Monitor Audio Bronze 6, KEF q500 or q55.2?

slim01

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Hey guys.

So I currently have some lovely KEF q55.2's (upgraded with modern tweeters), a q6c and eggs (kht2005.2) as rears.

For £550 I can get the Bronze 6 set (new).
For £700 I can get q500 +q200c +q400b sub (used).
or... I can not bother. Is it even an upgrade?

My KEFs sound great, only complaint is bass is a bit muddy/droney, but I just want something different and the bronze look and sound amazing. In 2018 I listened to them in a demo room and they sounded INCREDIBLE, but in a demo room it's hard to compare to my old kefs in a normal room, esp on an old Onkyo tx-sr508 (instead of the £3000 amp they probs used).

What would you guys pick? And why?

My main worry is the q500 is the smallest in the range, and maybe won't give the bass I need. q700 is maybe a fairer comparison.

Thanks for help guys,
Ross

P.S:
-TBH I've had various subs, and never once appreciated them. Always been more of a pain to adjust for farting, or reduce because: neighbours. PERHAPS that's because the q55's are incredibly bassy (they are large). Would the MA Br6 or q50 NEED a sub for similar bass?
-Anyone know if MA did different revisions with same bronze6 model name? I noticed the ones on Amerzon have black grilles and footstand which I MUCH prefer, but I can always spray them. I'd rather not though as no warranty then.
 
Q700 would be equivalent to Q55.2s. That Q500 package looks expensive..

" My KEFs sound great, only complaint is bass is a bit muddy/droney"

Have you tried to push them further in to the room assuming they are close to boundaries now? Also you didn´t specify how much your use is music/movies, for movies in mind adding subwoofer would be highly recommended cause you would set your speakers bit different and in most cases they sound better when the low stuff is directed to powered subwoofer!

You didn´t mention which subs you have owned, if some cheap market one note wonders then no suprise really. Some decent sized sealed sub placed ideally and setup correctly so it blends with the rest of system and it should make big difference. I mean you are missing now quite a lot for action/scifi/horror flicks as the speakers won´t be digging low enough. If you have neighbours under you and/or poor soundproofing then i can understand, but there is ways to make it work in apartments etc. Nearfield placement for example.

I`m not sure is the Bronze 6 available anymore, it seems to be sold out mostly as you are not the only one looking at them. If you find pair there is usually some return period still so you can always try them at home. No mention how large room you got and how you can place the speakers. If you have small space and have to keep speakers closer to boundaries then smaller model can sound better. 2018 there was Bronze 6 and Monitor Audio MR6 which was the cheaper range.

PS. If you have Audussey Dynamic EQ "On" with Onkyo, try it Off (Dynamic Volume too!). That one is known to muddy up in some cases. Some love it, others hate it. Clearly if it sounds muddy, then make sure there is not any bass boosting features On.
 
Hi thanks for reply.

Yeah I've tried moving them. And had these in about 5 different houses now, always been the same so is a trait of the speaker I think. There's just not much mid range punch.
Could maybe be a side effect of the onkyo. Not sure. On a forum a while back someone said get a more powerful one. Got a massive tx-sr708 (or something like that) with an extra 30w per ch or so and thx certified and no different, so sent it back.

I'd say usage is...
90% gaming
5% music
5% movies

Reason I haven't mentioned is because well... I've found as long as you have a good set of speakers for music, everything else usually sounds great anyway.
Yeah I don't often play music, but when I do, that's when I want it to sound amazing. I don't even notice the droney bass unless it's music.
As long as the centre speaker is good, I find movies always sound great. I've had 3 different centres with the q55s: q95c (from the same range), a £500 q9c and the q6c I have now. They all sounded great... Perhaps I'm not audiophile enough to notice the intracacies. Kept the q6c, upgraded the tweeters to match the newer centre. Didn't notice much of a difference.
 
The sub was a kef cube. Like I said I found it annoying. I have to turn my bass down on the q55s alone there's so much bass already. So I sold the kube for like £300.

I'm not worried about missing out on anything with these q55s, but... My worry is, perhaps if changed to a different speaker, THEN I would miss the bass... But maybe it'd be tighter.
 
I don't wanna spend 400 - 700 quid on some floorstanders to find I have to was another £500 on a descent sub. I can't afford it.

I LOVE the new q350 bookshelves. They look like sex... Absolute perfection. But I'm sure that I'd need a sub with them.

So yeah, aesthetics are main reason for upgrade. I want some modern looking white speakers. I am considering getting some high gloss enamel paint and just spraying the q55.2's, BUT I'm not sure if I will get a great finish. I'm no pro.
 
