Q Acoustics 7000i to KEF T301/101 upgrade?

markb1980

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Hi all, over the past few months I have been upgrading some of my system, I have gone from a Denon AVR X2200 to a 3500, I have upgraded my Sub from a Q Acoustics 7070si to a BK Double gem and also added CA minx min 12 for front heights. I am now thinking about upgrading my speakers. They basically have to be wall mounted due to being a normal living room and nowhere to fit the ideal floor standers etc. I currently have the Q Acoustics 7000i’s and have been looking at having KEF T301’s for FCR and T301’s for surrounds which would be also on the wall where I have a sofa against that wall. I am wondering if it is going to be much of an upgrade to the 7000i’s considering it will cost me circa £1000 to do? Here are some pics of my living area for reference- opinions appreciated.

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They should be better, but they can only do so much being so darn slim and with tiny drivers.

Why not some sealed speakers that can be mounted flush against wall like Arendal 1961 Monitor and Centre for the LCR? 15cm depth, keyholes for screw mounting. They should be on another level to Kefs with the price of ~1250£ (LCR) and you could still mix other brand surround/height channels if needed.


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They should be better, but they can only do so much being so darn slim and with tiny drivers.

Why not some sealed speakers that can be mounted flush against wall like Arendal 1961 Monitor and Centre for the LCR? 15cm depth, keyholes for screw mounting. They should be on another level to Kefs with the price of ~1250£ (LCR) and you could still mix other brand surround/height channels if needed.


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I will take a look at those but my gut feeling is they maybe a little big and the front right will be tight to fit between the TV and the corner of the wall 🤦
 
How about some Monitor Audio Radius 90's - £385 RRP (pair):


and a Radius 225 as a centre - £305 RRP:


The 225 comes with keyhole mounting while 2 of these will mount the 90's - £15 each:


You can keep your QA rears. Then buy another pair of brackets and a set of Radius 45's for the rears (when funds allow?) - £219 RRP:


Even if you bought all 5 speakers and 4x brackets, the total cost is £969 @ RRP - so under budget. I believe this will give a significant upgrade in sound quality, but as always recommend an audition or in home demo (ideally) before purchase.


Other option is keep the QA rears and get 3x Monitor Audio Apex 40's for LCR - £549 (each) RRP:


This would be over your £1000 budget, but, you might get a discount if you haggle with dealers.

Here's a pic showing another forum members A40's in an LCR configuration:

Post in thread 'Monitor Audio Apex Owners Thread' Monitor Audio Apex Owners Thread

Edit: You could even add 2 Apex 10's for rears - as they can be wall mounted - £329 (each):

I appreciate this blows your budget somewhat. But, I have some MA Silver 100's and the Apex range use the same drivers. So this will (imo) be a significant upgrade in sound quality over the QA's.
 
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Another thought.....

The Radius 225 can also be used as in the same LCR configuration as the A40's. 3x 225's would cost £915 RRP (vs £1500+ for 3x A40's). Add £249 for the Radius 45's & brackets (as surrounds) = £1160 - assuming no discounts.
 
Funny enough I have just been reading up on the Radius 225 and also the Apex A40/10’s. Would love the 3 A40’s at the front and 2 A10’s as surrounds but the cost is over budget by quite a bit! I did think I might get away with 4 A10’s and 1 A40 for centre but wouldn’t look quite as aesthetically pleasing. So basically we are saying the KEF route is not worth £1000 in terms of Jump from my 7000i’s but the radius/apex option would be a big enough jump in performance?
 
Funny enough I have just been reading up on the Radius 225 and also the Apex A40/10’s. Would love the 3 A40’s at the front and 2 A10’s as surrounds but the cost is over budget by quite a bit! I did think I might get away with 4 A10’s and 1 A40 for centre but wouldn’t look quite as aesthetically pleasing.

Not sure where you buy your av gear from. I nearly always go to Richersounds for my new stuff. I've never paid RRP there either, so it's worth chatting to dealers to see if a deal can be had. Don't forget you can sell your existing QA's to help fund the upgrade. You could also just upgrade the front 3 and repurpose 2 of the QA's as rears. Replacing with A10's when funds are replenished!

So basically we are saying the KEF route is not worth £1000 in terms of Jump from my 7000i’s but the radius/apex option would be a big enough jump in performance?
Not so much Not worth it. More that both the A40 & Radius route would be a significant upgrade on the QA's. The A40's in particular are very good speakers as they use the same driver tech found in the MA Silver range.

The Apex's & Radius ranges are "lifestyle speakers" - designed to perform like traditional bookshelf, but be more aesthetically pleasing & often get the WAF approval as a result.

Nowt wrong with the Kef - but the Ma's won't disappoint either. Both the Radius & Apex look & sound stunning to my untrained ears! Get a demo if possible - let your ears decide! I love my MA Silver 100's!

Edit: imo the A40's are better than the Radius - but none of the options I listed (even the 90, 225 & 45 package - which comes under budget *just) - will disapoint, while offering a definite sound quality upgrade over the relatively small Q7000i subsat system.
 
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It's worth noting that with regards to speakers, what one person classes as a significant upgrade might differ to another's. This is why (if possible) speakers should be auditioned prior to committing to purchase.

From personal experience I have always auditioned speakers prior to purchase.

@markb1980 - the A40's are superior to the Radius, but both will offer improvement over your QA's imo....

The A40's are expensive for a reason! 😉🙂....
 
