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March 4, 2008 - 4:00am
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KEF XQ-40 vs EPOS M22i: feedback welcome
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Where a product is "made" is of little/no importance these days - quality control is the issue. You will, probably, be surprised as to how many audiophile grade lables come from China. I wouldn't let it bother me.
I'm not familiar with any KEF speakers but as far as an Epos model goes I think you may find that the M16i would be a better match for the Mira 3. You do need to keep in mind the room size, listening levels, etc.
Thank you Mike!
I'll try to find them and check. I guess these too would be made available after mid-march...
Thanks, Pigpen, for finding out. I'm very curious about Kef, too, as JA's review of the reference 207/2 was perhaps as strong an endorsement of a pair of speakers that I've read from JA. I wonder if there's a trickle-down effect to the cheaper lines. It does seem promising, as the XQ shares the same kind of array as the Reference.
As at least one of B&W's speakers are now made in China he isn't going to get too far with this argument.
You are right: the "6" series is actually made in China, but the review by RJR (August 2005) was quite positive. The sales was funny: he said the chassis was made of paper!
I'm quite a profane and I may give a naive feedback, but i checked the XQ-40 and i found them quite balanced: they may offer a good compromise if you listen to different types of music.
Voices were good, but not quite like Dali's Ikon6 and bass was rich but not quite JBL 880 (which magnified the bass a little too much for me).
The sensation of tridimentional sound was quite near to B&W 704's.
I played the following:
Beethoven "symphonies 6, 7 and 9" for cellos + chorus
Vivaldi "the four seasons", winter for violins
John Legend ("ordinary people") for piano + voice without electic stuff
Giorgia (Italian singer, "Vivi davvero") for female voice
Subsonica (Italian group, "Discoteca labirinto") for electronic music + live performace.
Cranberries ("zombie") female voice + mighty electric guitar&bass
Red Hot Chilly Peppers (first two songs of "californication") with fantastic bass and distorted guitars.
Hope this may help!