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Centrifical force

The first of Kef's new Uni-Q's
By Michael Jones

June 2002

It’s a known fact that the worse shape for a loudspeaker is a square box, with rectangular shapes the next worst. Yet almost all loudspeakers are rectangular boxes. Why is this?

It’s simple economics. Rectangular-shaped boxes can be built to a relatively low price and, given that the cabinet can cost more than the drive units, you can see why speaker manufacturers use boxes. (That’s not to say that rectangular box speakers can’t sound any good - they can and do).

The complete range of Kef’s Q-Series use non-rectangular boxes. They look refreshingly different because of it. So how does Kef do this?

Probably a combination of careful engineering, watching the pennies and having the speakers made in China.

The Q1 follows the general shape of the Q-Series - a flat front with sides that curve away. A smaller than normal rear panel is flat to house the binding posts for connecting up the speakers.

Partially housed in a plastic "pod" atop of the cabinet, the UniQ driver has an alumnium dome tweeter at the centre of the woofer cone.

On top is another distinctive look - a “pod” which partially houses the UniQ driver. I’m not sure if this is supposed to have any acoustical purpose, but t definitely has a visual one. I’ve always thought that the older UniQ speakers looked as if the part of the cabinet holding the tweeter had been loped off. Not so now.

All of the Q-series are available in Light Maple with a grey grille and "pod", Dark Apple or black, both with black grilles and "pods".

Centred individual
A single UniQ driver is contained in each Q1 speaker. The UniQ driver has a 165mm mid/woofer, with a 19mm aluminium dome tweeter right in the centre. If you have small kids running around the house then keep the speaker grilles on - the bright shiny dome has no physical protection and will be very attractive to small fingers.

Below the UniQ is a port for bass loading. And here is my one problem with the look of these speakers: with the grill off you can easily see the crossover components through the port.

In the box are two foam rubber bungs that may be placed in the port (no, not to hide the crossover, but for acoustical reasons). These bungs may prove useful to reduce bass output if the Q1’s are too close to the walls or a corner. If the bass level is too high, insert the bungs.

I really enjoyed my time with the Kef Q1s immensely. They had an open, dynamic and unified sound to them.

Particularly noteworthy was the way that the Q’s portrayed musical dynamics. Many speakers compress the expression of dynamics to a greater or lesser degree. The Q1’s had the ability to track changes in musical dynamics very well. A great example was the large scale Carmina Burana by Carl Orff (Shaw’s version on Telarc). This orchestral and choir work has extreme dynamic contrasts; the Q1 tracked them very well and with great composure.

Why is this important? Musicians use changes in dynamic shadings as a means to portray their musical message. Dynamics are as important to musical meaning as the tone of voices and instruments.

And speaking of tone, the Q1’s were well balanced tonally.

The only real aberration was in the upper and mid bass, where the Q1’s turns thick and pudgy. This has the effect of diminishing musical pace in rock and jazz music a bit, and lessening the differentiation of instruments in this area.

Thanks to the guys at Smiths Sound, I had the opportunity to directly compare the the Q1 to the model it replaces, the Q15.2, as well as the Mission 780, a favourite small speaker of mine.

It was immediately obvious that the Q1 is a big improvement over its predecessor. The Q1 is noticeably cleaner sounding, more transparent and more dynamic than the older model.

Although considerably smaller, the Mission is far better in bass quality (that grumbliness of the Q1 coming through again).

Circular thinking
I really like the Kef Q1’s. Their “out of the box” shape adds to the looks, while their sound takes it up there with the class leaders.

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