Choosing new speakers Kef vs PMC vs Fyne

[FBech]

Hello, I been using a pair of Whaferdale Diamond 12.3 for a while with great results. Although the bass is a bit boomy with some vinyl records.

I am going to change speakers, and I was thinking about Fyne 501E or 501S, Ket Q7 Meta, or PMC Prodigy 5.

I don’t have a fixed listening position and I’m looking for speakers that offer good dispersion, so the sound remains clear and balanced no matter where I’m sitting or standing in the room. Which of these models would be a good choice, with a good sound as well, besides dispersion characteristics.

I tried the EVO 5.3, and my impression was the vertical dispersion was not very good


Thanks for your help.

 

[berjine]

From my experience if you want a good sound almost anywhere in the room you want more than two speakers, because you want a more homogeneous sound intensity than what a pair of speakers can provide

Could you provide simple a plan of your room ?

I had good success with 4 speakers placed near the corners of my room close to the ceiling. They were wired so that the channel (left or right) was the same on each diagonal.

This way your brain will focus on the closest L-R pair and you won't notice the other speakers playing in your back

It just sounds a bit weird in the middle but you can adjust the individual volume of the speakers so that the weird sounding position is not at one of your listening positions

I liked this setup because I could have a good sound basically anywhere in the room without having the problem of "oh no I'm too far from the speakers it doesn't sound good" and "now I'm too close I have to lower the volume".

Perfect for everyday musical ambiance, and fantastic when you have people for a party because you can set the music at a very low volume but still hear it everywhere

I used coaxial speakers for that (good old Tannoys), but I guess it would work with any good speaker

If I were to do that again today I think I would install some Genelecs on the walls, Ascilab F6B could work well also (with subwoofer/s)

 

[Matt_Holland]

I am going to change speakers, and I was thinking about Fyne 501E or 501S, Ket Q7 Meta, or PMC Prodigy 5.

I don’t have a fixed listening position and I’m looking for speakers that offer good dispersion, so the sound remains clear and balanced no matter where I’m sitting or standing in the room. Which of these models would be a good choice, with a good sound as well, besides dispersion characteristics.

Based on this alone, I would only consider the Q7 or the Fynes, but without data on the Fynes, you will want to hear them. I've heard the Q7 and they are superb. Very linear and excellent dispersion with imaging that holds together when listening off-axis.

 

[quattro98]

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[quattro98]

FWIW, we use KEF speakers since I value even off axis response in our living room system.

 

[somebodyelse]

How did you pick that shortlist? I think the Q7 is the only one we have reliable measurements of. Looking at spinorama.org the only PMC models there don't look good. There's nothing from Fyne yet.

@berjine's suggestion has some merit. You could use a speaker switch to use a specific pair for any times you wanted a more 'normal' stereo image. I'd also consider mixing down to mono if you're going to be close to one of the speakers.

 

[FBech]

How did you pick that shortlist? I think the Q7 is the only one we have reliable measurements of. Looking at spinorama.org the only PMC models there don't look good. There's nothing from Fyne yet.

@berjine's suggestion has some merit. You could use a speaker switch to use a specific pair for any times you wanted a more 'normal' stereo image. I'd also consider mixing down to mono if you're going to be close to one of the speakers.

I been was researching for speakers with good dispersion, another thing is I need to have the speakers like 30 cm to the wall, and the Kef have a bass back port. While the Fynes have a 360 degrees bass port system. That why I am a bit afraid of the KEF Q7 meta, and the Fynes seems a good option in that way. But as you guys mentioned, there is no info in the forum about the Fynes.

I found these two reviews with some measurements of Fyne 501E and 501S, what do you guys think? I don´t know how to read measurements

https://tad-audiovertrieb.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/024-026_Fyne-LS_HT225.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fyne Audio F501S

Zdá se, že protože „pětistovky“ se v portfoliu skotských Fyne Audio etablovaly jako oblíbený model, použil výrobce tohle označení v podstatné části nové nabídky, takže jsou teď modely s tímto označením v katalogu kam se jen podíváte. Prostřední patro tvoří řada F500S , tvořená dvěma regálovkami...

www.hifi-voice.com

 

[Matt_Holland]

I been was researching for speakers with good dispersion, another thing is I need to have the speakers like 30 cm to the wall, and the Kef have a bass back port. While the Fynes have a 360 degrees bass port system. That why I am a bit afraid of the KEF Q7 meta, and the Fynes seems a good option in that way. But as you guys mentioned, there is no info in the forum about the Fynes.

I found these two reviews with some measurements of Fyne 501E and 501S, what do you guys think? I don´t know how to read measurements

https://tad-audiovertrieb.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/024-026_Fyne-LS_HT225.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fyne Audio F501S

Zdá se, že protože „pětistovky“ se v portfoliu skotských Fyne Audio etablovaly jako oblíbený model, použil výrobce tohle označení v podstatné části nové nabídky, takže jsou teď modely s tímto označením v katalogu kam se jen podíváte. Prostřední patro tvoří řada F500S , tvořená dvěma regálovkami...

www.hifi-voice.com

A rear port doesn't mean the speaker can't be used close to a wall. The Q7's bass starts rolling off at around 70Hz, so probably benefits from boundary gain.
https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/KEF Q7 Meta/KEF/index_vendor.html

 

[Arindal]

I was thinking about Fyne 501E or 501S, Ket Q7 Meta, or PMC Prodigy 5.

