 KEF Audio is just like you can see. This is one of the specialist companies that based on achievements from previous years and tenths of gifted engineers, after being acquired by the Chinese company GP Acoustics and financed, skyrocketed. At the moment this is one of the biggest players on the world loudspeaker market, being still one step in front of other companies in terms of integrated multimedia systems (the KIT and KHT series). And in KEF they do not forget about their roots: engineering and stereo. This is the reason that until recently the most important product lines were the basic iQ and the most expensive Reference. Introducing the intermediate series XQ changed the status quo a bit. Some solutions were taken from the Reference series (the Uni-Q), some from the iQ series (the woofer) and added to the mix a well designed enclosure, combining acoustic necessities with “home” requirements. )
That was in the original XQ series. Since last year a new version of the XQ is available, where the company resigned from using a hypertweeter, as a new tweeter dome is applied (same like in the Reference) capable of reproducing signals up to 40kHz. And they took advantage of the improvements made in the Uni-Q system since the top series was introduced, for example using the tangerine phase corrector on the tweeter section. Also the enclosure should receive recognition, it is made in a way there are no parallel surfaces and is finished in natural veneer with high quality varnish, and in the front its stiffened with an aluminum element running at full height of it and giving it a special appearance. SOUND It turned out that during testing of the KEF loudspeakers I was also preparing a big test of turntables for “Audio”. That is the reason that besides my resident loudspeakers (Harpia Acoustic Dobermann), the XQ30 were used to evaluate their sound. This tells much, also to me. The KEF generate a big, credible sound regardless of their size. They have their quirks, about that later, but they are – in general – a splendid proposition. I mentioned volume – this is what it is about when talking about ‘big’ sound. The KEF can sound like much bigger loudspeakers. In part this can be attributed to strong bass, not only in its medium range, but also in the lower end. Every kind of music gains on this, as we gat a good bass support and a saturated lower midrange. This is supported by splendid dynamics, so no wonder, that the acquaintances who visited me during the test were surprised. To strike them with the first blow I put on the disc Violator Depeche Mode (Mute, STUMM64, LP; review HERE) and played the piece World in My Eyes. And strike – I got them. The loudspeakers sound with a much bigger sound than their or their woofer’s dimensions would suggest. The same situation was with jazz recordings like from the disc Girl Talk Yama & Jiro’s Wave (Three Blind Mice/Cisco, TBM-2559-45, 45 rpm, 2 x LP; review HERE). In the piece Tha Way We Were Akira Daiyoshi, the contrabass player plays with a bow. And the sound of this instrument from the KEF was incredibly fleshy and dynamic. The contrabass went low and until the lowest end had a very good timbre. )
On this disc also the quality of the midrange could be assessed. Because it is the main actor in the XQ30’s theater, even if the bass and treble are strong and present. Due to the fleshy lower midrange we get a believable, full midrange in general. This is the reason voices sound so well with those loudspeakers – the thing that struck me so much during my first listening session on a presentation during the IFA in Berlin. So I listened to the Violatora with pleasure, where Gahan’s voice is sometimes hidden below the instruments and given deep in the mix. The KEF did not pull it out, but just extracted it – did not bring it to the front, but shaped it better in the place where it usually is, so in place put by the sound engineers. This effect of the strong midrange was shown even better by the disc Carol Kidd Carol Kidd (LINN Records, AKH 297, LP). This is quite silently recorded material, and if anything is damped in the system this disc sounds awful. Actually also in the case anything is being sharpened. With the KEF the disc sounded very nice, with a strong, placed directly in front of us, vocal of Carol Kidd. Even nicer it was on the disc Oh, You Beautiful Doll with old recordings of Mel Tormé (The Trumpets of Jericho, 904333-980, LP). This is a warm, full recording and was shown as such. First the bass, then the midrange – in reality maybe the fantastic dynamic is something that should have been looked at in the first place. Maybe, maybe – because when we turn on refined re-editions like Mulligan Meets Monk Thelonious Monk and Gerry Mulligana (Riverside/Analogue Production, AJAZ 1106, 45 rpm, 2 x LP) or Jazz Giants Benny Catrer (Stereo Records/Analogue Productions, S7028/AJAZ 7555, 45 rpm, 2 x LP; reviews of both discs HERE), we will sit down – if we were standing – such power, dynamics and purity we will get. And although we wondered how such small boxes can play such bass, then now we have to wonder how such a clean and dynamic sound can be created in there. The sound on the vinyl re-editions of Analogue Productions, mastered by AcousTech is brilliant and dynamics is what puts them as sound standards. The KEF handled them very nicely. The movement of the woofer cone was significant, but they translate in clean and controlled sound. )
