Help me choose - KEF Reference 200 or XQ Series?


My system will be used primarily for home theater (85%). I plan on using a Pioneer Elite VSX-49TXi receiver (130 watts per channel over 7 channels at 8 ohms) which I expect will do everything I want. I figure I can always add amps or go to components later if I desire. I currently have a 10” Velodyne subwoofer that I will use until the budget allows an upgrade. The room size is about 23’ wide by 31’ long. I will be using a little more than half of the area for our home theater (14’ x 31’) with the sofa about 12’ back from the HDTV (hopefully a hot new 55” to 80” LCOS display next spring).

My wife and I have listened to a wide range of speakers and really love the sound and imaging of the KEFs. Sorry B&W fans, the sound just didn’t fit our particular tastes though we checked out both the 800 and CDM NT series. I believe this is a one-time, 20+ year shot at buying speakers since we have three young children to raise and educate. With that theory in mind, I think we’ll be best served by buying the best speakers we can possibly afford as we can always upgrade other components later as our budget allows. As we all know, a wholesale change of speakers for a 5.1 or 7.1 HT setup is horrendously expensive to do at once if you are concerned with timbre matching.

As for the speakers, here are my contemplated options:

OPTION #1
Qty Model MSRP Street Used
4 Reference 201 7,000 5,498 3,600
4 KEF Stands 990 856 856
1 Reference 202c 2,000 1,588 1,040

TOTAL 9,990 7,942 5,496

OPTION #2
Qty Model MSRP Street Used
2 Reference 203 5,000 3,949 2,600
2 Reference 201 3,500 2,749 1,800
2 KEF Stands 495 428 428
1 Reference 202c 2,000 1,588 1,040

TOTAL 10,995 8,714 5,868

OPTION #3
Qty Model MSRP Street Used
2 XQ5 3,000 2,445 N/A
2 XQ3 2,000 1,545 N/A
2 KEF Stands 495 428 N/A
1 XQ2c 1,450 1,250 N/A

TOTAL 6,945 5,668 N/A

OPTION #4
Qty Model MSRP Street Used
4 XQ3 4,000 3,090 N/A
2 KEF Stands 990 856 N/A
1 XQ2c 1,450 1,250 N/A

TOTAL 6,440 5,196 N/A

As you can see, the used prices of Options #1 and #2 for KEF Reference Series speakers compares favorably with the street price of the new KEF XQ series to make my decision more challenging. While I would prefer either Option #2 or #3 in order to get the 203 or XQ5 floorstanders, our concern is the ability to fit the larger speakers into the décor of our next home. While floorstanders would work great in our current dedicated HT area, I’d hate to seem them not work out in our next home. The advantage to going with four Reference 201 speakers now is that if it worked out in the future, I could add 203s to the front for an awesome 7.1 setup. Alternatively, I could also do four XQ3s now and add a pair of XQ5s later.

So far, we haven’t been able to demo the KEF Reference Series against the XQ series in the same room. My wife and I feel we can’t go wrong either way assuming that we can find the used Reference series speakers over time. My wife also prefers the look of the Reference series – an always important issue.

Now to my most important question – which option would you choose and more importantly – why?

Thanks much!
zorax2
I'd go for option 1 with a KEF PSW4000 sub. I shopped for subs for 14 years, bought several, returned all (many different companies) and finally found the new KEF. Frankly, it's the only subwoofer that I found that didn't fall into the "is it good enough to tolerate" category. Rather it's in the "it makes my system sound better" category. Of course, set up is somewhat difficult, as it is with any sub. However, the KEF makes it easier because it has an RF remote so you can make adjustments from your prefered listening position.
lee_fingersh,

I've never had the chance to listen to any KEF Sub. Have you ever tried or listened to any of the SVS subs? Given what I've read, it sounds as though their new PB2-Plus would be a dynamite addition to the KEFs. I'd love to hear your advice since it sounds like you've spent a lot of time making comparisons.

I do like the thought of the remote that the KEF sub has - a real nice touch!
I'm currently running a Velodyne FSR-12 with my Kefs. The Velo is a servo controlled unit and comes with a remote as well. I believe it complements the Kefs nicely because they both happen to have a drier sound and I've always been thrilled by how quickly the sub reports the base and then stops.
Zorax2,

I haven't listened to any SVS subs as I haven't found them in my area. I have listened to every sub made by Velodyne, Infinity, Klipsch, Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Yamaha, SunFire and B&W. I have also listened to several miscellaneous subs by other companies. The one that stands out is one by Von Schweikert called the VR S/1. It is extremely clean but not very deep or powerful.

Compared to the others, the Kef PSW4000 was absouletly light-years ahead. The SunFires are powerful but muddy as can be. The Velodynes come in two flavors. The small ones are clean but not very deep or powerful, the large ones are deep and powerful but muddy. Of the ones I listened to, the DefTechs are pretty good and substantially cheaper than the Kef. However, I wasn't willing to spend $1200 for a sub that was just good enought to tolerate, but not good enough to love. So I spent $2k for the Kef which is a very enjoyable-to-listen-to product.

I tested the Kef quite extensively in two different stores and at home before I purchased it. I tested it on difficult material (acapella music with deep vocals, solo bass guitar, and piano - very clean) and I tested it with cinima (the Matrix - shakes everything in my house on all three floors). I even tried shutting off my main woofers (they're bi-amped) and dialing up the sub's crossover frequency to 140Hz so that it would produce all of the bass. This is very difficult for a sub - especially a downfiring sub - and the Kef performed flawlessly. On this same test, the Velodyne HGS-12 made everything sound the same - from voice to piano, it all went "boom". Very dissapointing.
Thanks for the info Lee! I'll have to find the KEF sub to demo sometime. BTW, I just bought a pair of KEF 203s here on Audiogon! I can't wait to get them!