Would having a sub make the q55s produce tighter bass? Perhaps I didn't play around with the sub enough.
And yeah... I always have neighbours/Mrs to annoy. And low bass is always the culprit.
 
As mentioned earlier I've had these speakers in 5 houses, Inc a big living room and TINY bedroom. I'll be honest the bass drone was less noticeable in the large living room. Bass was set to +1 there. It's now at -2 in small bedroom.

Im moving house soon. No idea on room size. So... They'll need to produce almost as much bass as the q55s do.

I LOVE Audyssey... I don't know how it works but it adds clarity to high hats in music (so even in stereo), accuracy to basslines and realism to voices in movies.


Thanks for the tips on the br6, I'll be sure to avoid the ar6 ones then.
And yeah, the now old line bronze 6 seem VERY popular.
 
I LOVE the new q350 bookshelves. They look like sex... Absolute perfection. But I'm sure that I'd need a sub with them.

You could be suprised. I haven´t heard them, but they should be have very strong bass and many prefers them sealed with bungs on as too strong bass reported. I think you should wait until you move to see the new room and then take Q350 for home demo. Richer Sounds gives you speakers to test for home if you ask! Some hifi shops are also open already so if you walk close by you can go listen.

If you feel the center channel is great then you could just upgrade your main speakers from KEF, sure they are not 100% matching, but likely close enough for the low amount you watch movies.

You get 20% discount from Q350 if putting some code, no need to give old speakers in trade. So 396£/pair + speaker stands 20-50£/pair if 2nd hand or new. You get some headphones free too.

New Q550 towers white open box few hundred cheaper. Blemish free. These would be ideal for smaller room if wanting stick with KEF.
 
That's awesome advice. Thanks man, yeah I guess I should listen to the q350 before blowing them off. There is a chance that atm I am experiencing "too much bass" from my q55.2's... I never even thought of that. Sure maybe I'd get less bass, maybe wouldn't be an issue.

£600 is way too much for the q550s though. I'm sure they aren't THAT much better than my q55.2's or the bronze 6's. Mrs wouldn't let me get away with it even if they were miles apart haha 😂. She thinks our 100 quid speakers in China were enough 😂.

I guess what'd be best would be to take my kefs to the shop, listen to them next to the bronze 6s, q550s, AND the q350's... You rekkon richer would go to all that hassle though?

I'm still about ready to take these q55.2's apart and paint them in mirror finish piano white (like on the £2000-3000 kef reference /b&w/ma gold) ... I've watched the video now. Will cost about £100 and be about 50-60 hours of work.
Will update here and post if I go that route.
 
And I know I was looking at the q500s with centre and sub, but after selling the sub and my q6c I'd be looking at the same £400 as the ma bronze/q350.

I wouldn't sell my q55.2's... Love them sentimentally.
As I've said the bass is a minor issue... It's like the loud exhausts on my triumph. I know she wants to be noisy and in your face... I just "let" her. :p
 
I guess what'd be best would be to take my kefs to the shop, listen to them next to the bronze 6s, q550s, AND the q350's... You rekkon richer would go to all that hassle though?

Sure, few members have done that with bookshelf speakers. You just need to book demo time before hand and ask to use similar receiver which you have at home. And tell that you want to bring your own speakers to compare new ones. I don´t know how many speakers you can compare but 4 is what i have heard some members have swapped around. Best to bring some own music there..

I forgot the speakers needs to be white so you would have to sell the Q6c anyway then at some point. Painting is bit risky unless you plan to keep them forever. You could use that money for new speakers/stands/sub later on.
 
Sure, few members have done that with bookshelf speakers. You just need to book demo time before hand and ask to use similar receiver which you have at home. And tell that you want to bring your own speakers to compare new ones. I don´t know how many speakers you can compare but 4 is what i have heard some members have swapped around. Best to bring some own music there..

I forgot the speakers needs to be white so you would have to sell the Q6c anyway then at some point. Painting is bit risky unless you plan to keep them forever. You could use that money for new speakers/stands/sub later on.

Yeah I can paint the q55's but the q6c has that plastic centre shroud on top which I don't think will come off. Could always still get the white MA bronze centre, only £90 on Amazon. Might sound as good as the KEF (heard theyre good). A better match might be a q200c in white though.

Why you say risky unless planning to keep forever? In case it's a poor job? Well... The paint job if I do it will be top notch, and increase the value substantially, for sure! But no, I'm not sure I could sell them... Only if it would mean getting something that sounds just as good if not better, and looks nicer.

The piano effect i'm after is only on like the r series/£2000 speakers and up really... I think I'm just gonna go for it... The more I've been plating around with them the more I realise how good they sound. And I don't even have my PC with soundcard so just using AUX and basically flat EQ
 

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