[iTomHD]

For surround duty just get whatever is cheaper. You won't really notice very much difference from a more expensive model for the purpose they serve. That looks like a pretty big open space. You may want to consider a 2nd sub if HT is the primary use.

thanks! Any suggestions out there for Kef 6.5” ceiling speakers for Atmos duty, that would go well with my LCRs and such?

 

[pase22]

thanks! Any suggestions out there for Kef 6.5” ceiling speakers for Atmos duty, that would go well with my LCRs and such?

Same applies for atmos channels. Go the cheaper route for effects channels.

 

[laserdiscguy]

thanks! Any suggestions out there for Kef 6.5” ceiling speakers for Atmos duty, that would go well with my LCRs and such?

The Ci160QR's are apparently the match for the Q series, but if you look at the Uni-Q driver in the newer Ci160RR's they look identical to those used in the Q350's. Unfortunately the Ci160RR's are pricey unless you can find a decent discount on them. I know the Ci160ER's are temptingly cheap and probably sufficient for Atmos duties, but I didn't think they sounded particularly great when I heard them in store.

At a discount, the Ci160QR's are probably a good compromise.

 

[ballantyne]

Hey forum. Happy new year! I just picked up a pair of KEF LSX speakers for use on my computer desk. Figured I'd post some first impressions of them, both because people who frequent this thread may enjoy it, and also because I just want to talk about them.

First, some background on why I chose to get these in the first place. The first and biggest reason is that I love KEF speakers! My HT setup is a 5.1 with Q750s for FL/FR, Q200c for center, and Q100 for rear, with a Rythmik L12 sub. I absolutely love the sound I get from that setup, and it was the baseline for my expectations for the LSX.

Second reason is expected sound quality for their size. I don't have much space to work with:

I purposely did not tidy up so you could see why I didn't consider the the LS50 Wireless (for example) as an option. I didn't really want to try and squeeze a large speaker onto my desk.

So, after the small matter of an $850 payment to Accessories4Less, I had a shiny new (to me) pair of speakers. (The slave speaker has a small cosmetic scratch on the faceplate, which as I understand it is part of the bargain with Accessories4Less.) I unpacked them, set them up, and started playing. And...

Huh. That's odd. They don't sound good at all. I was expecting something that sounded like a Q100, but nicer. What I heard was a very precise but oddly muffled sound. Nothing like the clarity and presence I'm used to with my Q-series setup.

I did some digging. I read the manual. And I discovered that the master speaker is supposed to go on the right, and I had put it on the left. (In my defense, they aren't labeled left/right, just master/slave.) With the flip of a switch in the KEF Control app, suddenly the sound was amazing.

There is some serious mojo happening with the stereo imaging of these speakers. They really do not tolerate being reversed. Put them in the right order, though, and they sound...like a Q100, but nicer.

But it's more than that. They sound very precise to my ears. It doesn't matter what I throw at them, they reproduce it without breaking a sweat, and in the process, bring out sounds that other speakers gloss over. Things like a guitarist's fingers sliding on the strings, or a slight echo in the recording studio, are brought to the fore.

I was also surprised to hear how credible their bass reproduction is. It's hard to believe how full the bass is given how relatively tiny they are. Now, granted, I am grading on a curve here. A subwoofer would definitely help, a lot. But the bass is good enough that I am not in a hurry to run out and buy one.

Which is a very good thing, because I didn't want to have to explain to my wife that my fancy new $850 speakers just can't hack it on their own, and I need to spend even more money on yet another speaker to help them out. (She uses a pair of 20-year-old, $20 computer speakers in her office and likes them just fine. But she's a saint, and tolerates my desire for high-quality sound.)

 

[Nick V]

Hey forum. Happy new year! I just picked up a pair of KEF LSX speakers for use on my computer desk. Figured I'd post some first impressions of them, both because people who frequent this thread may enjoy it, and also because I just want to talk about them.

