The Q6c matches perfectly with the rest of the Q series and is an excellent compliment to a 2.1 set up.
There comes a time in every man’s life to expand his horizons. In terms of home audio, this often means adding additional capabilities to your current system. In today’s electronic landscape, chances are you will quickly be persuaded to add home theater/surround sound capability to your stereo system, if you weren’t to begin with. 5.1, 6.1…9.1, it seems as though the options are endless. If modern science can figure out a way to stick one more speaker onto your array, they surely will.
After getting my basic stereo system set up: receiver, floor standing speakers, CD/DVD player, I soon realized that there was so much more potential to be had. I knew that, although my original interest was music, with a little money I could enjoy my favorite movies in surround sound. Screeching tires, explosions, rushing waters, could all come to life with just a few more speakers. I started off with a cheaper set that included 5 surrounds and 1 center, but quickly realized in order to get true audio excellence I’d need to match my speakers. I’d want to start with a center built by the same manufacturer and designed to work with my front speakers. Doing so would allow sound tracks that include multi-channel sound (5.1, etc.) to match and meld together the way they were designed to.
Given that I started off with a pair of KEF Q5s, I knew that the Q6c was the way to go for a center. The Q6c utilizes the same driver as the Q5 but doesn’t include the woofer. Therefore, you get perfectly matched sound in the mid and high ranges.
I took a trip back to Woodbridge Stereo, who had set me up with the Q5s. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the Q6c in stock and had to order it. The old cliché about waiting being the hardest part rang true. I could barely wait to set up my Q6c and pop in a piece of modern cinematography. Unfortunately, I had a couple of long weeks ahead.
After what seemed like an eternity, my speaker arrived and I rushed home to set it up. The speaker was everything that I thought it would be. With a matched driver, the Q6c delivers dialog and sound seamlessly with the Q5s, providing the same distinctive highs and realistic mids. The 6c enhances any movie and plays sounds from large explosions, to subtle violin-based scores with precision and flawlessness.
One of the few drawbacks on the Q6c is its size and awkward shape. Unlike many other centers that are box shaped, the Q6c has a curved trapezoid shape that can makes it deceivingly hard to fit in an entertainment center cabinet. The casing is also curved to fit the large driver, which can make balancing it a bit tough. However, the sound quality is worth designing your furniture around. If you have a full entertainment center, just throw it on top, as I would recommend higher placement v. lower. The screws on the back allow you to change the positioning of the driver to maximize sound efficiency.
If you are ready to enhance the capabilities of your 2.1 stereo system and create a cinematic home theater experience you can’t go wrong with the Q6c. I will add one caveat. As much as I love my KEF system, I realize not everyone has one. There are speaker options out there for every audio enthusiast. In my opinion, as far as center speakers go, it is more important to match your speakers than to buy one based on a recommendation. The Q6c works excellent with the Q series, but might not blend as well with a different make/model of speaker. I definitely recommend that you shop around and make sure your center works for your system, enhancing the overall sound, rather than clashing with it.
Technical Specs (please make sure that one of the specs is Suggested Retail Price):
Note: The Q6c model reviewed, from which the specs are derived, was an older model, which is more comparable to KEF’s current Q2c model. The newest iQ6c features duel woofers to add low frequency output, with the same Uni-Q driver. Such improvement can only make the center even more accurate for reproducing soundtracks.
The Verdict
