Upgrading KEF Q1 - finding it a bit muffled

R

ritesh

Guest
Recently I find myself more and more listening to music; and after living with the KEF Q1 for about 2 years; I am discovering more and more things that are not to my liking.....


First it was the weak bottom end, easily corrected by a sub. Then it was a bit bright top end, corrected by change of amp.

Midrange which is it's strongest point remained good so far, until recently... when I think it is not as clear as I'd prefer it to be; it just sounds a touch muffled for my liking...

Thus I am looking to upgrade from Q1, I still would prefer that warm, easy, laid-back and fluid sound BUT with stronger bottom-end and much warmer and open top-end....

As such am looking for suggestions on what to try? Any suggestions?

Budget is around the price of say XQ5.....ofcourse the cheaper the better....

Ritesh
 
Changing your amp to tame the top end could've resulted in the middle range becoming muffled. As Eviljohn said, speaker placement can have more effect than a small upgrade and q1's have rarely been criticized for midrange. Get them firmly fixed to a good set of stands, and experiment with back and forth, and side to side positioning.
 
If as you say you've sorted the bass out with a sub, try whacking in the foam bungs that came with them and it may tighten things up a bit. Also try replacing the flimsy bridge plates on the speaker terminals with some good speaker wire (or bi-wire) if you havent already done so. Worked wonders for me IMO.

Skinny
 
ritesh said:
Recently I find myself more and more listening to music; and after living with the KEF Q1 for about 2 years; I am discovering more and more things that are not to my liking.....


First it was the weak bottom end, easily corrected by a sub. Then it was a bit bright top end, corrected by change of amp.

Midrange which is it's strongest point remained good so far, until recently... when I think it is not as clear as I'd prefer it to be; it just sounds a touch muffled for my liking...

Thus I am looking to upgrade from Q1, I still would prefer that warm, easy, laid-back and fluid sound BUT with stronger bottom-end and much warmer and open top-end....

As such am looking for suggestions on what to try? Any suggestions?

Budget is around the price of say XQ5.....ofcourse the cheaper the better....

Ritesh

You should have a look at the closest walls. Reflections on near walls in the non-directive range of the speakers (bass & low mids) does blurr the signal intelligibility. One extreme solution is to place the speakers nearly in the middle of the room, the other one is to treat the nearest walls with absorbent.
Another alternative is to completely baffle the speakers, which cancels rear waves. This is exactly what is achieved with "In-Wall" speakers, which are not a stupid solution.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom