Mid-Bass, clear sound stage, good for movies

Lack of musicality, Real BASS, hi-end Treble
Needs good cable and amp

Cannot demand too much at this price.
These Loud speakers are easy to sound loud
(maybe that is the sound many will audition until they throw them away)

But its true potential needs a powerful amp and a thick and good quality cable to realise. Bi-wiring makes an obvious
difference for them.

However, there is still a limit and it seems they just cannot sound warm and sweet.

At $200, it is a better deal now.

Similar Products Used:

Mission, Harbeth

Highs, midrange and sound dispersion

None

I found this web site very helpful. However, since you can't hear with your eyes go listen to the speakers and make up your own mind.
Several comments from those who submitted reviews commented on the lack of bass. Ross M. of Fort Worth (review date 5-8-01) made a very appropriate comment about the bass. I agree with him that the speakers do have good bass. The manuf. rates these from 50-20,000 HZ so we should not expect these speakers to sound like my M&K Sub. Get a good sub.
I am using these speakers with a 5.1 surrond system. I am using the Q15.2 as a center channel too. It may not look like a center channel but it is perfect. Due to the speaker design this speaker can be stood upright or laid on its side. Even though this was for a surrond system the most important thing to me was music and the Q15.2 as a center channel is perfect for 5.1 stereo playback.
I listen to rock, jazz and blues and these speakers are great. My wife enjoys classical music and big band sound and these sound great for this too. The midrange and highs are crystal clear and crisp. They are not overbearing. Some of the speakers I listened to seem to scream at me (the high end was overbearing and too bright), but not the KEF's. I am most impressed that these speakers do not add anything to the music, they just reproduce it as it was meant to be heard.
Agan, don't take my word. Go listen for yourself.
By the way, these speakers are not any more expensiive than some of the mass marketed speaker you will hear at the discounters.

Similar Products Used:

I also own AR-14's and Toby Lab. I seriously considered B&W DM 303's, Paradigm Mini Mon, Paradigm Mon. 3 and Klipsch SB-2's.

Well, i've not much to add to this section, i totally agree with the criticisms about the bass roll-off (although this may be in many cases because the bass is very realistic, unlike a lot of home hi-fi), but the top end is very very sweet indeed.

Something no-one seems to have mentioned is that the stereo is very directional, and very accurate, perhaps the crispest and clearest stereo picture i have ever heard.

Incredible speaker for its size.

None!

I bought these speakers over 15 months ago. I don't regret at all buying them. Incredible sound. Tight and accurate base. Good mid-range and highs. I biwired them using cat-5 do-it-yourself speaker wires using VenHaus receipe. Getting better speaker wires and interconnects pushed speakers even more. Wide soundstage. Huge sweet point. I would use them for home-theater. You can use one speaker as center and it works (and it is cheap - 130$ for such a great center). The best product in this price range. I wanted to get Mission 701 based on some reviews in magazine. I called some salespeople and they suggested that I should get KEFs. I never listened to these speakers before buying. Extremely pleased with these speakers. They can shake house at 40-50% of volume. Never dared to push my Denon DRA-375 stereo receiver more than 50% because it was so loud and I had to be outside to push it to such loudness using remote control. Don't use cheap speaker wires - some have to much base, some are to bright. I used DIY speaker wires with banana plugs (biwired). It simply rocks. My sister-in-law has Pioneer system with Optimus speakers (Radioshack). I made same wires for her and results are still disappointing. Her speakers are 4 times bigger than mine but sound 4 times worse. She paid for used as much as I paid for brand-new. I can still sell mine for nice price but her speakers are worth almost nothing. However, I will not sell mine because they are really a treasure. If you want more base than get a good sub (Velodyne or MK) and you can rock.

Similar Products Used:

PSBs, Mission 731i, Paradigm

I bought these KEFs as part of my first system, with an NAD 310 integrated, and a 510 CD player. Shopping for my gear, I was frustrated with the few reviews for inexpensive equipment. These are my impressions of what I think is very good stuff for the price. I compared the KEFs against Paradigm MiniMonitors, B&W 302s, and the Definitive Celcius. The KEFs won out for their midrange neutrality, and their excellent imaging. Female vocals sound INCREDIBLE on these speakers, compared to any of the others I mentioned. Since I got them, Billy Holliday, The Sundays, Sara McLaughlan, and Tori Amos have been getting more play than ever.
Jazz and acoustic stuff sounds real pure--you can hear the recording room--and Miles' trumpet is very much in the room. Very natural--especially at the price.
The greatest shortcoming of the Q15s, perhaps, is that some rock and blues stuff doesn't sound as hot as it could. I'd attribute this to the speakers' strong midrange, and limited low end. Dark Side sounds muffled and indistinct, and makes me reach for the bass knob. Stevie Ray loses some low-end punch. Buddy Guy's band plays in a closet.
Some of these shortcomings may be the result of my NAD 510, and its limits.
On the whole, I've been extremely pleased with these little speakers. More natural than Paradigms or Defnitives, and less harsh than B&Ws, they're a great buy--especially if Jazz, acoustic music, and female vocalists take up a large share of your listening time.
Bi-wireable, and the already good imaging improves noticibly when you pull the grills off.

