KEF Q350 Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Walnut)

These speakers have impressed me over the almost 2 years I have owned them. I recently bought the Kef R3 meta speakers, and they did have a larger soundstage and were a bit more immersive but I felt lacked in bass compared to these (which is completely the opposite of what I thought would happen!). I will say the R3s did go a bit lower though. I felt the R3s were a bit heavy on treble and lost what I love about these speakers — the buttery mids. I’m not kidding, these things sounds so beautiful in the mid range. I returned the R3s because I prefer these. 10/10 for me especially for the $.

Excellent sound and build quality. I was surprised how much bass they can produce, but really work best with a sub. The unique driver really gets the mids and highs correct. These are truly audiophile speakers! Plus they lend themselves out beautifully for both modern and vintage amps.

These are awesome speakers. They replaced Emotiva xb2 bookshelf speakers that almost broke my eardrums with their piercing treble. The KEF’s are very detailed, yet very laid back and never harsh. I’d recommend them to anyone that just wants to listen to music and enjoy it.

For a bit of background, I'm a hobbyist audio and mastering engineer with about 20 years of studio experience.Wanting to build an 50% Home Theater / 50% Music system for my family room that is starting out as a 2.0 system, and not really having access to a local A/V retailer that stocks entry and mid-level audiophile grade equipment, I set about researching speakers and AVRs on Youtube, Reddit, CNET, Digital Trends, What Hi-Fi?, etc. I spent about two weeks educating myself on speaker manufacturers and their current offerings using user and professional reviews, Youtube audio demos and other sources of information. I looked at Fluance, Elac, SVS, Wharfedale, Q Acoustics, Dali, and many others.I toyed around with the thought of getting the Elac UB5s for quite a while, but they just didn't have that "it" factor I was looking for. That's about the time I came across a youtube channel demoing the KEF LS50s. While I didn't really want to spend LS50 money, I went to the KEF website and discovered the Q series. These Q350s seemed to be the "it" I was looking for.After a shipping snafu, which Amazon quickly corrected, I received the Q350s about a week ago and set them up in my family room on 32" stands ( TransDeco Speaker Stands, 32-Inch ). These stands placed the driver at a higher-than-ear level, but put the drivers in the vertical middle of my 60" LG 4K monitor. My thought being that centered dialog would acoustically appear in the middle of the screen.After setting them up, I toed them in toward my listening position and connected them to my Marantz NR1607 ( Marantz NR1607 Ultra HD 7.2 Channel Network A/V Surround Receiver with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi ) using 12 gauge copper speaker wire. I then went through the Marantz Audyssey MultEQ room correction wizard using the Marantz-supplied calibration microphone.After completing setup, I've spent the past week playing a number of my favorite reference songs and albums, using various playback methods including AirPlay, Bluetooth, Media Server, PS4, etc, in formats ranging from 96kHz/24bit wav masters down to 128kbit MP3s. I also watched the movie Arrival using the speakers, as well as several episodes of various TV shows. I listened with the Marantz's room correction on, as well as in direct mode, bypassing all processing.Initially, with the Q350s toed-in toward the listening position, I found them to be quite bright, and on certain material, even bordering on harsh at louder volumes (Dream Fiend's "Higher ft. Heidi", Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole"). This was surprising to me considering that reviewers have described them as "warm" when compared with American manufacturer's speakers. At the same time, other material ( Zero7 and Sia's "Somersault") absolutely came alive, with the 350s conveying a massive stereo image and revealing elements and details of the recording that hadn't previously shown themselves to me on more neutral monitors.At this point, I began experimenting with placement. Moving the speakers further away from or closer to the wall, moving them further apart and closer together, and ranging from facing directly forward to toed-in directly at the listening position. Finally, I turned them on their side, which put the drivers right at ear level, pointed them straight ahead and placed the rear port about 10" from the wall, as show in the attached image. This is where the Q350s want to be.I listened to The Midnight's entire, flawless-mixed "Endless Summer" album with the speakers in this position at 88dB volume measured at the listening position and the room absolutely came alive. During one particular passage, a saxophone appeared about 5' to the left of, and elevated about 45 degrees above the left speaker's driver. I'm not even sure how that's possible, but it was impressive. Listening to well-produced dance music like Big Data's "Dangerous (Oliver Remix)" is perhaps where these speakers offer the most shocking performance, with a tight, controlled low end that is much larger than the size of this driver/cabinet combination, and a coherent articulation in the highs that I simply haven't heard before.While watching the film Arrival at a similar volume, I was quite impressed with the Q350s ability to dig really deep and punch way above their weight class. With only the two speakers, I'm quite certain that I could convince friends that I'd hidden something like a Dayton Audio SUB-1200 somewhere in the room. While I still think they could benefit from a little extra sub-50Hz encouragement, they're perfectly capable of creating an enjoyable Home Theater experience one their own.TL;DR A bit heavy-handed in the upper mid-range on guitar-laden rock and similar mid-heavy material, but absolutely stunning with modern dance, 80s, Synthwave, Jazz, Acoustic and Easy Listening or Atmospheric material. An extremely impressive choice for your Home Theater. They're a little temperamental with regard to placement and orientation, but once you find the sweet spot, you'll be blown away.UPDATE 3/26/18: Shortly after posting this review, my Marantz NR1607 died. Amazon processed it as a return, even though I was past my 30 days (thanks Amazon). I then purchased the Denon AVR-X3300W ( https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-X3300W-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B01HL8KYAY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522117433&sr=8-3&keywords=denon+avr-x3300w ) after deciding to give D&M Holdings one more chance. The Denon has proved to be much more reliable, and ever so slightly less warm sounding, although I do feel it's punchier and more responsive, likely a result of the additional power. The KEFs are still rockin', and have broken in nicely.

