Better mid bass than KEF q550: R500 / R700 or MA Silver? RX 6? Bronze 6? or QA 3050i?

slim01

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Hi guys, I got some q550's a while back to replace some age old and quite boomy 1990's KEF q55.2's. Wasn't initially impressed at first but the aim was:
a) sharper treble. After reducing the brightness a little (grilles on / got a warmer Marantz amp / EQ adjustments) some improvement.
b) tighter bass, and louder midrange. Big improvement here, but did need to add a sub B&W asw608 (8") sub.
c) Aesthetics... and the q550 are gorgeous.

however....
Not bassy enough +finding it easy to find the bass limits of the Q550.
I don't play them very loud often but when I do, there's the odd track where the bass can't go any louder and distorts (the speaker 'farts' as i call it). Volume comes down so I don't damage them.
(crossover is set to 80hz. As much as I love the B&W sub I don't want it to cover 100hz+, it just doesn't sound punchy enough which is important for Techno/House/Dance).

-Are the q550 5.25" drivers just too small? Perhaps I should trade up for the considerably larger Q750 (6.5" drivers)?
-What about R500: Same size drivers (+a smaller midrange) but better constructed enclosure/supports? or better still the larger drivers of the R700? Are larger speakers and/or the R series really capable to go louder?
BUT...
-Are ported speakers really better for bass junkies? If the tightness of the bass I like is due to the q550 being sealed... I could go backwards.
-Maybe some tried & tested but potentially not as well performing (in treble/accuracy) Monitor Audios? but worried that ported bass boom will be back... I was blown away by the mid range/punch of some Bronze RX6 with triple 6.5" drivers that I demo'd but couldn't justify the price over the Q55.2 at the time. Oops. I can see some Monitor audio Silver 6, or RX6 (dual 6") on the bay. Maybe silver even better than the Bronze 6?
-A switch to Q Acoustics 3050i would be free... but only a 2.0 way, is midrange any good?

I'm open to suggestions but must be white (would love gloss white).
-all the newer MA stuff is a bit too ugly for me... Same with Mission.

Thanks

----------
Usage:
Only concerned for music.

Room:
Small V roofed (attic conversion) room for now, but will likely have a more medium (and square) sized living room soon.

Current 7.1 system as below:
KEF Q550, Q6c, Eggs, Q1 Compact, B&W asw608, DMP-UB450, Philips 55OLED706, Marantz SR6012.
HTPC: 5800x, x570-p, 32GB 3600mhz, rtx3080, 3.5tb SSD
 
You should add the QA concept 40, the Mission LX5 mark 2 and Mission QX3 to your list.

I personally find the new Missions look more modern than the old KEF Q550.
 
There's quite a gulf in build and sound quality between your old Q speakers and the R500. The Qs have passive radiators for bass whilst the R Series are all driven. They can produce a fine quality of bass that, given the right amplification, is fast and tight. The R700 goes a fair bit deeper than the R500 which is on a par with the R300 standmounts.

Mid range bass is detailed, with my R300s you can hear the bass guitar notes starting and finishing and not just disappearing into one another. For me my R300s bass response is absolutely perfect, but I suppose that depends on the genre of music that I like and the quality of the actual recordings.
 
IMO, whichever speakers you ultimately switch to, you should get a far more capable subwoofer so personally I would do that first and see where it gets you in terms of bass and go from there.

Quality ported subs are not boomy sounding at all and I much prefer them for movies but I do slightly prefer sealed ones for music. Try and get an in home demo if you can from a friendly dealer.
 
You should add the QA concept 40, the Mission LX5 mark 2 and Mission QX3 to your list.

I personally find the new Missions look more modern than the old KEF Q550.
Sure they're great speakers but I can't stand the retro look of them. Same with Dali or eg the Lintons everyone is raving about, I could own them but never buy them :D

The Mission look a but more modern but don't like all the plastic surrounds on them. Not keen on the newer MonitorAudio stuff.
There's quite a gulf in build and sound quality between your old Q speakers and the R500. The Qs have passive radiators for bass whilst the R Series are all driven. They can produce a fine quality of bass that, given the right amplification, is fast and tight. The R700 goes a fair bit deeper than the R500 which is on a par with the R300 standmounts.

Mid range bass is detailed, with my R300s you can hear the bass guitar notes starting and finishing and not just disappearing into one another. For me my R300s bass response is absolutely perfect, but I suppose that depends on the genre of music that I like and the quality of the actual recordings.

Hiya Gibbsy, neighbour from Cardiff if i remember :D

Just to be clear though I'm not really concerned about going deeper - It's more louder/more capable at around 60hz - 200hz I need. Is that what most would class as "mid-bass"?
Assume you mean the q550 for old speakers, if so yeah, this is my worry if go for rear ported speakers (eg r500 / r700) I'll get boominess again: not likely because of the speakers but my small room. They've got about 30cm from the walls though?

