Q150 Bookshelf Speaker

I am a music fanatic and very impressed with these speakers. I’m using a Yamaha receiver as a digital pre amp in pure direct mode with a separate 325 watt crown amp. Digital sources only with a powered sub. Very good imaging with a great sense of depth. Classical reproduction is magical on well recorded tracks. John Mayer is beautiful on the vocals. I had a larger pair of b&w bookshelves I moved to another room that were larger and more expensive. I prefer the kefs 80% of the time. More layed back presentation. The b&w’s were better on loud concerts at high volumes as they are a little more lively in the high frequencies. Audiophiles may term that fatiguing. The Keffs are smooth and detailed and sound fantastic to my ears. Highly recommended.

I have had the KEF Q150 for about four months. I use it at my computer desk with 50 watt integrated amp. My main source are my computer music files. The sound is very natural and well balanced. It plays what is on the recording. Grand piano and violin sound wonderful. I use also for my old rock music like the Stones and the Beatles. Bass is tight and tuneful. Like that the speakers are not too big. Well recommended.

I use my Q150's for desktop computer set up. I have small 50 watt amp driving them with flac files. Excellent sound. They really shine with jazz and classical piano. Voices are well done. The KEF Q150's are balanced from top to bottom. I like the grills to protect them from my soda fizz spray. The speaker covers are magnetic and look good in black oak. Recommended.

Let me say especially at the current price at $300/pair, these Q150s offer a very solid product in terms of build quality, aesthetics, sound quality, and respond to a fuss free approach to placement and setup.

I would have liked to see the grilles included like with most speakers but these speakers look great without grilles with no visible screws or pin cups thanks to the magnetic grille design. My ratings for price and value are based on the regular MSRP. At the price I paid, I would give 5 stars all-around.

The only potential downside sound wise I can think of is that dialogue/vocals need some volume to sound their best. Not an issue for HT use or music at a moderate volume, just low level night or background music listening. On the flip side, these speakers aren't fatiguing or bright in any way and so listening at somewhat loud levels is very pleasant. Treble is very smooth and extended.

My previous speakers include SVS Prime bookshelves and center and Sony Core bookshelves and center before that. These Q150s are a lot better in most ways than both and I have 5 of them paired with a sealed Rythmik L12 sub and Yamaha Aventage RX-A2070 AVR in a bedroom 5.1 HT setup. Given the very small and sealed nature of my room (~1200 cu ft), this setup is very powerful and I don’t need to go past -30dB MV on the Yamaha to fill the room with very clear, precise, and powerful sound. I found using the supplied port plugs to turn these into sealed speakers with a global 100Hz crossover in the AVR produced the best bass response in my room.

Incredible amount of detail while sounding fantastic across all frequencies. Directly compared to a pair of JBL LSR305s and the Q150 are a noticeable upgrade. In a desktop setup you may even be fine without a sub woofer as these are able to deliver an amazing amount of bass for their size.