We use this KEF system as a reference point for surround sound – and it’s discounted right now

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

If you are one of the lucky few with room for a full-fat, multi-speaker surround sound setup for your home cinema, then we have two bits of good news.

First, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 we built, reviewed and gave an Award to earlier this year is finally on sale as a bundle, meaning you don’t have to buy each speaker individually to make it.

Cheap? Not by any stretch of the imagination, but a pretty reasonable price when you consider the fact it costs £3146 if you buy each part separately.

We built this system earlier this year by combining a number of five-star parts into a neat 5.1 setup. These include the two Q Concerto Meta standmounts (£1099), a pair of Q1 Meta bookshelf speakers (£499), the Q6 centre channel (£699), and the Kube 12 MIE subwoofer (£849).

Though the package doesn’t include the 8 Meta 'toppers' (£599) you’ll need to hear Dolby Atmos, the system is by far the best sounding we’ve tested in a 5.1 arrangement. So much so that for the first time in nearly a decade, we chose to replace our older PMC reference system with this KEF package in our home cinema test room.

Yes, it’s so good it’s become the new benchmark we use to compare other high-end surround systems against. Why? Because all the parts are wonderfully matched tonally, and combine to create a rich, warm, engaging sound that’s utterly engrossing when watching films.

As we said in our KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 review: “Put simply, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 reminds us why we love proper surround sound systems so much. It’s rich, crisp and dynamic sound instantly draws us into the action, and while it will certainly take up more room than your average soundbar, you won’t take umbrage with it taking up space in your living room thanks to its dashing looks.”

If you’re building a proper home cinema and want the most engaging, immersive audio possible from a 5.1 system, then we’d thoroughly recommend checking out the new bundle from Richer Sounds – trust us, you won’t regret it.

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Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.

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