Speaker recommendation KEF UniQ 750B


Hi folks, In a couple days I'm driving into town to listen to some KEFs Q750b at a Visions Electronics shop. They are on for $1,398 Canadian.  In general, I'm looking for something in the 1,000 to 1,500 range to be hooked up to my Yamaha n-r303 amp and my AT-LP120USB turntable.  The same store has several other speakers in the same range:Klipsch Black Label Tower with Dual 8" woofers F330b for $998, Poke Audio Signature Series American HiFi Home Theatre Tower (S60) for $1,198. Any recommendations?

I am by no means an audiophile.  I have not bought stereo equipment (other than soundbars and headphones) for over 30 years.  This year I took my old Kenwood amp to an electronics repair shop to get fixed up, mostly because the headphone jack stopped working, although the indicator lights had died years earlier, and the technician said he wouldn't touch it ("just too hard to find those parts now"), a month earlier I had decided to replace my (also Kenwood) turntable. I was going out to buy a new cartridge and belt, when the hinge on the dustcover broke, a trivial thing, but it got me thinking there were probably more parts wearing out than good in that old girl. My speakers are still doing fine, and I have to say I love the speakers, but years after buying them (1982) I had looked up reviews on the speakers (old JVCs) and found out they were considered the weak link in my system.  I guess JVC has never been known for their speakers, and the ones I had with their large 10.5" woofers were considered "bassy, and cheesy."  Who knew?  I had loved them all these years. Nonetheless, I suspect upgrading them will have me wondering why I hadn't bought new speakers years ago.

Thanks a ton, Wayne  
wayneschlapkohl
Thanks Glen,

I'm afraid I had already bought the KEFs by the time I had read your post! I really liked the sound of the KEFs especially with classical music (I had tried Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in the store).  The sales person also was moving in the KEF direction after I mentioned my music preferences (classic rock, folk, classical) saying the KEFs may have more of a neutral sound than the Polk and Kipsch. If I was more of a rap or hip hop fan, he would push the Polk as he thought they were a bit bass heavy.  The KEFs are not very efficient (I think an efficiency rating of 88), and I am working with just 100 watts per channel in my Yamaha R-N303 amp, but so far no problems. My rec room is fairly small, and my listening distance is fairly close. I put on some Rush this morning and the KEFs handled it just fine. I'm still playing with listening distance to get the soundstage figured out.  Despite KEF saying where you sit isn't as important with their speakers, I think I have to sit farther back to get really good separation.  I have a few minor upgrades in the future.  I'll probably replace the speaker cables fairly soon (they threw in some Qlink premium 16 gauge with banana plugs in the store) and a cartridge upgrade for my turntable at some point.  What has surprised me the most about getting new equipment after 30+ years is the most noticeable change for me was getting a new turntable, despite (as I mentioned above) when I read the experts' reviews my turntable was highly rated, my speakers were considered to be not so good, but as soon as I put the new turntable on I noticed better range and separation.  Maybe it was breaking down in ways I didn't appreciate.

Thanks for the offer to drop in! I'm actually on the prairies (Saskatchewan), but I appreciate the offer.  I have kept the old amp so if I find someone in Saskatoon that might be willing to take it on, I'll get it fixed up (I'm just outside of Saskatoon in North Battleford). 

Wayne  
welcome to the audio land. there is so many great speakers in that price range its hard to start anywhere specific. Have you thought about used speakers as you will get way more bang for your buck? 

Things to think about

what amplification will I end up with and how much power. this will effect the amp-speaker interface.
like for example efficiency: if you have low efficiency speakers you'll need more power. high efficient speakers will need less power so there is a potential saving in amplification if you find higher efficiency speakers.

Size of speaker and how much bass do you need or want. size of room will effect the size of speaker somewhat depending on how much volume you need. 

Are you in Victoria ? I can talk with you and help out if you want i'm also in Victoria and live a block from Vision. Another place to look is Sound hounds and for vintage Q-electronics. Question did you take your amp-table to Q they have one of the best techs in the city who specialises in vintage. 

if you'd like to chat give me a call ###-686-5903 

glen