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Kef uni-q owners help, to toe-in or not to toe-in?

i've had my 102/2's for quite some time now and have been happy with them (my budget requires me to be happy so i'm happy) but i've never been sure if i should toe them in or not- when i bought them years ago, the dealer said something about keeping them straight because of the uni-q arrangement- is this true? sometimes it seems like the highs are attacking my ears when they are toed-in but on some recordings, toe-in seems to work fine- please help me to stop fussing over speaker placement- thanks
tdelgiudd97b
viggen
838 posts
 
Everything Rockvirgo said, the same go with me except I have the 103/4 and not the Q90. I also used to have the Q70 and Q30. I also have to Q100, should I toe that in as well?
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
I have my Q1's toed-in right at my listening position. My room has the effect of reinforcing the bass and the speakers are only 6' apart w/only an equipment stand between
the spks. I listen at a distance of 7'. I do not have them bi-wired.(using Kimber Kable 4VS) If it's possible you might try your spks. single wired if they are bi-wired? Sometimes this may soften the detail and add little bass. Great spks!
pmi_guy
72 posts
 
I agree with all of the above. Toe-in seems to help the imaging a bit but sometimes it's too intense, if that makes sense. Normally I have them straight ahead for a more relaxed sound stage. I like the speakers a lot but the sound was a bit harsh before I upgraded/tweaked the rest of my system. Toe-in seemed to make the harshness more apparent. Now the sound is pretty smooth. I have Reference One's with Uni-Q.
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
I agree with the statements above. I keep my KEF Q-90s forward firing rather than toed in. When I had them toed in I was hit with a bit of harshness and even when I changed my ICs to better quality ICs the harshness was still there but only a hair less when they were still toed in.

Now regarding the Uni-Q drivers I have a question about speaker height. From what I've read about speaker height most of the time the tweeter should be right around ear level. With the KEF Q90 speakers that have the Uni-Q driver the tweeter is about 30" high off of the floor. I found my ear level when sitting is about 40" high. For the audiophiles who have owned or stll own KEF floor standing speakers with the Uni-Q driver do you or have you raised the KEF speakers up so that the tweeter is at or close to your ear level? Have you heard a difference with the Uni-Q driver being raised up or left at their original height? Which way sounded better? Everytime I've called or e-mailed KEF USA about this I never get an answer. Thanks in advance.
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