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  1. #1
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    Speaker Advice Needed (Again) - KEF Q11 vs Dynaudio Audience 72

    KEF Q11 vs Dynaudio Audience 72

    I am starting to narrow down my speaker choices and would appreciate feedback on these two:

    * KEF Q11 (you can see the specs on http://www.kef.com/products/qseries/qseries11.asp) - about $1,100 per pair.

    * Dynaudio Audience 72 - about $1,800 per pair.

    (I am narrowing down on speakers that are actually available my area).


    I will be using Adcom GFA 5500 (200W/channel in 8 ohms) to drive the speakers that I will ultimately buy. I need a decent 2 channel all-round sound reprodution. I do not want to use a subwoofer and I am not interested in electrostatics (they are too complicated for me).

    Question - Will Dynaudio Audience 72 really offer me a much better sound quality compared to KEF Q11?

    I can afford to buy KEF now. For Dynaudio, I will have to wait 3-4 months (until I have enough money!).

  2. #2
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    This is a review conclusion of the Dynaudios. Personally i liked the Kef at the High End show last year here in Munich. They seem to be more honest in terms of admitting that they dont have much bass weight and focusing on the other areas. The Dyns seem to be a speaker who wants to be a fullrange, but simply isnt and they sacrifice in the are important areas.

    I would go for the Kef and look into buying a Ocatve V70 in the future. They mate very well incl. the reference line.

    Conclusion

    Dynaudio's Audience 70 didn't quite manage to hit the spot when we reviewed it last year, and the same seems to have happened this time around with the Audience 72 despite the changes. The Dynaudio is very competent in almost every respect, but the speaker somehow lacked the vital spark needed to switch on our listeners' attention and focus it on the music being played.
    Once again, amplifiers will not be troubled by modest swings in phase but the average impedance of 5.4 ohm is very current-hungry indeed, varying between just 3 and 7.7 ohm across the entire audioband. This represents the toughest load in our 12-strong test.

    And it drops down to 3ohm wich is the same as my fullrange Apogee panels, which can be of trouble to some lesser powered amplifiers. My panels only vary from 3 to 5, but the Dyns vary even more. So i would be carefull, and go with the Kef.
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  3. #3
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    Thanks Florian, and one more Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    This is a review conclusion of the Dynaudios. Personally i liked the Kef at the High End show last year here in Munich. They seem to be more honest in terms of admitting that they dont have much bass weight and focusing on the other areas. The Dyns seem to be a speaker who wants to be a fullrange, but simply isnt and they sacrifice in the are important areas.

    I would go for the Kef and look into buying a Ocatve V70 in the future. They mate very well incl. the reference line.
    So you think that I would need a subwoofer to get proper bass levels? Are there any speakers in the $2,000 range that can give a good overall reproduction without needing a subwoofer?

  4. #4
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Well i would rather take quality over quanitity. Almost all Floorstanders that i know dont have real low bottom end extension. A few would be the B&W Nautilus 801 and 802 but those are too expensive. I would go and get the Kef first and then later think about buying 2x HSU's or a Velodyne DD and use it with digital room correction. Take your time to complete the setup. I have saved for years to get where i am today.

    -Flo
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  5. #5
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    Ok, almost settled now. One more Q for Flo...

    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    Well i would rather take quality over quanitity.
    -Flo
    Agreed. Although I am nearly settled on the KEFs, what is your take on MORDAUNT SHORT in general and MORDAUNT SHORT MS502 specifically (if you have auditioned them).

    http://www.accessories4less.com/amaz...502%2FMPL&tpc=

    And thanks again for the advise.

    - areej

  6. #6
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Well those MS do look quite interesting. The bass response seems doable at 30Hz and you have a eq in there. How large is your listening room? I have a set of speakers here with sidefiring bass driver and its tough to integrate in some rooms.

    -Flo

    PS: I would still go with the KEF but the MS do look interesting.
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    Well those MS do look quite interesting. The bass response seems doable at 30Hz and you have a eq in there. How large is your listening room?
    The listening room is 20 feet long by 15 feet wide. It is not a closed room however as immediately after is the kitchen and breakfast area which is 22 feet long by 16 feet wide. So you are looking at quite a large area to fill with sound.

    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    I have a set of speakers here with sidefiring bass driver and its tough to integrate in some rooms.
    I think you are right on this. I read a review on the MS side firing speakers and one of the issues was the difficulty of setting up proper bass response. The reviewer complained about phase cancellation and "a hole" in the bass response due to the two side firing woofers cancelling out some frequencies. This is why I am a bit scared of MS, though the price looks very good.