Listening to them we should not forget, that those are not extremely expensive loudspeakers and that they have some weaker points. One of those probably disappears in time – this is a slight underlining of the upper midrange, which can make the sound of brighter recorded discs unpleasant. Yes – brighter, and not all. Even fresh out of the box the KEF played the mentioned 45-rpm re-editions splendidly, also the CD K2 and XRCD discs. There was no problem with the treble and everything was on its place. I even say, that sometimes I had the impression, that the warm midrange is a tad stronger for what I heard with worse recorded discs. That was for example the case with the very thorough recording and just fantastic mastering of the disc Live At The Domicile Klaus Weiss Orchestra (Image HiFi 008, LP) made under supervision of Dick Sommer, the editor in chief of “Image Hi-Fi”, where we have a very active and audible brass section, that did not sound too bright with the KEF. Yes, with the Violator it was a bit too bright in the beginning, but this is how the disc is recorded (or rather re-mastered). But this was not audible always and everywhere. Summing up: those loudspeakers need to be burned it, this will lower the amount of the upper midrange. It is however quite contoured, so I would be careful in attaching them to bright devices. They sounded surprisingly well in Berlin hooked up to a Marantz system, that is not warm at all, so you’ll have to make some search, here are no easy and unequivocal answers. )
DESCRIPTION The XQ30 loudspeakers from KEF Audio are floor standing, three-way, three speaker, bas-reflex vented boxes. The midrange and treble is handled by the newest Uni-Q system with a 130mm midrange speaker cone made from cellulose covered with titanium. In its center we have a 19mm tweeter dome. In front of the latter a special phase corrector called tangerine is placed, bettering the cross-over between the speakers. This is interesting, as this places this Uni-Q generation in the top spot at KEF – even the new Reference series does not have this solution. Below the Uni-Q there is a paper woofer with 130mm, a rubber suspension and a plastic dust cover in the shape of a phase corrector. It cannot be excluded, that this element performs two functions, an esthetic and a technical one. The Uni-Q is places in a separate chamber, damped and isolated from the rest of the enclosure; the woofer chamber is vented by a bass-reflex port. To the front baffle from MDF a thick aluminum plate is screwed, beautifully stiffening the whole. Although metal in this place can raise concerns about vibration, still in a well designed enclosure this is always a plus. I read recently in “The Absolute Sound” a test of the loudspeakers Magico 3 and an interview with their creator, Alon Wolf. Those are outstanding loudspeakers, expensive and well known. Their construction is based on a rigid connection of the front baffle and the back panel made from metal. And I think, that although the KEF are not expensive, they are well designed and the metal application is good. The enclosure is made in a way there are no parallel surfaces – the side panels come get narrower to the back, and the top and bottom are rounded. To prevent the loudspeakers from falling they were equipped with a solid metal element, screwed to the back, that stabilizes the loudspeaker. The rear spikes are to be screwed to this element, while the front ones are placed directly in the bottom of the speaker. The back spikes are also used to regulate the tilt of the speakers. On the back there is a double wire terminal. The terminals are crimped with a solid plaid cable and not – as it is usually done – by a throw-away metal plate. The terminals themselves are rather inexpensive and accept only banana plugs, as in the holes for bare cables some kind of flat pins are placed. The inside of the loudspeakers are solidly damped. The enclosure is finished with a perfectly laid natural veneer and high gloss varnish. The loudspeakers come in matched pairs. This is something you should notice.
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