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| KEF X300A USB Loudspeaker |
While that is about twice what a used pair of PSB's will go for on Canuck Audio Mart, it's less than the $2000 USD our old Stratus Gold's went for back in 1991.[ 1] Today, that $2000.00 would buy us a good pair of Audeze LCD-3 headphones, locally, or adjusted for inflation to $3320.59 CDN, a bit more.
We like the styling, the substance, and the stands, particularly. We adore how each driver is of the same visual size and composition, mounted vertically, with a clear demarcation line in silver, similar to that of the Focal Grand Utopia III's Tweeter, separating the Uni-Q visually from it's bass-reinforcement.
The way Hi Fi is going, you'll see similar stands alone set above the Q900 price level for similarly performing models from other manufacturers.
The 40 KHz high-end response is equivalent to that of an Earthworks QTC-1 matched pair microphone set, and we'd love to hear if the Q900 cabinets and drivers offer the same response in terms of impulse of that microphone or the precision sound staging we've heard from the KEF flagship series "Blade."
Model: KEF Q900
Design: Two and a half-way bass reflex
Drive Units: 200mm (8in.) aluminium Uni-Q 38mm (1.5in.) vented aluminium dome HF
Frequency response ±3dB: 32Hz - 40kHz
Amplifier requirements: 15 - 200W
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 91dB
Weight: 22.1kg (48.7lbs)
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| KEF Q900 - handsome loudspeaker / Reboot "binome" character. |
| After hearing the Blade, and considering the adroitly
popular LS50 model of late, we picked up a KEF X300 (A) package from
Headphone Bar, where we had been getting many of the headphones you see reviewed here. We chose the X300A over the popular LS50 because of the active amplification, and lack of lacquer and curved (scratchy) surfaces. At $649 we felt we were in luck, given the Lotto here in Canada of the same number (Lotto 649 [2]), and the original $888.00 CDN market price was lucky by Asian taste as well. With 140W (20x2 HF, 50x2 LF...) of on-board amplification, we figured we were paying about $600.00 for the Class D amplification and $49.00 for the drivers. Now, I will say that the sound of these particular powered and USB-connected loudspeakers may be below that of the B&W MM-1 monitors - with both loudspeakers the sound is greatly at best at quite some distance = and frankly speaking, we have not heard both in the same room. We were a fan of the MM loudspeakers, and have not yet found grace with the X300's, but as we have re-connected our music studio mixer and keyboards not to say re-organized amplification components for the X300's... It's a question of taste. Review to commence, following serious enjoyment - so far, we've enjoyed local Salsa on them and not at all hip hop and electronic music, likely due to the limited bass.
For those looking for a midnight snack, at 100th the discount price, Toblerone has a nutritious One by One "Snowtops" package at $6.49 in grocery stores this season, and there is always the active headphone combination of the AKG K375 ($119.00 CDN) with the FiiO Olympus ($79.00 CDN) to consider for more adept bass and somewhat resolution on a more stringent budget ($198.00 CDN). It would be wonderfully chaste of KEF to offer XLR inputs on the X300A, for professional work, and subwoofer RCA out, for a domestic subwoofer like Totem's Kin. Visually, the pair would of course elegantly update the B&W FCM/PCS 5.1 meme with on-board amplification, digital to analogue conversion and integral active cross-over indeed. Note: How we calculate value. We calculate value based on what we think the product is worth. So for the example of the X300A, we believe it's worth $200.00/pair CDN as the D/A conversion is included. A comparably priced reasonably amplified loudspeaker would be the KRK RP6 G3 which lists at a reasonable $285/speaker ($229/speaker "in-store".). As the list price of the KEF is $800.00 at Amazon.com and the value is established at $200.00 CDN/pair by our review, we set the value accordingly at 25 ($200/$800 = 0.25) for our rating here. Note: What about the other rating, the first, an indicator of quality? This is also comparative to other products, and is an indicator of pure sound quality as we hear it. Plain and simple. In the case of the X300A, the closest open competitor for comparison in both price and sound quality would be either the KRK Rocket ($570/pair) or the AKG K550 Closed Headphone ($350/pair), which we have reviewed. We awarded them a rating of 10/100, and so are saying that the X300A by KEF will give you 60% of the sound quality of these headphones, over-all in reference. A close review and comparison may allow different virtues to shine. We would like to be generous and allow a 7 rating. KEF X300A Active Loudspeaker $800.00 USD (Amazon.com) Rating: 6-7/100 Value: 25/100 Total Points: 31-32/200 .PDFJP 2013/11/05 www.hifiart.ca |
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