Due to a production error (for which I must hold up my hands), the wrong picture was used in the December issue High Fidelity news story on KEF's new Q Series speaker range.

The picture was, of course, of the old range, and not the new models as illustrated here. Apologies for any confusion caused: details of the new speakers below.

KEF has announced a new line-up of speakers designed to sit at the heart of its range: the Q Series comprises nine new models, from compact standmount designs for small rooms right up to large floorstanding speakers designed to fill big spaces.

Said to be ‘a clean sheet design’, they draw on technology first seen in the company’s Concept Blade loudspeakers, exhibited at various audio shows. At the heart of the design is a new Uni-Q drive unit, directly derived from Concept Blade, using a vented tweeter at the acoustic centre of a resonance-damped metal cone mid/bass drive unit.

There are five mainstream stereo models in the range, starting with the Q100 at £380 per pair, and going up to the £1200/pr Q900 floorstander. The entry-level model uses the 25mm tweeter found throughout the range, mounted in a 13.5cm mid/bass unit which uses KEF’s Z flex surround for powerful bass and smooth midrange.

The larger Q300, at £450/pr, increases the size of the mid/bass unit to 16.5cm, and like the Q100 is designed for use as the main front speaker in smaller systems, or rear channel in larger multichannel set-ups.

The smallest of the three 2.5-way floorstanders is the Q500, selling for £700/pr and using the same driver as the Q100 plus a 13.5cm bass driver, and a pair of 13.5cm auxiliary bass radiators (or ABRs).

The larger Q700, at £1000/pr, has the same configuration but with 16.5cm drivers all round, while the Q900, designed for ‘the largest of rooms or those requiring exceptional bass response’, sells for £1200/pr, and uses a 20cm UniQ, bass unit and two ABRs.

All the speakers use the same damped metal cone with 50mm voice coils for smooth, powerful output, while the new metal-dome tweeter operates down to lower frequencies for smoother integration.

The new cabinets, going back to rectilinear shapes after the curves of the iQ models, are said to offer greater volume for deeper, more powerful bass, and the minimalist crossovers feature integrated biwire/single-wire conversion at the flick of a switch.

For more details, contact KEF Loudspeakers