However if say r700's go pretty damn low and would mean I could do away with the sub I would, I'm not really interested in sub 40hz stuff and don't watch movies often. I've always found whenever I have a sub I'm forever having to turn it up & down.
Spoke to KEF today and they seem to think bigger drivers would be what I'm after as sounds like I'm asking too much of the 5" drivers. Forgot to ask but i ASSUME that means the r500's out of the question as also only 5"- a shame as can see some for £800 I'd probably buy right now. so sexy. and specs wise VERY similar to q750.
They even suggested looking at q950, which i thought was extreme as same size drivers as my sub (8"), but said they'll go louder than I could ever need, and wouldn't be so certain with q750.

I also asked if r700 would boom but he said I can just bung them. What you reckon?
 
IMO, whichever speakers you ultimately switch to, you should get a far more capable subwoofer so personally I would do that first and see where it gets you in terms of bass and go from there.

Quality ported subs are not boomy sounding at all and I much prefer them for movies but I do slightly prefer sealed ones for music. Try and get an in home demo if you can from a friendly dealer.
Hi mr Wolf. I've thought about that for future if I get a large room but no idea why I'd do that first sorry? Are you saying a more capable sub could set crossover to like 150hz (can you even do that lol) so the q550 are basically doing no bass at all?

I find anything over 80hz at the mo the bass sounds ok but well... sounds like it's coming from an 8" sub lol. Would that not be the case on say a 10" REL or BK something?

The B&W sounds fantastic for now mind, but I'm always turning it down as already far too powerful for small room (shakes everything apart in the room below) and as in my comment above to Gibbsy I'd rather not even have one tbh (the old q55.2 certainly did not need one)/.
 
The R700s are big speakers, physically I mean. They share the same size drivers are the R300s. My R300s are around 30cm from my rear wall and well clear the side walls. They come with a two part bung and using the outer bung virtually cuts the port in half by volume. Pushing it in and out does help to fine tune the port. Running them with a Rega Elicit I had them half ported. Nice tight fast bass, so tuning the port can work for you.
 
The R700s are big speakers, physically I mean. They share the same size drivers are the R300s. My R300s are around 30cm from my rear wall and well clear the side walls. They come with a two part bung and using the outer bung virtually cuts the port in half by volume. Pushing it in and out does help to fine tune the port. Running them with a Rega Elicit I had them half ported. Nice tight fast bass, so tuning the port can work for you.

Well that settles it then - Both you and KEF seem fine with the idea of bunging them. I tried it on the q55 but if i'm honest if was half arsed testing as
a) I didn't have a sub at the time
b) bungs didn't even fir properly (too large, were just stuffed in)
and
c) I didn't want the retro look and had upgradatitus.
So.... Hold out for some used r700's...... or maybe even try some r500's: if I get them at good price I can sell them on for no loss. I see no other way to actually listen to some. I'll never be able to afford r7's, and nobody stocks KEF in cardiff for some weird reason. AudioT just tried to sell me Dynaudio stuff: close to £2000k.

I'm an idiot and forgot to put a bid in on some r700's not once but twice. Messaged one of the guys as it said unsold - He said some guy in Taiwan paid £2000 in total - Over £550 for shipping :D
The other one went for £1200 but that included an R400b which is likely better than my B&W 8"? Kicking myself hard at the moment
 
Well that settles it then - Both you and KEF seem fine with the idea of bunging them. I tried it on the q55 but if i'm honest if was half arsed testing as
a) I didn't have a sub at the time
b) bungs didn't even fir properly (too large, were just stuffed in)
and
c) I didn't want the retro look and had upgradatitus.
So.... Hold out for some used r700's...... or maybe even try some r500's: if I get them at good price I can sell them on for no loss. I see no other way to actually listen to some. I'll never be able to afford r7's, and nobody stocks KEF in cardiff for some weird reason. AudioT just tried to sell me Dynaudio stuff: close to £2000k.

I'm an idiot and forgot to put a bid in on some r700's not once but twice. Messaged one of the guys as it said unsold - He said some guy in Taiwan paid £2000 in total - Over £550 for shipping :D
The other one went for £1200 but that included an R400b which is likely better than my B&W 8"? Kicking myself hard at the moment
I have R700 and use them with Bungs, in fact that would by my recommend way of setting them up. The bass is much more controlled. For a smaller room I would definitely look at the R3s as a bargain at £900.
 
the R3s as a bargain at £900.
Agree with this. Cracking price. They will easily fill a normal sized room. You'll have the expense of buying stands and the footprint would be the same as the bigger siblings but they are so good.

AudioT in Swansea stock the KEFs but I'm a little surprised that the guys in Cardiff didn't offer to get the KEFs in for you to audition. They've did similar in the past for me to audition headphone amps.
 

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