What made you choose these three, as they are all pretty particular concepts, from what I know, I would go so far to call them antipodes in terms of sound dispersion and how they sound in a room.

don’t have a fixed listening position and I’m looking for speakers that offer good dispersion, so the sound remains clear and balanced no matter where I’m sitting or standing in the room. Which of these models would be a good choice, with a good sound as well, besides dispersion characteristics.

With very high probability, none of the three. PMC tends to offer rather broad radiation pattern but most likely to change due to diffraction issues and alternating directivity index as well as overly treble-heavy in a more reverberant room. Fyne and KEF will most probably appear to be the opposite, dull tonality and lacking treble off-axis and in the room, in some cases even midrange/presence-heavy.

If you could more elaborate on the acoustic properties of the room, its size and desired listening distance, we might find a speaker which fits your profile.

 

[FBech]

What made you choose these three, as they are all pretty particular concepts, from what I know, I would go so far to call them antipodes in terms of sound dispersion and how they sound in a room.



With very high probability, none of the three. PMC tends to offer rather broad radiation pattern but most likely to change due to diffraction issues and alternating directivity index as well as overly treble-heavy in a more reverberant room. Fyne and KEF will most probably appear to be the opposite, dull tonality and lacking treble off-axis and in the room, in some cases even midrange/presence-heavy.

If you could more elaborate on the acoustic properties of the room, its size and desired listening distance, we might find a speaker which fits your profile.

I liked the Whafferdale diamond 12.3 type of sound, I tried the Dali Oberon for example and it sounded too bright to my taste.

I am posting some pictures of the room. The size is like 22 m2. I am getting an Arcam A15+ amp and keeping the Technics SL1500 with the Moon 110V2 phono amp

As you see, I dont have a fixed listening position

 

[Arindal]

I tried the Dali Oberon for example and it sounded too bright to my taste.

Then better forget PMC as an alternative.

Could you describe pls what you did not like about the Wharfedales except from boomy bass? Was the tonality changing over different listening positions, and if yes, what exactly were you feeling was lacking?

 

[FBech]

Thanks, boomy bass with some records, but this probably due as well to proximity with furniture to the left speaker.

Not much changing in tonality, vertical dispersion Is ok with the Diamonds in this room. Horizontal dispersion is maybe good up to 1.5 meters away from the speakers.

I like the sound signature of the Diamonds in general, maybe a bit mellow sometimes

 

[FBech]

I been was researching for speakers with good dispersion, another thing is I need to have the speakers like 30 cm to the wall, and the Kef have a bass back port. While the Fynes have a 360 degrees bass port system. That why I am a bit afraid of the KEF Q7 meta, and the Fynes seems a good option in that way. But as you guys mentioned, there is no info in the forum about the Fynes.

I found these two reviews with some measurements of Fyne 501E and 501S, what do you guys think? I don´t know how to read measurements

https://tad-audiovertrieb.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/024-026_Fyne-LS_HT225.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fyne Audio F501S

Zdá se, že protože „pětistovky“ se v portfoliu skotských Fyne Audio etablovaly jako oblíbený model, použil výrobce tohle označení v podstatné části nové nabídky, takže jsou teď modely s tímto označením v katalogu kam se jen podíváte. Prostřední patro tvoří řada F500S , tvořená dvěma regálovkami...

www.hifi-voice.com

Can you guys get some thougts about the Fynes based on this measurements?

 

[somebodyelse]

Can you guys get some thougts about the Fynes based on this measurements?

There are significant frequency response differences between the measurements, so either there's a lot of unit to unit variation (unlikely to that degree unless one is faulty) or at least one of the measurements was badly done. Neither has sufficient off-axis measurements to say much about directivity. In short we don't have enough accurate information to judge.

 

[dfuller]

I'd avoid PMC; they're wide but very uneven and the axial response is all kinds of jacked up. Generally very bright and one note boomy bass.

Q7 Meta is going to be the most even as far as dispersion goes but it's definitely voiced fairly warm. However the off axis response is even enough that it should be able to be EQ'd to whatever profile you like (and no, it's not "bass heavy" or whatever such nonsense, looking at you arindal).

I expect very little of the Fyne given the sheer lack of specs and measurements and the first order filters. ETA: the axial response measures we have are... not good. Bright and boomy, off axis is not even at all.

 

[Arindal]

and no, it's not "bass heavy" or whatever such nonsense, looking at you arindal

Don´t look at me, look at the calculated in-room FR (which contains overrepresented direct and early reflection windows response, so in the real world of a small room, expect it to be even more tilted):

 

[FBech]

So the KEF may be boomy if placed like 30cm from rear wall? What about the Super Lintons or the Q5040?

 

[berjine]

So the KEF may be boomy if placed like 30cm from rear wall? What about the Super Lintons or the Q5040?

Honestly forget about that as you should use room correction EQ anyway

Don't buy the Arcam amp it's a waste of money, just get a Wiim Amp Ultra for example

See if you still enjoy your current speakers with EQ, and then maybe buy something else

 

[Arindal]

forget about that as you should use room correction EQ anyway

If ´boomy´ translates to excited room modes, leading to overly long bass decay, which is not uncommon in a small room (or ´dull´ translating to uneven directivity/treble dispersion in the room), room equalization is most likely not to help here.

 

[FBech]

What about the Q5040?