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Funny enough I have just been reading up on the Radius 225 and also the Apex A40/10’s. Would love the 3 A40’s at the front and 2 A10’s as surrounds but the cost is over budget by quite a bit! I did think I might get away with 4 A10’s and 1 A40 for centre but wouldn’t look quite as aesthetically pleasing. So basically we are saying the KEF route is not worth £1000 in terms of Jump from my 7000i’s but the radius/apex option would be a big enough jump in performance?

You could start with the 3x A40 too, no issue keeping the QAs you have for now. Notice A40 is only 100mm deep and it comes with the metal wall bracket for wall mounting which puts it directly against wall. Now A10 when you wall mount it it comes much more out of wall (140mm + the table stand bracket).

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@markb1980 In your position. I'd be tempted to upgrade the front 3 to A40's, then do the surrounds at a later date. Note they don't even have to be the Apex A10's eg you could get the Radius 45's & brackets as rears. There's no requirement for the rears to be brand or range matched to front LCR...

This would come to:

3x A40 = £1647
Radius 45 = £219 + £30 for brackets.
= £1896

This will definitely be better than the Kefs in terms of upgrade imo! 🙂

*Granted it's double the price almost, but it'll be worth it and far better than the Kefs!

Some CA minx 22's as surrounds could work too. Or Monitor Audio Mass (which use the same brackets as the Radius 45's), but are cheaper.
 
Update the thread & keep us posted, with what you decide to do @markb1980 🙂👍🏼
 
Thank you both for the inputs plenty to think about!!! It’s always so the way you set yourself a budget find a set of speakers that you think fits the bill (KEF) then end up spending more 😂

If I do this I think it would have to do the 3 A40’s to start with and keep my 7000i‘s for surrounds for the time being and upgrade those later on, I would also need to get a deal on the A40’s or possibly find some on the classifieds. I am going to measure up the gap I have where the front right speaker is to make sure I couldn’t fit the Arendal Monitor in there. These also stick out a fair bit vs the A40’s. Juts to check on this would the Arendal be superior to the A40?
 
I will do. I assume you use RS in Bristol? I use the Bath branch normally for new kit.
Certainly do mate. I'm on first name terms with most of the staff. Got a cracking deal on my 5 MA Silver speakers you see in my signature & the 2x SVS subs!

They know I'm always looking for a deal. When I auditioned my Silver 100's Dave (Deputy Manager) had already put a deal together and just handed it to me on a piece of folded paper - before I even got to the store! 🤣... I said "come on you can do better" - and he knocked 50% off the Mosseco 6 stands too on top.

They price match or better ANY deal I find pretty much. But then again, they could use my setup as a demo room! Well could once its all set up. I've only got a stereo setup atm as am waiting for my new AV cabinet to built to house it all!' 🙈😂
 
Thank you both for the inputs plenty to think about!!! It’s always so the way you set yourself a budget find a set of speakers that you think fits the bill (KEF) then end up spending more 😂

If I do this I think it would have to do the 3 A40’s to start with and keep my 7000i‘s for surrounds for the time being and upgrade those later on, I would also need to get a deal on the A40’s or possibly find some on the classifieds. I am going to measure up the gap I have where the front right speaker is to make sure I couldn’t fit the Arendal Monitor in there. These also stick out a fair bit vs the A40’s. Juts to check on this would the Arendal be superior to the A40?
Always the way mate - the upgrades never stop. I bought my 1st full kit for years in 2016 - a Denon x2500h & MA Bronze 5 5.1 speaker set. All of which was sold within 18mnths!. Since then I've amassed what you see in my signature (in stages). All of it from RS!

The Arendals go 10Hz lower in terms of frequency, but since you have the BK Double Gem on duty - that's pretty irrelevant imo. I've never heard the Arendals in fairness, but have always loved the general sound signature of Monitor Audio, so don't think you'll be disappointed - I actually prefer them over the Q Acoustics stuff. But as I say, speakers are very subjective.
 
Thank you both for the inputs plenty to think about!!! It’s always so the way you set yourself a budget find a set of speakers that you think fits the bill (KEF) then end up spending more 😂

If I do this I think it would have to do the 3 A40’s to start with and keep my 7000i‘s for surrounds for the time being and upgrade those later on, I would also need to get a deal on the A40’s or possibly find some on the classifieds. I am going to measure up the gap I have where the front right speaker is to make sure I couldn’t fit the Arendal Monitor in there. These also stick out a fair bit vs the A40’s. Juts to check on this would the Arendal be superior to the A40?

Put wanted add on classifieds, you never know if good deal comes up. Have seen few of those there. Also put a bump in MA Apex owners thread that you are looking those if someone is selling.. 1500£ is quite salty price. No idea how they compare to Arendals as they won´t sound same.
 
Juts to check on this would the Arendal be superior to the A40?
As @Gasp3621 says - they'll likely sound different to the Arendals. But I'm certain they'll be an improvement on the QA's, and unlike the Arendals the A40's will fit! 😂
 
3 Apex A40’s on order should be here Wednesday 😬 thank you to @Jester1066 and @Gasp3621 again for your advice.
 
Was a pleasure helping mate! Look forward to seeing updated picture(s) 👍🏼

I will send you the pics mate, hoping to get them fitted on Thursday as I have the day off work. 👍
 
I will send you the pics mate, hoping to get them fitted on Thursday as I have the day off work. 👍
Post them on the thread too mate. Any issues/questions let me know 👌
 
A40’s up, Audyssey ran now sat enjoying them 😍

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Great! Did you change the settings if there was something like crossovers set below 80hz etc?

Thank you. Yeah Audyssey set the front LR to 60hz and centre to 40hz so I upped them to 80hz?
 

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