First, some background on why I chose to get these in the first place. The first and biggest reason is that I love KEF speakers! My HT setup is a 5.1 with Q750s for FL/FR, Q200c for center, and Q100 for rear, with a Rythmik L12 sub. I absolutely love the sound I get from that setup, and it was the baseline for my expectations for the LSX.

Second reason is expected sound quality for their size. I don't have much space to work with:

View attachment 3072868

I purposely did not tidy up so you could see why I didn't consider the the LS50 Wireless (for example) as an option. I didn't really want to try and squeeze a large speaker onto my desk.

So, after the small matter of an $850 payment to Accessories4Less, I had a shiny new (to me) pair of speakers. (The slave speaker has a small cosmetic scratch on the faceplate, which as I understand it is part of the bargain with Accessories4Less.) I unpacked them, set them up, and started playing. And...

Huh. That's odd. They don't sound good at all. I was expecting something that sounded like a Q100, but nicer. What I heard was a very precise but oddly muffled sound. Nothing like the clarity and presence I'm used to with my Q-series setup.

I did some digging. I read the manual. And I discovered that the master speaker is supposed to go on the right, and I had put it on the left. (In my defense, they aren't labeled left/right, just master/slave.) With the flip of a switch in the KEF Control app, suddenly the sound was amazing.

There is some serious mojo happening with the stereo imaging of these speakers. They really do not tolerate being reversed. Put them in the right order, though, and they sound...like a Q100, but nicer.

But it's more than that. They sound very precise to my ears. It doesn't matter what I throw at them, they reproduce it without breaking a sweat, and in the process, bring out sounds that other speakers gloss over. Things like a guitarist's fingers sliding on the strings, or a slight echo in the recording studio, are brought to the fore.

I was also surprised to hear how credible their bass reproduction is. It's hard to believe how full the bass is given how relatively tiny they are. Now, granted, I am grading on a curve here. A subwoofer would definitely help, a lot. But the bass is good enough that I am not in a hurry to run out and buy one.

Which is a very good thing, because I didn't want to have to explain to my wife that my fancy new $850 speakers just can't hack it on their own, and I need to spend even more money on yet another speaker to help them out. (She uses a pair of 20-year-old, $20 computer speakers in her office and likes them just fine. But she's a saint, and tolerates my desire for high-quality sound.)

That's great that you're loving them. I'm considering replacing a pair of Sonos Ones in my kitchen with the LSX. I thought they were "Roon Ready", but now I see on the Roon site that they're only showing up as "Roon Tested".

Does anyone have any experience with their Roon integration?

EDIT For anyone else that might be interested, I received confirmation from Roon that you can stream directly to the LSX (and LS50 wireless) through Roon, but you cannot pair with any other "Roon Ready" or other devices through Roon. You can transfer from one zone to the KEF or from the KEF to another zone, but no multi-zone capabilities. Too bad.

 

[iTomHD]

The Ci160QR's are apparently the match for the Q series, but if you look at the Uni-Q driver in the newer Ci160RR's they look identical to those used in the Q350's. Unfortunately the Ci160RR's are pricey unless you can find a decent discount on them. I know the Ci160ER's are temptingly cheap and probably sufficient for Atmos duties, but I didn't think they sounded particularly great when I heard them in store.

At a discount, the Ci160QR's are probably a good compromise.

Is there any difference between KEF square speakers and circles ones other than form factor? Eg: is the Ci160QS the same as the Ci160QR? Are one any easier to install in a ceiling than the other?

 

[laserdiscguy]

Is there any difference between KEF square speakers and circles ones other than form factor? Eg: is the Ci160QS the same as the Ci160QR? Are one any easier to install in a ceiling than the other?

I'm quite certain that the only difference is the form factor like you said. I've only installed the round version, but the other form factors should be just as simple based on the manuals.

 

[Benz63amg]

Hey forum. Happy new year! I just picked up a pair of KEF LSX speakers for use on my computer desk. Figured I'd post some first impressions of them, both because people who frequent this thread may enjoy it, and also because I just want to talk about them.

