KEF home cinema speakers?

[The Gauge]

I'm planning to instal my first 5:1 system in my living room next year and I'm looking to see if these KEF speakers I'm planning to buy are a suitable choice. This isn't a dedicated room, it's still my living room.

Room is rectangular 11ft x 13ft, and opens up into the dining room. I'll maybe go with a 75" TV on the 11ft wall.
Main listening point will be directly in line with TV and approx 8-9ft away. There'll also be a sofa not he left wall.
I also want to ensure there is sufficient space either side of the TV for the front L/R speakers

Would these KEF Meta speakers, sub and receiver compliment each other?....

KEF Q3 Front Left & Right
KEF Q6 Centre
KEF Q1 Surround Left & Right
SVS SB1000 Pro Sub
Denon AVC-X3900H receiver


Sketch not to scale, and I'm planning to block off that access door.

Edited by The Gauge on Tuesday 29th September 20:20

[Longy00000]

Kef are a very reputable speaker manufacturer so if your happy with the aesthetics and the sound signature I would say go forth and fill your boots. Don't think you would be disappointed.

[The Gauge]

Thanks.
I'm hoping the speakers & receiver are a good match for each other, and the room size, but I'm also considering the KEF Concerto Meta for front L/R's

[Longy00000]

Without speaking about the specific speakers mentioned i would say that I have found Kef generally to be quite neutral in sound and Denon to be very slightly warm so if that's rhe sound your after then they will pair well.
Try not to over analyse things and remember both rhe receiver and the speakers will change sound slightly after hours of run time compared to the first switch on out the box.

[justin220]

No experience of Kef, but I have the Denon and its superb.

Have you considered the PB sub rather than SB? The PB tends to be better suited for movies, where the SB more music IMO.

[The Gauge]

justin220 said:

No experience of Kef, but I have the Denon and its superb.

Have you considered the PB sub rather than SB? The PB tends to be better suited for movies, where the SB more music IMO.

I wasn't aware of that, thanks, I'll take a look.

With my room being 11ft x 13ft, would the KEF Q Concerto Meta speakers be a better choice for front L/R than the KEF Q3's, or would the Q3's be more than sufficient?

[Longy00000]

This might help

https://www.speakerranking.com/compare/kef-q3-meta...

[v8notbrave]

I'm clueless so open to knowledge from the wise, however, just bought a modern pioneer 7.2 which is awesome, it and Google tell me I don't need a centre with good front speakers (I have old but great floorstanders) as it compensates by blurring the sound and it sounds great to me

Hope your neighbours are distant with that power in that room!

(Also I'm learning but why such a fancy amp if only 5.1? Curious)

[The Gauge]

v8notbrave said:

Hope your neighbours are distant with that power in that room!

(Also I'm learning but why such a fancy amp if only 5.1? Curious)

Thankfully im in a detached house but ill be sure to check how loud it sounds outside my house and if be ill be selective when I have the volume loud

As for the amp, Im still learning but that SVS amp I mentioned does seem to compliment the KEF speakers as far as I understand, especially as I’m now leaning towards KEF Q Concerto Meta’s for front L&R

[Uncle Meat]

I've got an older Denon (6500) amp paired with Monitor Audio Silver 5.1 stuff which works very well so I'm sure your speaker list will work well too.

[tonyg58]

I'm not going to comment on the quality of the speakers as I haven't heard them and my knowledge is getting out of date, as I've been out of hifi retail for a few years.
I have a some comments however.
You have a fairly small room and for your front L/R you are looking at speakers with a fairly large rear port, which ideally would be on stands with the back of the speaker about 20-25 cm away from the wall to work properly.
KEF's own advice here -

https://uk.kef.com/blogs/news/a-guide-to-rear-port...

You are considering going up to the Concerta's from the Q3s, but they will have the same problem.
I would suggest either going down to the Q4 on wall, I can't see a wall bracket on the website, but I assume you can get them (they're on the wall in pictures), or going up to using the 3 of the Q6s in a LCR format (again, investigate wall brackets).
In both cases, this would leave the floor of the room clear.

Regarding amps, when listening I preferred Yamaha amps to the Denon ones.
See if you can get a demonstration of them vs each other before buying.

I would also say that a 75 inch screen is too big for that room, I think a 65 inch at most (perhaps even a 55?)
Buying this would leave more money for better amp/speakers also.

Finally try to get the speakers placed correctly, there are plenty of diagrams to show you the correct angles for speaker placement and it does make a lot of difference if you get the angles correct. There's one here -

https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-...

Whatever you do enjoy your system.

[The Gauge]

Thanks for your input Tony, much appreciated. I’ll give those speaker suggestions some thought.

tonyg58 said:

I would also say that a 75 inch screen is too big for that room, I think a 65 inch at most (perhaps even a 55?)
Buying this would leave more money for better amp/speakers also.

I too think the 65” TV would look better in the room, but a 75” might feel more immersive when viewing.

I appreciate speaker placement is crucial so I don’t want the TV to be too large that it impedes correct speaker placement

[Digger]

Yep - nobody ever goes smaller once they buy bigger regarding TV's

If immersion is a strong factor then a 75"/77" from that 2.75m (9ft) distance is perfect to be honest.

I am now finding from 2-2.25m with a 65" I am starting to consider an upgrade to a 77" OLED

I also appreciate that it is subjective.

Edited by Digger on Sunday 4th October 12:06

[Longy00000]

Im.another in the camp for bigger is better with the tv. Ive got a 77 now and im considering an 83- 86 in the new year.

So long as the speakers have room to breathe you shoukd be ok. Ive found the sub placement more of an issue, just keep them away from corners.

[The Gauge]

Longy00000 said:

Im.another in the camp for bigger is better with the tv. Ive got a 77 now and im considering an 83- 86 in the new year.

So long as the speakers have room to breathe you shoukd be ok. Ive found the sub placement more of an issue, just keep them away from corners.

I'm working on the basis that the speakers need to be positioned outside of the TV, between the side of the TV and the side wall, so whatever size TV I have I need to leave sufficient room. Bigger the better TV for films, but for when just casually watching TV/news etc (this is a living room not a dedicated home cinema) can a TV actually be too big?

Edited by The Gauge on Sunday 4th October 20:17

[The Gauge]

I've drawn my room to scale to give me an idea of the space I have.
The Kef Q3 left/right speakers can be mounted on stands which will hopefully overcome the sofa being an obstruction when i'm sat in the armchair.
The armchair can be pushed further towards the TV when watching films
I've drawn the sub in the corner of the room, but would it work better positioned on the other side of the right speaker if I went for a smaller AV cabinet?