I was able to use my Q 15s while mixing tracks for my band's recent CD. I'll refrain from any of the typical descriptions that I've heard over and over again - these speakers were an excellent reference. I wasn't all that familiar with the KEFs when I decided to bring them along. I usually only use monitors that I'm very familiar with in order to confidently mix/record with a band (especially my own). The Q 15s proved to be invaluable as an unbiased, informative speaker to help me hear exactly what was going on. I could even hear aspects of the mix that I didn't even notice during mastering (on a pair of Duntechs-sp? no less). For the money these speakers can't be beat!

Let me qualify that I am an audiophile in discerning high quality, without regard to price and reputation.
I have a pair of Kef Q30s, which I am VERY happy with, and which I compare favorably with speakers in the $1000-2000 range. I was interested in forming a 5 equal speaker surround-sound system, and auditioned these speakers extensively, as my brother-in-law uses them for the front 3 channels and gave me the odd speaker out to use as my center.

I must say I expected better from Kef. Compared to the Q30s, which have an extremely smooth and warm midrange with clear highs, the Q30s seem to lack the midrange warmth, seeming to have a slight hollow and harsh sound due to the resulting relative abundance of treble.

I may consider using these as rear-channels, but for my front L, R, and center, I need higher-caliber speakers. I will stick with the Q30s for now and the Reference 100 center channel (which I have auditioned and was very pleased with a while back).

D. Ahn

I have been shopping around, for two months, for speakers to listen to music and for a HT system. I have an ONKYO TS444 a/v reciever and Sony CD player.Bought Bose AM5 the first day (ready made sub-sat), did not like it (no mid-range?), returned it.

Then bought a M&K V75 Mk II subwoofer (reasons: sounded better than Klipsch sw and infinity sw at the dealer's, good reputation of m&k) and auditioned various bookshelf speakers (in price range of $250 to $400) to go with it. Brought home Polk RT25 ($250), Optimus Pro LX5 ($150), B&W 601 ($400) and KEF Q15 ($300).

Finally decided to buy Q15 (w/stands)for front and LX5 for rears. The imaging of KEF Q15 is superb. Player seems to playing in the room, when listening to music. Tight base. Good midrange and highs. Blends nicely with the M&K V-75 MkII for music (rock&pop, blues, jazz).

Here is frequency response at 1 ft from the front of the speaker (stereophile test CD and Radio Shack digital audio meter).

Freq Loudness
(Hz) (dB)

20 64
25 69
31.5 75
40 79
50 80.5
63 84
80 87
100 88
125 89
160 87
200 87
1000 84.5

I would highly recommend listening to these speakers.

I enjoy my Q15's, however, I must add a caveat. They are quite bright and do not handle hard rock and roll well. For classical, light rock(Chris Izaaks) and acoustic they are truly remarkable. Coupled with my all Adcom system, they are extremely accurate if a bit sterile. Speaker placement is important, stick to around two feet off the floor. For the price, they are unbeatable. I do recommend adding a sub-woofer to add some punch below 70 Hz. They are good enough that the quality of a recording mix is easily discernible but they do not like bright recordings. Older analog recordings sound great(Led Zep, Janice Joplin). I suspect they are balanced for phonographs. They also take a few weeks to break in. If you are picky, though, spend a little more. 5 stars for value, 4 stars overall.

My first pair of speakers were PSB Alphas, very good speaker for the money. Dynamic yet very bright and sibilant on the top end, overall a good starter speaker. I then upgraded to the Paradigm Mini MkIII, More dynamic smoother on the top end and even more bang for the buck, again a good speaker for the money. Why then do ask did I go looking for another speaker, well, I kinda missed the top end on the Alphas and loved the bass on the Paradigm but the highs were too bright and the bass too slow and boomy. Bought the KEF Q15s home and nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear. It was as if the paradigm and psb had been blended together to form a new speaker, but a much better behaved speaker. The midrange was much much better, more lucid more clear without the brightness of the PSB, the bass was much much tighter and faster than the paradigm without sacrificing any clout though. I swear to you these KEFs are out of this world, just try them. No I do not work for KEF I have just plain simply found the bargain of a life time.......