Customer Reviews

KEF KHT5005.2 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System (Black)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently bought this speaker system along-with Onkyo 606 and am quite happy with the configuration. The speakers are very solidly built, and are great sounding. KEF supplies wall mounts which look great with my LCD tv, and saves money in buying stands.

Regarding the negatives: I wish the speakers were bi-amped. Since it is a 5.1 system, if at least two speakers were bi-amped, I could have used my receiver to the fullest with better sound. The manual is horrible, and it is quite hard to figure out how to use the wall mounts (hint: you need to unscrew the hinge in the back of the speaker, revert it and screw it back in). KEF also does not supply any wires. Somewhat strangely, KEF supplies sub-woofer power adapters for UK (and a few other countries) which isn't needed at all. These speakers are more expensive than KEF 3005 system. However, they have a slightly smaller 0.6 inch tweeter mounted in the center of a 3-inch woofer instead of the 0.75 inch tweeter mounted in the 4.25-inch woofer for 3005.

None of these are concerns though. These are great sounding speakers with crystal clear clarity, and excellent looks.

This set of speakers scores very highly on the SAF - the dreaded Spouse Approval Factor - because of its understated elegance and sleek good looks. Even the subwoofer stands discreetly out of view rather than crouching menacingly in a corner. The speakers are all gloss, with an unfortunate propensity to gathering dust.

While the attached stands do keep the speakers fairly stable, I'd highly recommend detaching the stands, and mounting the speakers directly on to a wall.

I use these speakers primarily for movies, paired with an Onkyo 709, and the combination is awesome. Audyssey calibration takes most of the grunt work out of setting up speakers, and other than a minor tweak for the center channel, everything has been stellar. The sound is crisp and clear and tends to envelop us in a very pleasing manner.

In conclusion, we were looking for high quality speakers in an unobtrusive package, and these speakers deliver in spades.

Happy Listening!
~Damodar

The set came with a well constructed package. Each of the speakers is wrapped with a cloth so they are well protected from any scratch due to mis-handling. The 5.1 system is easy to install with my receiver. I used this together with the KEF wireless connection for the rear speakers. The calibration is done with a microphone supplied and is easy to do. This set is expensive (so is the wireless transmitter receiver set) and I would expect it to deliver outstanding sound. The sound it produces it not impressive. I thought it is due to the wireless connection. But the sound quality per speaker does not change much if I only use the front speakers, which are hardwired. It certainly lacks the brightness in the highend and midrange. I hope it is not due to my age of losing the hearing sensitivity. See my other review related to the Soudbar.

I recently purchased those speakers with the Sony receiver STR-DA5500ES.I am very pleased with the sound. Simply awesome