Improve current system with Kef Q1

[Hausmeister]

Hi all,

I am thinking about an upgrade for my current system (Kef Q1 speakers on a NAD352). Ideally it should serve for Hifi listening and Music production and the budget should not exceed 2000€.

I have these speakers in a L shaped room (37m^2) with no treatment (and no treatment possible for the time being) and I have found quite some important dips for low frequencies. As a first step I tried to optimize the listening position using REW at many positions. I could get rid of an important dip at 80Hz but now I am left with a serious dip at 50Hz which I can't seem to eliminate.

Now here comes my first question:

1) If I can't do room treatment (this is our living room), does it even make sense to get better speakers?

The Q1 are not super speakers, but they have a nice sound to me, lacking bass however. But I'll probably find exactly the same dips for more expensive speakers below 100Hz. I understand that a subwoofer with EQ (such as the SWS SB1000 Pro) in principle could help below 100Hz, but as I can't highpass the Kef Q1 I would be limited to the range up to 50 Hz approx (which is where the Kefs "enter") in order to avoid a too large overlap.

Currently the older Neumann KH120A are available at good prices, so my idea would be to combine these with a SWS SB1000 Pro for the bass management. These speakers don't have room correction, but the SWS does (3 PEQ). They have a -7.5dB bass reduction option, which should make it possible to use the subwoofer up to higher frequencies, reducing peaks below 80Hz or so with the PEQ of the sub.

2) Could this be a good combination?

Of course the new Neumann KH120 II with DSP and Neumann Subwoofer would be better, but this would go well over 3000€.

Thanx for any info you can share!

 

[RickyC34]

I can only speak from personal experience. The OG Kef R3's and 2 RSL speedwoofers can be had for around 2K. That's the route I went in my living room. (these subs are "dumb" but you get two vs one with the SVS)

Room treatments won't have much effect that low. Adding a sub would be my top priority.

Adding something to the chain to help manage highpass, xover, delay, gain, etc would also be high on my list. In my very large open-concept room, I also value room correction. What's your source? I believe Wiim now offers a few bands of PEQ for pretty cheap. Equalizer APO is a free Windows software that adds adjustable bands as well. There are many software options out there available or a solution like a Minidsp can be helpful when blending subs to mains.

2) I've only heard from VERY happy Neumann customers.

 

[Hausmeister]

Thank you very much RickyC34! The sources are:

1. Main source is a Wiim Pro Plus (as far as I could find out only graphic EQ for given bands)
2. CD Player
3. Laptop (using Equalizer APO)

Ideally I would find a common EQ solution for all three. I have been reading into the MA1 software and it looks like using the KH750 subwoofer MA1 can be used even for the analog KH120A (the subwoofer has 2 XLR out for the speakers). But the subwoofer alone goes for 1500 I could go for the KH120A now and get the expensive sub later.