KEF Q3 (2002)

From other reviews I was led to believe I would need a subwoofer with KEF Q3's and also that the treble was quite sharp. None of this is true from my experience. Of course the Q3's I bought were second hand so had plenty of time to burn in.

Here's my thoughts....they sound fantastic. Bass in spades and very smooth delivery from the highs. The Q3's go deep and loud and unless you have a large lounge you wont need more. I actually find I have to keep the bass under control with positioning. You would need a really big subwoofer to add more depth. The treble is slightly recessed to my ears but smooth and easy to listen to and never harsh.

I'm using a Denon 60 watt/channel stereo amplifier which is a perfect match. The Denon is laid back but powerful. I've run loads of speakers through various surround sound amps and they all sounded bad no matter what combination I used. I had 4 surround amps at the same time at one stage and can assure you music does NOT sound good through a surround amp. The music lacks bass and body and treble is not well controlled, these amps are designed for movies. I tried Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha and Harmon Kardon high end receivers and all were bad with music. I'm quite sure the Q3's will sound gutless on a surround receiver just as all speakers do. However connect them to a decent stereo amp and things change ALOT.

For a stereo setup the KEF Q3 speakers perform above average and can be had cheap which makes it a no brainer. Buy them just don't buy a sub until you've heard them.

Very bright with a Sanyo class"A" amp, poor bass, almost none..quite tiring to listen to, my partner found them "annoying"

Bi-wired, but no difference.

Pity the tweeters are concentric, otherwise I would have tried other units, and put a couple of B139 oval bass drivers in.

I like the cabinet shape, a bit oval, and very ice in Cherry. "

I have to agree with the other reviews, those KEF Q3's are quite something to hear! I bought them for $400 Canadian (Less than 300$ US !!! ) + $50 for shipping. I could not be happier with them. So I won't stretch too long on the bad points. I have to disagree about the lack of bass oooummf!!! This is because the Q3's are not adding bass frequencies where there is none, unlike some other much more expensive speakers that I heard before buying those, like Mission and Monitor audio (Silver 6: out of control bass!!). If there is no bass in the actual recording, they won't be any out of the speakers and that's fair enough! The range or the Q3's is 42-27, that's enough bass for me! The realism of the voices, horns and drums is almost spooky! It blew me away! Go hear them or the new model that replace thoses: the Q4.

If u are looking for a warm sound, like jazz, vocals,or long hour listening without tiring, q3 isn't the right choice for u.....cos' it sounds bright regardless of any cables u use, & this is the characteristic of Q3.

when i first tested KEF Q3 , wharfedale evo30 , elac 205jet,

Q3 sounds outstanding cos the surround effect brought me into days when i were jammin with my friends in a jammin studio.....clarity is amazing...

what hi-fi has review & the setback was lack of oomp...

that was absolutely true...

preference is crucial in speaker selection.....

i've heard sudgen21a (class a) driving a pair of quad11L,

that was impressive too, especially for jazz, vocal lovers

if ur prefer a warm, no surround( feels like sitting in a jazz bar listening to timbre & acoustic sound)...

bass string (cello) slapping from Quad11L was realistic...

just too difficult to choose..........

one thing good abt Q3 is 91 sensitivity 8ohm load.....

so easily to drive, need not worry abt an additional poweramp, yet deliver big sound , detail, clarity....

still prefer these pair of speaker Q3, nothing sounds like it, just too unique........

start up with rotel 02 series integrated amp & cd player..

using a van den hul 1st ultimate interconnect & QED xt350 speaker cables & silver audio powerburst powercord for both cd player & amp....

results was amazing , couldn't help it without Q3 & the good cables,interconnect, & powercord....can't do without any of these....

KEF speakers delivered good imaging & soundstage. Just imagine u were listening in an empty room.....

when playing my blues cd, reverb of guitar riffs resulting from Q3 drivers was realistic & dedicated to guitar players.

jazz lovers will love it cos' vocals is articulate, cymbals are rather smooth(sounds like thickness of cymbal rather thinner)....rock listeners might find it lack of roughness..but still sound quite realitic compare to ribbon tweater like elac speakers , too fake...

though bass abit lack in the lower side due to the big speaker trunck, punch in the mid bass performs well too..

bass strings slapping on timbre can be heard.

in fact, the weakness can be corrected either placing near the wall or with an additional subwoofer to fill in. with good powercords,interconnect,speaker cables will refine the tonal quality and the band is there..

i bought the speakers cos' impress by the snare drums,tom,

that sound too realistic (sounds like the real size of drum)

never expect that "the doors" & "led zepplin" cd sounds that good....u will notice how realistic it is if u are playing the

U2 "the joshua tree album"... and how articulate it is on vocal on cd "Best audiophile voices"...

acoustic guitars on q3 speakers sounds impressively clean & bright( sounds like semi-acoustic guitar ) whereas piano on "norah jones" sounds dynamic. and bet u will love the airy saxaphone.....

