as well, and i plan to change my amplifier (to copland csa-8), and gonna buy a cd player (atoll cd 80). These are the only weaknesses. Let's get to the advantages. The soundstaging is beautiful, imaging is superb, integration is outstanding. In good recordings it can create an atmosphere that few speakers can achieve, sometimes i can hear instruments behind me (Pat Metheny - A story within the story...etc). I mostly recommend them to accoustic, classical and jazz music, with heavier passages they will reach their limits, they cannot rock really if u get what i mean. Softer rock will be good, like AfterCrying, but don't try Dream Theater or G'n'R. As a final word, i highly recommend them, for this price they are perfect. I only giver them 4 stars because of the above mentioned problems, but after changing my other components they may get 5 stars. Don't leave them off from your listening list.

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a lot, for instance: -worse then q1 : B&W 601 s3, 602 s3,jmlab chorus 706, tannoy mxM1, mission.. Wharfedale diamond 8.2... -better then q1: Dynaudio audience 52, 72(Incredible), Phonar p series (Pr

Warm and relaxing, stylish, refined and detailed, it's bargain for the price.

At least same price amp is needed to take the bass under control.

I think this is a great quality loudspeaker. I've listened to them for a couple of months and i'm very satisfied, and they're still improving. The sound is very warm and relaxing: you're captured by melody and lyrism, thoug there's still plenty of dinamics thanks to high 91db sensitivity (they can boom if necessary). The detail is more than generous for the price. The bass is very deep, but this warm-oriented sound may cause some losses of control in upper-basses, so a good amp is needed to definetly solve the problem. Great stilish look, great 3D, great construction, great personality, i recommend it to everyone who listens to music many hours a day.

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Aliante CNM compact, Tannoy Mx2, Chario Syntar, Indiana Line Arbour.

Sonics,Dynamics,Sounstage, Imaging..Design....Price

A Tad Bass Shy

These new Kef's are simply superb with scales of dynamics,imaging & cohesiveness. With their newly revamped Uni-Q drivers they a a true class leader. They fall a tad shy in overall bass slam but can be easily paired with a sub. They are the newest in a long list of the Uni-Q speaker Family. The Q15's & 35's which I also own, have now been improved in terms of accuracy soundstage & focus. They are video sheilded which is a must for Home Theater set-ups. Mate 4 of these with their Q center channel & you are in audio & Home theater Heaven........

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Kef Q-15 Kef Q-35 Kef RDM series...........

very clear accurate sound. good microdynamics

sound stage is very conjested in between the speakers

I have only had these a couple of months so they are not fully broken in yet. They continue to improve in sound exellent buy. timbral accuracy is amazing for a speaker this inexpensive. Definitely needs good source and amplification components to shine - really reveals defects in the chain. I think the curved shape helps improves the clarity of the sound and the uni-q really gets the treble and bass to integrate seemlesly. The only real complaint I have is the soundstaging.

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Mission 750LE, Infinity 325, klipsch heresy