First, some background on why I chose to get these in the first place. The first and biggest reason is that I love KEF speakers! My HT setup is a 5.1 with Q750s for FL/FR, Q200c for center, and Q100 for rear, with a Rythmik L12 sub. I absolutely love the sound I get from that setup, and it was the baseline for my expectations for the LSX.

Second reason is expected sound quality for their size. I don't have much space to work with:

View attachment 3072868

I purposely did not tidy up so you could see why I didn't consider the the LS50 Wireless (for example) as an option. I didn't really want to try and squeeze a large speaker onto my desk.

So, after the small matter of an $850 payment to Accessories4Less, I had a shiny new (to me) pair of speakers. (The slave speaker has a small cosmetic scratch on the faceplate, which as I understand it is part of the bargain with Accessories4Less.) I unpacked them, set them up, and started playing. And...

Huh. That's odd. They don't sound good at all. I was expecting something that sounded like a Q100, but nicer. What I heard was a very precise but oddly muffled sound. Nothing like the clarity and presence I'm used to with my Q-series setup.

I did some digging. I read the manual. And I discovered that the master speaker is supposed to go on the right, and I had put it on the left. (In my defense, they aren't labeled left/right, just master/slave.) With the flip of a switch in the KEF Control app, suddenly the sound was amazing.

There is some serious mojo happening with the stereo imaging of these speakers. They really do not tolerate being reversed. Put them in the right order, though, and they sound...like a Q100, but nicer.

But it's more than that. They sound very precise to my ears. It doesn't matter what I throw at them, they reproduce it without breaking a sweat, and in the process, bring out sounds that other speakers gloss over. Things like a guitarist's fingers sliding on the strings, or a slight echo in the recording studio, are brought to the fore.

I was also surprised to hear how credible their bass reproduction is. It's hard to believe how full the bass is given how relatively tiny they are. Now, granted, I am grading on a curve here. A subwoofer would definitely help, a lot. But the bass is good enough that I am not in a hurry to run out and buy one.

Which is a very good thing, because I didn't want to have to explain to my wife that my fancy new $850 speakers just can't hack it on their own, and I need to spend even more money on yet another speaker to help them out. (She uses a pair of 20-year-old, $20 computer speakers in her office and likes them just fine. But she's a saint, and tolerates my desire for high-quality sound.)

Thanks for the review, so are all the negative reviews about the connectivity issues with the LSX and LS50 Wireless with the so called terrible kef apps true or is it basically all resolved at this point? did you do a firmware upgrade?

 

[pase22]

Is there any difference between KEF square speakers and circles ones other than form factor? Eg: is the Ci160QS the same as the Ci160QR? Are one any easier to install in a ceiling than the other?

The square ones arre aimed towards base layer side and back walls use. They also look more like traditional speakers which can be more aesthetically pleasing. The round ones are more for in ceiling use, however they are interchangeable. Either one will serve it's intended purpose quite well.

 

[Nick V]

Is there any difference between KEF square speakers and circles ones other than form factor? Eg: is the Ci160QS the same as the Ci160QR? Are one any easier to install in a ceiling than the other?

The round ones are easier to install because you don't have to worry about making sure they're square and referencing them with adjacent wall & ceiling lines (that may not be perfectly square themselves).

 

[walt99]

Disappointed in KEF customer service, I purchased a center channel Q650C direct from KEF which was delivered on 11/23 but not set up till a week before xmas. On 12/30 I asked if I could exchange/upgade to the R2C as I was looking for improved dialog from my system. Well because I was 4 days past the "policy" 30 day return window the answer was a flat NO. Even talked to a supv/mgr with no help. I figured with the holidays they would have a little leeway. I like the KEF product but this has really turned me off to wanting to remain a customer. Would they say the same thing if I needed repair 4 days out of warranty?

