q1 vs coda 90 (1 Viewer)

[BarOr]

Base upon personal experience what would you recommend Kef Q1 or Kef Coda 90.
Thank you

 

[JohnSmith]

Q1. Although I would still recommend moving up to the monitor/reference standmount range.

Perhaps buy a second set of RDM Two's?

 

[John Garcia]

IMO, the Codas actually sounded better. The Q1s have some odd off axis imaging issues.

 

[ScottCHI]

huh? they have outstanding off axis imaging. that's one of KEF's main selling points in all their speakers with uniQ drivers.

 

[John Garcia]

Well, I listened to them, and they sounded weird. The coaxial design doesn't work as well as they would like. Sounds good when you are in the sweet spot, but off axis they lose something, some detail and imaging was lost. They almost sound like bi/dipoles off axis. Good bass for a speaker of this size, but not on my short list. The Codas don't have this problem, since they are not coaxial.

This was in a very large listening room with some very nice gear - Denon 5900 paired with a 5803. I moved the speakers around, and walked around the room. The Qs were stunning when you were in the sweet spot. The interesting thing is, a friend has Q5s and they don't do the same thing, but his room is much smaller also, so perhaps the room had something to do with it.