KEF Q250c Centre Channel Speaker, Walnut

Amazon Prime day had these at a $400 discount so couldn't resist. Glad I didn't hesitate, they sound so life like they give you the chills listening to them, like the singers are in the room. Not for heavy bass lovers unless you pair with a sub as I do or listen in a small room. Very inefficient so a decent powered amp is needed, I use it with a Sonos Amp 125wpc and the speakers sound great. The amp connects to my Sonos sub and my Technics SL1500c turntable and blends into my Sonos system really well for whole house listening. Superb speakers if you can get a good deal on them.

I'm currently looking at three pairs of speakers, and I have five pairs around the house and in boxes in the garage. That's not including the drivers I need to make a 3D-printed cabinet for, the tube and solid-state amps, and premium headphones. So, I guess you could call me an audioholic. Some speakers have an immediate wow factor, some sound initially nice, but then you tire of them quickly. Some don't sound great with certain amps. The LS50's sound bland - nothing wrong, nothing good, just plain Jane. They're being driven by a Marantz Amp w/ HDAM and 120W /ch and paired with an SVS 3000 Micro in my bedroom a ~4x5m room. They don't have a wide soundstage, they don't sound holographic, and they don't have great separation or great immersion. They're just 5/10 in every category except for design and price. Design is a solid 8/10, and price is a solid 2/10, especially if you paid anything over A$2000 like I did. They're replacing some QAccoustics which could fool you in to believing sound was coming from the sides, the LS50's can't. They look better than they sound. Would they sound better if I placed them in the middle of the room on A$1000 stands? Maybe, but maybe all my other speakers would have the same up lift too, which would still make the LS 50's plain Jane 5/10's and separating them from the wall 30cm didn't make any difference (plugged).

The Good: It sounds amazing and looks awesome. KEF Uni-Q driver technology is magic. If you know, you know. Clarity is unmatched. I didn't realize how realistic sound effects could be before hooking this up. Coming from a JBL 5.1 soundbar this is a huge upgrade. Placement is easy since there's no port on the back. The Bad: The cabinet materials are a bit cheap for the price. The "walnut" finish is just a vinyl faux wood wrap. Bass response isn't great. The Ugly: Deceptive marketing on KEF's and Amazon's part. Be aware that what you are getting is one Uni-Q driver (yes technically it's 2 drivers in one) and 2 passive radiators. You have to really dig into the specifications on KEF's website to even find this information. In fact they don't outright call them passive radiators, they are listed in the specs as "Aluminium ABR". Guess what ABR stands for? "Auxiliary Bass Radiator". But they don't tell you that. Moreover the Amazon product page is touting the advanced new design of the low-frequency drivers and specifically states that the speaker has "two 5.25" bass drivers". This is patently false as passive radiators are not "drivers". I assume they just took standard marketing copy for the KEF Q-series and pasted it onto the product page, but--I can't emphasize this enough--THERE ARE NO BASS DRIVERS IN THE Q250c! Price-- When you consider that a *pair* of Q150's--which have the exact same Uni-Q driver--sells for $550 (at the time of writing it's discounted to $350). That's $275 ($175 on sale) per speaker. The only conclusion left to draw then is that you are playing $325 to $425 for two aluminum discs with rubber suspension and a bit more wood. Absolutely outrageous! The Q650c is $200 more than the 250 and it does have on actual LF driver (also it has 1 PR but you won't find that on the Amazon listing!). I have no problem with PR's in general and actually prefer it to a ported box. You get many of the advantages of a port (greater efficiency and bass response) without the disadvantages (chuffing and steep rolloff). But I do have a problem with deceptive marketing and nonsensical pricing. I don't really blame the Amazon listing because KEF is really trying to obfuscate the fact that they are cutting corners. If I didn't already have $2k invested in KEF LS50W's as front mains I would never even consider this center channel, unless it was like $300 MSRP, in which case it would be fantastic. Final word: I unfortunately can't recommend this speaker at this price even though it is a competent center channel. The only reason to buy this is if you already have KEF speakers and want to maintain the same tonality for the center channel. Even then, the Q650c is probably a better buy (if you have $600 to spend on a center then you have $800 to spend on a center) unless you have space constraints. In which case, this is really your only option. It's really an enjoyable center channel to listen to as long as you don't think about how you got fleeced when you bought it.

Pricey….. and not for everyone but gets the job done and excels at it. Realistic sounding center channel replaced a Polk audio center channel. Only real question is ……could I have better sound at a lower price point?