 

[ballantyne]

Thanks for the review, so are all the negative reviews about the connectivity issues with the LSX and LS50 Wireless with the so called terrible kef apps true or is it basically all resolved at this point? did you do a firmware upgrade?

I haven’t had them long enough to really say for sure, but:

I didn’t do a firmware update because they came with the latest version installed.

So far the KEF control app has worked fine. I haven’t launched the stream app because I don’t understand why it even exists. Spotify Connect and Airplay 2 have worked flawlessly from both computers and smartphones.

I was getting random blips in the slave speaker when they were connected wirelessly, so I hardwired them. I don’t really fault the speakers for that though. As you can see from the picture, I have a lot of sources of RF interference on my desk, what with the monitors, cables, and various devices all using wifi.

I also plugged them into the network via Ethernet, not because I was having issues, but because it’s bound to be more stable, and I have a switch on my desk.

In other words, so far so good.

 

[iTomHD]

Disappointed in KEF customer service, I purchased a center channel Q650C direct from KEF which was delivered on 11/23 but not set up till a week before xmas. On 12/30 I asked if I could exchange/upgade to the R2C as I was looking for improved dialog from my system. Well because I was 4 days past the "policy" 30 day return window the answer was a flat NO. Even talked to a supv/mgr with no help. I figured with the holidays they would have a little leeway. I like the KEF product but this has really turned me off to wanting to remain a customer. Would they say the same thing if I needed repair 4 days out of warranty?

Totally sucks to hear and concerning as I’m just investing in a KEF system as well:/

Did you find the dialog from the 650c not impressive?

 

[walt99]

Totally sucks to hear and concerning as I’m just investing in a KEF system as well:/

Did you find the dialog from the 650c not impressive?

Problem is I don't have a lot to compare it to and it's impossible to audition center channel speakers in a store environment so one relies mostly on recommendations from forums like this one. I used to just turn off the center speaker but always felt it was hard to make out the dialog, the 650c did improve things but just not as much as I was hoping for.

I was really disappointed that KEF took such a stance when I tried to upgrade. I guess the moral of the story is don't buy from KEF direct, the CS from their dealers is much better than the mother ship.

 

[Kini62]

Disappointed in KEF customer service, I purchased a center channel Q650C direct from KEF which was delivered on 11/23 but not set up till a week before xmas. On 12/30 I asked if I could exchange/upgade to the R2C as I was looking for improved dialog from my system. Well because I was 4 days past the "policy" 30 day return window the answer was a flat NO. Even talked to a supv/mgr with no help. I figured with the holidays they would have a little leeway. I like the KEF product but this has really turned me off to wanting to remain a customer. Would they say the same thing if I needed repair 4 days out of warranty?

Bummer. That's one of the reasons I try to only buy from Crutchfield. I just got my Q650C and haven't had a lot of time with it but it seems better than the Klipsch RC52 it replaced. I tend not to focus on the details when watching a movie though. I watched MMFR for the third time and I was able to actually understand Tom Hardy this time so I guess it is an improvement.

That said I don't think you would have much trouble selling the 650 for near what you paid for it since they're still hard to come by. But what you could do first it get an R2C from Crutchfield and compare before making a decision to sell.

 

[urelee]

Disappointed in KEF customer service, I purchased a center channel Q650C direct from KEF which was delivered on 11/23 but not set up till a week before xmas. On 12/30 I asked if I could exchange/upgade to the R2C as I was looking for improved dialog from my system. Well because I was 4 days past the "policy" 30 day return window the answer was a flat NO. Even talked to a supv/mgr with no help. I figured with the holidays they would have a little leeway. I like the KEF product but this has really turned me off to wanting to remain a customer. Would they say the same thing if I needed repair 4 days out of warranty?

I've bought from their website before, their return policy is posted when you check out.

 

[pasisti]

I'm thinking of getting SolidSteel SS-series stands for my R3's. Any experiences on the stability? I would have the R8a's on top of the speakers.

