KEF Owners Thread - Page 164

I would give it a shot. The toe in doesn't have to be dramatic. The idea is to get a slight angle toward the main listening area, aka the sweet spot.

Technically this AVR is not "4 ohm stable", its 6ohm rated for "stability", if it was 4ohm stable/"certified" it would state so in the specs. It will most likely drive those Kef's just fine, but it is an entry level 2-300 dollar Onkyo AVR, so if you like your HT/music loud, then it will get a pretty good workout. Not sure what you paid, but the 809 Onkyo is available for about $599 online through a place like A4l.com : http://www.accessories4less.com/make...eceiver/1.html

Either way, if you already have the 360 in hand and it drives you Kef's cleanly and to your satisfaction, then I wouldnt worry about it and be happy. But if you do like to crank it up alot, and your speakers sound alters(treble region will start to sound harsh and fatiguing to your ears) then something like the 809 which does have a better amp section might be the better choice long term. Another option is to just keep it, and maybe think about running a dedicated amp for your 2 mains for music, if you do alot of 2 channel listening. Something like a pair of Emotiva UPA-1's would be a fantasic add-on down the road for your 360 and for those Kef's. Those lil monoblocks are relatively nexpensive and are a perfect match for the Q series Kef's. Just something to throw out at you to ponder on........either way enjoy your new speakers!

Must be the newer KEFs right? The older Reference Series need a lot of amp power

Specs are for the newer Q series.

I have a chance to pick up some Kef reference 3's in mint condition for 700$, but I also had my eyes on the Q900's. The Q900's are more money but I like the looks and sound of the Reference 3's and have not heard the 900's. Any of you Kef guys got an opinion on this, I would love to hear them. Thanks.

THe older Ref's are nice(I have a set of Ref 2's). Im kinda partial to them. If you have already hear the 3's, go demo a pair of 900's if you can.......see for yourself what you prefer.

a dedicated amp?.. like a separate amp combined with the receiver? is it a separately connected to the Front L+R speakers, or is it connected to the AVR receiver for added power capability? im an audio noob but would like to drive the q900 cleanly on ht-rc 360. ill talk to the audio guy about a dedicated amp at the store for 2 channel L+R listening

if you are new to audio don't bother getting into separate amps, its way more money, complicated and the audio improvement is a small % on your money spent.. (take it from someone with separate amps)

try that receiver out, like i said if you can play it at the volumes that you think is 'loud enough' without the sound quality degrading, or the amp overheating then its good enough.. if it can't, take it back and get a better receiver.

if you are looking for a receiver that won't break the bank that will power those just fine, I'm using a marantz sr5005 and it runs them perfectly, accessories4less has them for a good price also.

thx cream puff I appreciate your advice. your great.

here is the new model of the amp i have.. great price


http://www.accessories4less.com/make...AirPlay/1.html

Yes, exactly.......your AVR has preouts where you can upgrade the amplifier section with a higher quality or more powerful amplifier. Not sure where you shop, but most times the best deals for equipment are found online. Inexpensive (and pretty good quality)amps like Outlaw or Emotiva can only be found and bought online.

Hey guys, I own a pair of the Q300s and I only use them for stereo music connected to my PC. I'm looking for an amplifier for these guys, I already have a DAC so I just need something that'll power them nicely. I'm not interested in 5.1 or anything like that, just a nice clean stereo amplifier. I'm generally looking to spend anywhere between 200 - 400, but preferably not that much. Does anyone have any recommendations ?

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/.../products/a100

What are you using for a DAC?

Well right now I'm just using a a Lexicon Alpha audio interface. I want to upgrade my DAC as well, but I'm going to do that later. If you could recommend a good one too I'd appreciate it as well.

I am using my ATI Radeon 4870 HDMI output to my Pioneer receiver's HDMI input & basically my receiver is acting as the DAC. Sound quality is very good IMO however the audio gets outputted as PCM vs bitstream. The next gen of ATI cards bitstream. I am thinking about a compact solution thats why I asked.

