KEF, they think about their excellent reputation as one of the pioneers of high-quality sound from the British Invasion (of speakers, that is) as well as the notoriety and adulation they have received regarding their approach to high-quality music reproduction. However, with the advent of home theater, different challenges ensued. Since KEF has produced excellent quality home audio loudspeakers for over 40 years, it was time to listen a little more closely to one of their latest offerings--the Q-Series speaker system.

Additional Resources
• Read a review of the flagship KEF MUON loudspeaker system.

• Read high end audio speaker reviews including floorstanding speakers from the likes of KEF, B&W, Monitor Audio, MartinLogan, Paradigm, PSB and many others.

Unique Features - The system that KEF sent out was a very exciting setup indeed. This included their new Q7 tower loudspeakers for the L/R mains, a pair of Q5 tower speakers for the rear, and a Q9c center speaker. At the time this review was written, the KEF PSW3000 

 was not yet available, so I opted to mix the bass signals into the 5-channel presentation. With the advent of 5.1 digital surround sound came added demands from speakers. All 5 channels, now full-range, means that all five channels will have deep bass, depending on how the sound was originally mixed for a given movie or audio disc. In many cases, the bass in the rear channels can be extremely deep, placing extra importance on the speakers' ability to reproduce these low frequencies. In the case of the Q-Series system , the rear bass capabilities were excellent. This due effectively to the 6 1/2-inch midrange and 6 1/2-inch bass drivers found in each Q5 rear speaker. The bass from the L/R Q7 towers was also very well defined. All in all, this 5-channel system stood up to the challenge, delivering solid bass on a number of test tracks that I played. The Q9c center channel embodies the same midrange driver as the Q7s and Q5s, providing a well-timbered system altogether. What this means is that listening to a jet fly overhead, say from the left speaker to the center speaker to the right speaker, and then circle around to the rear speakers, it will not sound any different as it traverses the room. Additionally, KEF's patented UNI-Q technology, which you see as the tweeter mounted in the center of the midrange driver, allows for a larger "sweet spot" through the unique interaction between the tweeter and the midrange. Whereas the midrange effectively couples the tweeter and increases high-frequency sound dispersion.

Read more about the Q-Series system on Page 2.