  8. #8
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Go ahead and buy the KEF. They have a great sound, good build quality and good subwoofers too. Try to save for a Ocvatve V70 amp and a KEF subwoofer. Build it slowly but with 100% quality, and you will be happy on the long run.

    -Flo

    PS: This is a picture of the Octave V70. A stunning match with KEF, especially the reference line.

    Last edited by Florian; 09-23-2005 at 07:23 AM.
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  9. #9
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    These KEF's look great! The Q7 series really cought my eye. Do these have a good sound as well?
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
    These KEF's look great! The Q7 series really cought my eye. Do these have a good sound as well?
    I don't know about Q7, but Q11 does seem to be a good speaker. If you are interested you can call Mark at http://www.accessories4less.com and he will be able help you. I just spoke to him and they seem to be decent guys and even offered to waive shipping.

  11. #11
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaree
    I don't know about Q7, but Q11 does seem to be a good speaker. If you are interested you can call Mark at http://www.accessories4less.com and he will be able help you. I just spoke to him and they seem to be decent guys and even offered to waive shipping.
    So cool. Thanks.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  12. #12
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    Thanks Florian

    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    Go ahead and buy the KEF. They have a great sound, good build quality and good subwoofers too.
    With your blessing, I am going to go for the KEFs!

    - jaree

  13. #13
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    You have my blessing
    Please post pictures and a review once you have them.

    -Flo
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  14. #14
    nightflier
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    Well, not so fast

    While there is a substantial difference in the price between the KEF and the Dynaudio's, there is also a very different sound to take into account. I have the Audience 72's and I have yet to find a speaker that sounds as good to me in that price range. True, this is largely preference, but I also think it has to do with what they are connected to. I played around with various amps, and found that even some very beefy amps (380W) did not bring out the Dynaudio's strengths as well as my smaller PS Audio HCA-2.

    On the other hand, the KEF has one very interesting thing going for it in that it has that co-incident driver which makes placement easier and really shines with stereo imaging. I had a pair of Q5's to play with and was very impressed. It is very forgiving of the equipment it is powered with and sounds very good, especially in the mids and upper range. I was a little leary of the Q7's as they were a bit more expensive and had that funky oval bass driver, which I just did not feel too good about (probably just a feeling). In the end, I didn't hear or see the point of spending the extra $$$ on the Q7's, so I went with the Q5's.

    The Dynaudios are much more power hungry and so I powered them with the most powerful amp I had, but they sounded a tad dark and uninvolving. I tend to like my music warm, but this was more than I had bargained for; I thought I had collected all the parts together for my affordable dream system, and I was sorely dissapointed. However, when I changed out the amp (I also changed out some cables, so that may also have been a factor), the speakers came alive. I have since been enjoying my Dynaudios very much. They have a very rich sound with deep bass, and can handle very fast changes in music without noticeable issues. In comparing the KEF's, which I also liked, the Dynaudios have more power & control, and the KEF seemed a little thin to my ears.

    They are both excellent speakers and I wouldn't mind owning the KEF's, but my preference is for the Dynaudio's. I have heard Monitor Audios, Vienna Acoustics, Infinitys, the Polk LS line and several others in the same price range, and I really can't say they sound as good. Even the Dynaudio Contours, while in a different league altogether, didn't catch my attention as much as the Audience line. If cost is an issue, consider buying the Dynaudios used, I bought mine for $800, and for that price, there really isn't much out there that compares, even new.

    P.S. The Audience 70, is an older model that sounds very similar, the only difference being the location of the port so placement of the speakers may have to be a bit different. You might be able to get an even better deal on those because they are not the current line.

  15. #15
    Stereo value > car value texlle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    Go ahead and buy the KEF. They have a great sound, good build quality and good subwoofers too. Try to save for a Ocvatve V70 amp and a KEF subwoofer. Build it slowly but with 100% quality, and you will be happy on the long run.

    -Flo

    PS: This is a picture of the Octave V70. A stunning match with KEF, especially the reference line.

    Nice looking amp.
    Dynaudio Audience 42
    Conrad-Johnson PV14
    Sonographe SA-250
    Music Hall CD 25.2
    Musical Fidelity V3 series- X-LPS phono preamp, X-DAC, X-PSU
    Rega RP1 w/ performance pack
    Pure i-20 iPod dock
    -----------------------------
    B&W DM603s2- B&W LCR60s3- B&W DM302
    Velodyne CT-120 12" sub
    Rotel RSX-1055
    Arcam CD73T
    Samsung LN46C630 46" LCD
    Denon DBP-1611 bluray
    -----------------------------
    KEF K120- Jolida JD202a- Cambridge Audio D300 cdp- T500 tuner

    Photo gallery

  16. #16
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Sounds very good too, i was considering one for my DIVA but i need a bit more juice
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

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