Unless your AVR has some limitations on the processing it can apply to PCM, there will be no difference between PCM and bitstream. The only thing different is where the decoding is taking place.

Not arguing, consider it a genuine question. If PCM & bitstream offer no difference, why is it advisable to transfer bitstream signals from your blu ray player to your receiver instead of PCM?

Where did you see this advice? As I indicated, there are sometimes some minor limitations on the processing that an AVR might be able to apply to MPCM. Otherwise there shouldn't be difference via HDMI.

EDIT: Now, I will say that regarding using a computer as a source device, I can see where there MIGHT be an advantage in passing bitstream in terms of the workload at the computer. Honestly, I don't know how intensive decoding bitstream at the computer might be.

Good point about the PC, never thought about it that way. As for the advice, just google "bitstream vs PCM" & you will see plenty of user opinions. How much validity do these have, no clue. But that seems to be the majority.

No. And I didn't need to because I know they are identical, but I did that and everything reliable that I did read confirms that. What reasons did you find that supported bitstream being better?

There is a difference in what the AVR displays on its front panel. With bitstream you will see "TrueHD" or "DTS-MA" or whatever. When you send PCM, the AVR doesn't "know" what codec the PCM came from. But PCM does have an advantage in that some things like the 'menu beeps' on BDs, for example, apparently do not work with bitstream.

Now, there might be some examples where players don't decode properly. But this is an issue with how the product was designed. I read that, until there was a firmware upgrade, there was an OPPO that was dropping the 6th channel from some sort of 6.1 codec when decoding to MPCM. Or something like that. In that respect, AVRs might be expected to have fewer issues with something like that. But there have been issues with AVRs doing things incorrectly and requiring firmware fixes, too.

I think that there MIGHT be some cheaper players that MIGHT downmix higher resolution tracks like those on DVD-A to a lower resolution when decoding to PCM. This, obviously would not be a good thing. An AVR would probably be less likely to do this.

I normally wouldn't go to CNET as a technical resource, but THIS article is spot-on regarding this topic. Pay particular attention to the "Onboard Decoding vs. Bitstream" section.



How all this might a apply to computers, though, I am not sure. I would expect that technical issues like improper decoding or downmixing MIGHT be more prevalent with computers than players. Maybe not, though. I really don't know. I guess the advantage of bitstream with a computer would be that, as long as it does it correctly, sending bitstream might eliminate some unknowns.

Gents, debating on getting r900 or xq40's, what do you think. I'm 50/50 2ch ht with an onk 805 feeding a parasound 1205a in a 14x18 room listening to wma lossless from my squeezebox touch

After 16 years of Kef Reference 3 happiness, I have ordered a new Paradigm system with S8 mains & C3 centers. Will always love my Kef's but ready for the new experience.

Chilliman, I am also ready to step up from my KEF Q900's and Q600C. Don't know to what yet, have a few speakers I want to check out. Awesome Paradigms there, have heard them before. Good luck with the new setup

I finally dropped off my Q600 today at Kef for warranty service. Lets see what they say, currently there is 3 week turn around time.

Lets hope they don't come back with "We checked & everything looks good"

Yep. I love the Kef's. I've replaced everything in my system 3 times over while I've had them. I'm still nervous about it. But my center blew and it gave me a reason to finally pull the trigger.

What center channel did you have?

200C. It was top of the game in 1996!

I currently set up my new speakers with my 3 year old Onkyo receiver. I am looking to upgrade the receiver and I was wondering out of Denon, Yamaha, and Onkyo which would offer the BEST SOUND... All these receivers offer the bells and whistles as you go up with the models. Just wondering which one would offer the best possible sound. I look forward to your replies.

It's a little difficult to answer your question, as the "BEST SOUND" means different things to many people. What sounds good to one person, may not sound the same to another. Speakers and receivers are very much a matter of personal taste.

Now, that being said, I run my KEFs with a Denon 3311. Both the KEFs and Denon came highly recommended by my AV sales rep when auditioning a new setup.