Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Locke  Hi All,
re: WHF? Review of Q700....
As you are all aware, the Q700 is not a compact floorstanding speaker, it's much bigger than that.
The test is (IMO) very unfair, wrong price point, wrong competition, wrong designs, wrong performance levels etc..
Following the review we (out of curiosity) took in a pair of the Spendor A5 (test winner) to do our own comparision (which is natural for us - and every other speaker manufacturer when a review of this type comes to light). Firstly, we measured the A5, and though from 300Hz up they have a pretty flat response, in the lower bass region, they have no energy at all, in fact this is audible when listening, the bass is very light. Also, they are very quiet, when looking at the sensitivety of the A5, they max out at 85dB (at around 250Hz) compared to the Q700 which is at least 6dB louder across the whole frequency bandwidth. The difference in the bass output is so great that it is possible that if you were to A-B between the two loudspeakers this might come across as an excess on the Q700 rather than a lack on the A5 - particularly when you consider the room interaction that happens at low frequencies. Needless to say we view the extension of the Q700 as one of its strengths against the competitors.
The A5 are nice speakers, worthy of the test, but against piers of similar design, size and performance levels.. The KEF XQ30 would of been more suitable for this test.
If we had known of the intentions of the review beforehand, we would have not agreed to submit the Q700, but something more suitable instead (XQ30 for example).
Just a couple of other points. The Q700 are part of an extensive range including AV components, so are designed for AV as well as 2-channel, the others in the test don't. The Q700 are bi-wire/bi-amp capable, the others aren't. The Q700 have a SRP of £1k, the others are at least 2-300 more expensive.
I'm still scratching my head on this one and I'm far from happy with the review, not because of the results, just a very unfair write up for consumers who will be confused with the line up, as we are! We'll be taking the reviewed pair to Bristol later this month, it would be great if you can come and listen and let us know what you think.
Thanks for the support as ever.
All the best
Ron
To illustrate the point, see image..
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Ron,
Thanks for your response to this review....
As your probably aware, I'm a big fan of the new 'Q' series speakers, after hearing both the Q500 and Q700 before xmas.(No muddled bass on the Q700's to me!!)
My question is this:
Are you going to approach the publication about this?
I feel if you don't some people will miss out on these excellent speakers because of this review.
Since the publication, I have posted comments on their website forum suggesting it was an unfair test due to the price points used, and asked why the Q900's were not used (being a compact floorstander review, the Q900's were not suitable, was the response).
My final comment is about the picture.....when using the 'Q' series speakers do you discard the plastic plinths in favour of a block of wood with spikes under? (Those Spendor A5's are so small!!!
)
Thanks Ron.