For a retail price of $500 I am so incredibly blown away. Trust me and ignore any negative reviews for this speaker. I have listened to many many speakers around this and we'll above this price range. I just sold my beloved focal 726 tower speakers that cost 3.5 times are much at the Q350s, and I also own a pair of Polk A3s. These Kefs blow all the speakers in this price range clear out of the water. I have barely even set these up and much less broken them I'm but here's a quick summary of what I'm hearing in order of WOW...Soundstage: wow wow wow, did I say wow? These suckers soundstage better than ANY speaker I've listened to, which is really hard for me to grasp. No matter the placement (we'll get to that!), Soundstage is on point and EXTREMELY wide.Bass: let me just say, I am a huge advocate for a small sealed subwoofer with any system. However, you COULD run these without a sub if you're really on a budget. In my room and 14in from the back wall, the Q350s sing all the way down to 45hz!!! (Then they fall off hard) But 99% of music never even reaches down that far. But more important to me, the bass is extremely clean and clear, being a 6.5 woofer. It is also extremely present and punchy, and I did have to EQ off a little of the low end since it seemed over balance the mids.Build: though not as solid is some other speakers I've owned, the Kef Q350s are absolutely stunning, even more so in real life. The finish is a really nice texture, and welcomed break from the over-poluted fake wood vinyl that nearly every speaker sports these days.Treble: despite what I've heard and read, the upper end of these speakers is very detailed. They are definitely warm speakers, so "S" "P" and high hats are a little "rounder" for a lack of a better word. But female vocals are very crispe and breathy enough for me. Too much "detail" and you get fatiguing speakers, and I think kef got the treble just about right for the Q350s.So what don't I like about these speakers so far? Well as everyone warned me I'm the internet, placing these speakers is NOT FUN!! They have a sweet spot that they like, and probably rooms that they don't like. They aren't very forgiving with placement, and I'm sure that causes most of the negative reviews (which is probably something they won't admit I'm their reviews, haha). As a helpful reference, I have my 350s intersecting at a relatively standard 2-3ft behind my listening position. They are 14in from the back wall, and I sit relatively close to my back wall. They are also quite far apart from each other in comparison to how close I am to them. They need a fair bit of toe in compared to what I do for most speakers in this room.So basically if you are tempted to buy these, do it! You won't be disappointed. And if the Q350s are a little high on price for you, I'd imagine the Q150s are an even better deal for $300!