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2-Way Black Ash Q Series Bookshelf Loudspeaker Pair

This much sound should not come from something this size, especially not this much sound of this high quality. It's a testament to KEF's refined UNI-Q Array technology that these little wonders offer uncompromised volume and audio quality, debunking the bad name often given to bookshelf speakers.

A New Tradition Of Quality

The new Q Series iQ1 proves that with the right technology, you don't need big boxes to enjoy audiophile-quality sound. If you want to create a rich, expansive soundscape in a smaller room without compromising sonic accuracy, it delivers the full benefit of KEF's latest design thinking. With the sophisticated new 5.25" Uni-Q coincident driver array in a compact reflex-ported cabinet, you experience stunningly clear vocals, fluid midrange, and an unusually spacious 3D sound image no matter where you sit. Being magnetically-shielded like the rest of the iQ line-up, they're as easy to place as they are to drive. Everything from the titanium surface of the Uni-Q cones to the shrouded bi-wire terminals says 'quality' - and for music or movies, that's the word that defines exactly how iQ1 sounds.

Acoustic Intelligence

Acoustic intelligence -- that's the best way to describe what KEF engineers have applied to create their newest line of iQ bookshelf speakers. From the second you spot the soft sheen of titanium on the Uni-Q Array driver cones, you know you're in for something special. And you won't be disappointed. Restless, despite being one of the best, KEF has made improvements to every aspect of its trademark Uni-Q technology. With new cone materials and surrounds. Redesigned magnet structures. New, state-of-the-art voice coils. Higher specification components. More rigid chassis and cabinets. The result of all these innovations is plain to hear. Power handling and sensitivity are better than ever. iQ plays loud and true, with even clearer vocals than its illustrious predecessor. Even gutsier and more tightly controlled bass. And, of course, the impeccable extended bandwidth response you need to get the most out of the latest digital audio and home theater formats. As every model in the range is voiced for a perfect tonal match, the 3-D soundscape is so seamlessly integrated that everyone in the room gets the full benefit, wherever they sit. Breathtaking is the only word to describe it.

Uni-Q Array Explained

You don't have to be a genius to understand why iQ Series speakers sound so good. After all, they incorporate the Uni-Q technology originally designed for one of the world's finest speaker ranges, KEF's legendary Reference Series. The Uni-Q concept is based on using aerospace materials to make the tweeter small enough to place at the acoustic center of the bass/midrange cone. With both drive units on exactly the same axis and sharing the same waveguide, they behave as a single point source that projects a more natural sound image over a much larger area than the usual tiny 'sweet spot'. This is because the Uni-Q configuration eliminates the inherent problems of having the separate midrange and high frequency drive units of a conventional speaker. As loudspeaker radiation varies according to frequency, low frequency and high frequency drivers have intrinsically different radiation patterns whose directivity - known as 'Q' - changes at the crossover frequency. Interference (or 'lobing') between the two units causes a dip in power response around this frequency, with a peak above it due to their differences in directivity. These factors introduce colorations that muddy the sound image. You get no such problems with Uni-Q. Being coincident and perfectly time-aligned, the directivity of both LF and HF units is controlled by the profile of the midrange cone, with no possible path or phase differences between the two, and no 'lobing' interference at the crossover. The 'Q' is unified, in other words - hence the name. So instead of narrowing towards the crossover and then widening again as is the case with separate drive units, the Uni-Q radiation pattern remains stable. Power response is uniform, with smoother variations on and off-axis. The acoustic image is better balanced and more natural sounding across both direct and reverberant fields. Multi-channel imaging is noticeably clearer and more accurate. The Uni-Q array in the Q Series incorporates a sophisticated new tweeter with an aluminium dome that increases the break-up resonance to 34kHz (as compared to the 25kHz threshold of a typical standard dome). The MF voice coil is of copper-coated aluminium ribbon, edge-wound over a polyimide former to increase sensitivity by maximising the amount of copper in the magnet gap. The chassis are of precision-cast aluminium for greater rigidity, with a vented design to improve power handling. The tall profile cone surrounds are of butyl rubber to allow greater excursion, and therefore higher output. Faraday rings are incorporated into the ultra-low distortion motor, further reducing harmonic distortion by as much as 20dB. And audiophile-grade crossovers are connected to the shrouded bi-wirable terminals to ensure the cleanest possible signal transmission. With refinements like these, no wonder the sound is so open and natural. No wonder the action on screen suddenly becomes more compelling. No wonder you get so utterly immersed in the listening experience. It's what the KEF iQ Series is all about.

More Than Just A Box

iQ Series cabinets are thermally formed in 'heavy' MDF, whose density makes it acoustically inert to reduce unwanted coloration of the sound image. Using laminated construction techniques, with inner and outer layers bonded to a segmented core in a giant press, the precisely radiused panels are exceptionally rigid, with the Uni-Q arrays faired in to the cabinet. Massive internal bracing tailors the volume of each enclosure to the exact parameters of its drive unit and minimizes any residual panel resonance. All models have two pairs of fully shrouded terminals for bi-wiring or bi-amplification, and are magnetically shielded to prevent interference with other electronics. As you'd expect, the standard of finish is exemplary, with a choice of Black Ash, Dark Apple, Maple, and Walnut.

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