I bought a complete Q-series set-up: 2 x Q3 for the fronts, 2 x Q1 for the rears and a Q9 centre. Oh, and a REL Quake subwoofer. Let's get the solitary negative out of the way right now: you're going to need a subwoofer if you use Q3s as your main front speakers as they lack a teensy bit of power in the bass. Obviously that needs to be fixed if you plan on listening to rock music, but you'd also lose a lot of the slam factor of action movie soundtracks.

Right, now for the bottom line, underlined: these Q3s are great speakers. They have a clarity of sound which is second to none, and lend real detail to any sountrack you care to throw at them. It's unlikely you'll find a better set of speakers at this price for listening to jazz or classical music, and I've found them to be fine for meatier tracks when combined with my subwoofer through an AV amp. Admittedly, if you're using a stereo amp, you may want to bear this in mind.

And... they look gorgeous. I have the maple finish, which looks modern and classy alongside some of the bog standard boxes to be found in these speakers' peer group. Go out and buy them.

As with the other reviews - I have to recommend the Q3. I have them in the light maple colour and they look breathtaking with the grills off! I paid 350 GBP (they seem to be on special offer all over as the original price was 400 GBP). If you want to make an impression and you have a wooden floor, don't get them in black, get the maple and leave the grills off. Wow! (see the Kef brochure)

Sound wise they demolished some cheaper mission floor standers that I auditioned. In fact to be fair to Mission, I think there must have been something wrong with that set of speakers as they sounded so bad in comparison..... (however I did buy a mission centre speaker as it was silver and looked good on top of the TV!!! I was over budget as it was and the Kef centre speaker was a bit bulky and was 200 GBP - too much for my budget).

Our room is quite large and even though the speakers are next to the TV in the corner of the room, I have no problem with bass boom. In fact I could do with a little more in the bass department. The clarity of the speakers is excellent. I am using them in a home cinema system so the setup is not optimal for stero imaging and the amp is a surround amp so not the best for Hi-Fi but they still sound brilliant.

I also bought a pair of Q1 speakers as the rear pair for 229 GBP. These also look great - especially on the stands I bought with them - not sure of the make but they have a single curved silver support which complements the curved speaker cabinet beatifully. One of the staff in the shop was annoyed that I bought the Q1s as well as the Q3s. He wanted to put them out in the space where the Q3s had been as he thought they looked so good on those stands!!!!

As you can tell I bought these speakers for their appearance as well as their sound. I have not been disappointed with either aspect.

I have to agree with the previous reviewers. These Kef Q3's are terrific speakers for the money. I paid about 300 British pounds for them and they're worth every farthing. Down the line, one could add a sealed subwoofer designed for music and fill in the 20-40 Hz octave, and, if blended seamlessly, you'd have full-range music that was detailed yet smooth and non-fatiguing.

Short version.. Just go and buy yourself these Kef Q3 speakers.

long version..

I am cursed with the ability to find fault with everything I buy..I am difficult to please.. my house has seen more televisions, speakers, amps, and cd players etc. etc. sent back because they have failed to live up to manufacturers claims or I have found them to be faulty in some way.

I had some old Kef coda 7 se's

I needed to upgrade my speakers after buying new kit.

I started with a pair of Mission 782s £700 (poor imaging and totally out of control bass) unless in the middle of the room 4ft from any walls..one bass driver came loose too.

I bought Monitor Audio silver 7i's very fast but harsh sounding,lacked realism and warmth (dip in bass freq. response bellow middle freq.) Both sounded great in shop but remember this has no bearing as to how they will sound in YOUR room ..

I made do with my old kef coda 7se's for another year, even though they should have strugled to handle the power output and indeed quality of the hardware (they actually sounded better than the planed replacements, much more realistic).

Having sat in their boxes in the garage for a year, I part exchanged the Monitor Audio's for some new Kef Q3s...they sound absolutely brilliant in my medium sized room (14ft by 11ft), set 6.5ft apart towed in slighty, 2.5ft from the back wall.. Realism with every genre of music, I am totally amazed by their performance. For the price I just can not believe how good they are... no I do not work for Kef!...Just go and buy them... I suppose I should give them a ten rating...but as I said I am difficult to please..oh to hell with it....