Clarity

Bass?

Ive owned this center for close to four years now and its been stellar. A friend has the Paradigm LCR 450 which is great but in comparison the Kef gives up very little, the LCR has great dynamics and better bass but the Kef is more transparent and easier to hear throughout a room. That is why I feel its one of the best made for theater.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm LCR 450

smooth trebles,easy to place due to front firing reflex port,light but precise bass

too big

I have been auditioning various speakers regardless of their sizes(floorstanders or bookshelves)for two monhs.I was impressed by the midrange and the trebles of Castle Pembrokes but they totally lacked the bass(even the mid-lows).B&W 603se`s were too much open at the highs and too boxy at the low end (at 1300$)but were really lively.When I came across the Q 90`s at a second hand store I was really not willing to audition them having just listened to KEF Cresta`s which sounded as if to define the word "muddy".BUT after connecting them to my amp(Creek 4240)what came out was exciting.That is,they sounded very smooth,uncoloured and presented a wide soundstage.They were precisely controlled at all listening level without any distortion at all.Although they are at the light side concerning the bass at low volumes they won`t let you down.One thing to mention:they sound much better than the latest Q series!They had no competitors at their price so I bought them and I love them.

Similar Products Used:

tannoy mercury,R3,KEF cresta

This is a follow up to my previous post (Jon from Springfield - typo). Ayways, I noted that the bass output from the speakers could be better. I would like to change that statement. I've been upgrading my front-end equipment over some time now and I feel that I may have a pretty good combination that gets the most out of these speakers.

I didn't realize how much difference I would experience with the upgrades, but the changes did gradually occur with every new equipment. For example, I was using a M&K amplified sub crossed over at ~50 Hz, but I stopped using the sub altogether. I'm not saying that these speakers actually put out more bass than a powered sub, it's just that the bass is cleaner and I just did not miss the subs too much. I do keep them in my system for the occasional pleasures I seek from the Beastie Boys and some other bass heavy goodies :-). I would give them a 5 for value and 5 for overall rating since they can be picked up for very reasonable price used (~$300-400).

Associated Equipment:
Meta Research Laser-1 CD transport
Sony DAT deck
Sony C77ES CD player (used as a transport)
EAD DSP-9000 mk3 DAC - running directly into the amp
B&K ST-3030 amp
MIT Terminator-2 Bi-wire speaker cables

Accuracy
Clarity

I've owned these speakers for 5 years now and they were my best audio investment. I've had to upgrade almost every other component in my audio system over the last 5 years, but not the Q90s. My Denon AVR 4800 directs frequencies below 80 to the sub, so I don't have any complaints about bass. CDs and DVDs sound amazing and uncolored.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 804

Great stereo imagary. Good bass.

Size can be problem if you have limeted floor space

I purchased my KEF Q 90's whislt Hong Kong way back in 1992. I have never had any reason to complain. They are, in my opinion, a fantastic speaker and have proved to be a sound investment.

I have been using them for listening to both music and home cinema. As time has elapsed I have had to upgrade most of my kit, but thankfully the speakers still do their job as well as anything on the market.

Any body thinking about purchasing a pair could do alot worse than these fine floor standing speakers.

detailed highs, tonal balance, dynamics and trancient response, imaging

little bit of colorations in mid-lows if wrongly placed.
none for its price

The Q90 is a bagain for its price. When it comes to dynamics, trancients and imaging truly this speaker is unbeatable in its price range. The one inch tweeter and the two eight inch drivers gives you superb soundstage and and accurate weight and size in all bandwith. If your a person who likes a live, musical and accurate speaker with out the hideous price. This is the speaker for you. Hey although its a bit expensive but if you talk about the sound it produces I promise you its price relatively cheap!!!

And about that guy who has that daughter who overdriven his Q90s. Thats not the speakers fault. And I really feel sorry that that happened. Those were a great pair of speakers you bought...

Similar Products Used:

kef C95

details, tonal quality and balance, trancient and dynamic response, mid-low!!!

none

The Q90s are great speakers in fact better sounding than the new Q-series. The speaker consists of a one inch tweeterand two eight inch woofers. These woofers are cut at 400 hz. So both one driver takes the choirs for the mid range and the other for the mid-low. Resulting a speaker sounding very much full of harmonics. Its hard to describe because I rarely see speakers with this configurations. Its a great sounding speakers, in some areas even better than some references!

I got the Q90 5 years ago. And I think it's a very good speaker. It's a little priceise, but I think if you have a good emp then the speaker will rock your mind.

I have also had this speaker for about 5 years and let me say it is not a speaker that should be played by a teenager at max volume. I have had mine at an extended volume level (not full) through entire movies and have been very satisfied. I have a longer review of this speaker matched with the Q50's on that review (the Q50's). Overall a 5 star speaker for sound and value.

As far as I know this is not a product KEF currently makes, but I own a pair of these, so what the heck. (I am unsure of what year mine are, so I guessed).

I feel I had to review these to counteract the other bozo-reviewers who gave these a negative (nonsensical) review.

First of all, these are not center channel speakers. these are floor standing speakers. This person obviously reviewed the wrong product.

Second of all, if your daughter blew out these speakers by putting the volume to 11, then you clearly are at fault. This person tried to make this product try to do something it is not meant to do!

I would probably give these thingies very solid 4 ratings. However when you have people giving these things 1 star for no good reason, you have to counteract this sort of senselessness.

BTW, I have used the q90's with a Jolida sj-502 and also with an Adcom setup, and I AM VERY HAPPY!!! ^_^