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KEF Q300 placement advice

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dmormerod
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Hi

I'm looking for placement advice on a pair of Q300's.  Currently they are 12" away from the front wall and at least 3ft from the side walls on 26" stands, but they seem a bit boomy! So I was just curious what other have done with regards to placement.

 

TIA

 

Mike

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FrankHarveyHiFi
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

All rooms are different. A speaker 12" away from a wall in one room might sound nicely balanced, but 12" in another room might be booming like a boy racer's Saxo.

What stands are you using? Are the spikes and everything nice and tight? Have you tried angling them in slightly? Have you tried using the supplied bungs? Which speaker cable are you using! (not saying cable will make a huge difference, but multiple things might be adding up here).

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dmormerod
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

Thanks for the reply David.

 

My stands are SANUS SYSTEMS SF-26B Steel Speaker Stand.   I have a wooden floor so I'm not using spikes.  I use blu-tack to fix the speakers onto the top plate. I could spike the top plate.  The speakers are toe'd in.  I've not tried the bungs yet, that was my next thought before moving them further into the room.  My speaker cable is some old K20 Linn. 

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chebby
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

Use the floor spikes.

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THESTIG08
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

how long have you had your speakers/electronics? it could just be a case of running in.. the kef q's take an age to fully run in. 

 

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dmormerod
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

@chebby - thanks ill give it a try with a coin under the spikes!

 

@thestig08 - I've had them a couple of weeks so they probably have 50-70 hrs on them so far. 

 

Thanks for the input everyone, time to go experiment!

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FrankHarveyHiFi
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

As Chebby mentions, it's worth trying the floor spikes, as any movement in that stand will result in a ill defined bass, which could come across as a bit boomy.

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THESTIG08
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

dmormerod wrote:

@chebby - thanks ill give it a try with a coin under the spikes!

 

@thestig08 - I've had them a couple of weeks so they probably have 50-70 hrs on them so far. 

 

Thanks for the input everyone, time to go experiment!

they need more time imo, mine took a good couple of months before they tightened up.

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HDNumpty
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

I have Custom Design stands, I bought their own floor protectors, £40 from a dealer in 2006 but cheaper from their own site.  hey are chrome plated and work fine with my oak floor

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dmormerod
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

Just thought I'd update.

 

I spiked the stands onto pennies (for now at least) to protect the wooden floor,  dumped the blutack and spiked the top plate, move the speakers another inch or so out from the front wall and the difference is huge!!  So thanks everyone for the advice about the spikes, it's worked wonders, the bass is way more controlled.

Mike

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jimm
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

I use blutack to hold them in place on my stands, so can you buy spikes for the top plates of your speaker stands? i didnt know that it can make difference..

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dmormerod
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

Yes, my stands came with little grub screw spikes for the top plate that you adjust with an allen-key.

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FrankHarveyHiFi
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RE: KEF Q300 placement advice

Spikes for the top plate don't tend to make as much difference as the floor spikes as they're not as sharp, but decoupling the stand from the top plate can have its benefits, so trying the top spikes will be worth it.

I'd be careful with blutak as it can pull veneer of speakers when you're trying to take them off the stands if you're not careful!

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