They have two models that I'm going back and forth between:

• SS-5, at 52.5 cm / 20.6" with a larger plate for the speaker (190mm x 190mm)
• SS-6, at 62.5 cm / 24.6" with a smaller plate (160mm x 160mm)

Solidsteel themselves recommend the SS-6 for Kef R3, but I'm wondering about the stability with the smaller plate. I would use some filler on the legs anyways, would that change the situation?

R3's are quite big, compared to my old LS50's!

Also, the speakers are part of a 5.1.2 system, and the SS-5's would bring the tweeters almost to the same level as the center channel. For general music listening around the room that feels quite low, but for watching movies on the bottom of the couch that would be pretty much on the ear level.

 

[Cesc]

Hi mates,

I'm currently trying to improve the front and central speakers and I would like to know your advice.

Currently I have in a non-dedicated room with a marantz SR5013, a kef iq5 columns, a central KEF iq6c, a rear kef eggs and a KEF PSW2500 sub. All this in a 22m2 room and I am super high satisfied with the whole for cinema (70%) and very satisfied for music, although I have to add sub with the KEF iq5.

Now I would like to upgrade and improve with the new kef q750 and preferible with q250c instead of huge q650c. I have listened the new Q550 and I like the sound, but seems if I choose q750 to improve bass, it would fits better with q650c for the central.

Do you think that the Q250c improve my current KEF iq6c and fits with q750? Has anyone been able to listen q250c and q650c to compare them? It worries me about the weight of q250c that is less that my current iq6c and over the specs less power.

OLD kef iq6c	NEW kef q250c	NEW kef q650c
Enclosure type: 3 Way bass Reflex Dimensions (H x W x D): 165 x 512 x 255mm Weight: 8.9kg (19.6 lbs) Nominal impedance: 8 ohms Amplifier Requirements: 15-150W Frequency response: 65Hz to 27kHz +/-3.0dB Sensitivity: 90dB at 1m for 2.83V	Sensitivity (dB) 87 Impedance (ohms) 8 Power Rating (Watts) 100 Enclosure Type: 2 Way Infinite baffle (sealed) Weight (KG) 7.5 Freq Response (Hz) 68 - 28,000 Dimensions WxDxH (mm) 525 x 214 x 180	Dimensions WxHxD (mm) 629 x 214 x 304 Sensitivity (dB) 87 Impedance (ohms) 8 Power Rating (Watts) 150 Dimensions WxDxH (mm) 629 x 304 x 214 Weight (KG) 13.6 Freq Response (Hz) 64 - 28,000 Enclosure Type: 2.5 Way Infinite baffle (sealed)

I wait your wise comments and recommendations, thank you very much for your help!

 

[chndmrl]

I’ve listened q250c when I had klipsch RP504c at home for trial and it didn’t impressed me. Although q650c was fine, I ended up with R2c after deciding go full r series in frontline.

I have not listened iq6c but i have q1 and q350 as well. When compared, Soundstage is similar but imaging, transparency is better with new series. Also bass is way more controlled not so boomy like q1. Of course newer one will boost your sound but don’t expect a huge difference. But I would still buy q350. To me, q350s are even better than q550. I’ve listened that one as well and it didn’t impress me. I think q550 is equivalent of q150 with more bass output as tower. So you would be better to go for q750.

Also recommend q650c if you have space.

 

[jkhome]

Any comments here on the metal enclosures KEF offers for their in-wall speakers? Other than they seem a little pricey. I'm doing a couple of Ci160s for side surrounds, and four Ci160r for the ceiling. I've ordered the enclosures for the square units, mainly because one is going into an exterior wall that will be flash and batted. Want the "real estate" reserved for the speaker before the foam installers go to town. Figured I'd do the other side with the same, to match the enclosure space. Is there a sonic benefit from using these (or worse). Will the ceiling speakers sound at least the same in an open 2x10 ceiling joist space?