KEF Q50a speakers make adding Dolby Atmos to your home cinema set-up easy with a choice of positioning options and great audio performance.
KEF: one of the Hi-Fi giants and manufacturers of some of the most highly acclaimed loudspeaker lines in the history of Hi-Fi. KEF’s Q50a “Dolby Atmos Module” surround speakers are a neat solution to adding Dolby Atmos height channels neatly and effectively.
Lets’ take a look at this specialised member of KEF’s acclaimed Q series of loudspeakers…
The Dolby Atmos Advantage
Dolby labs have been instrumental in bringing surround sound experiences to film lovers everywhere, for decades. From the earliest stereo cinema systems of the 1970s, through to consumer versions of Dolby surround in the 1980s, Dolby labs have made cinema sound come alive.
Perhaps the biggest innovation in home surround-sound has been the introduction of Dolby Atmos; Dolby Atmos aims to give a truly 3D cinema sound experience. It achieves this through the addition of special “Atmos” audio channels, which add vertical “height” information to the Dolby Surround experience.
As you might expect, adding height channels requires extra speakers and, not just any speakers… Atmos speakers need to be mounted so as to either reflect sound off the ceiling or appropriately wall-mounted, so as to provide “height” information to the listener.
Thankfully, in the KEF Q50a, there exists the perfect speaker for the home cinema enthusiast looking for a high-quality Atmos speaker for their surround setup…
KEF Q50a
KEF’s Q50a was designed by KEF’s engineers to be a perfect match for their Q series loudspeaker range; Dolby Atmos height perception can be easily achieved by placing the KEF Q50a on top of Q Series speakers. Visually and sonically in keeping, the upwards firing design bounces sound off the ceiling down to the listener.
The KEF Q50a is also versatile as wall mounted surround/Atmos speaker and is easily mounted on the wall using dedicated mounting keyholes. Available in both black and white finishes, the KEF Q50 can be relied on to provide excellent audio quality whilst being visually unobtrusive.
Uni Q Technology
The key to the outstanding performance of the KEF Q50a is down to KEF’s legendary UNI-Q driver technology. KEF’s signature innovation places the tweeter in the acoustic centre of the midrange cone, achieving the sonic ideal of a “point source” driver.
Listening to a point source driver is a remarkable experience; the sound field is wide, defined and results in perfect, pinpoint imaging wherever the listener is sat. The ultra-wide dispersion of the UNI-Q driver is further enhanced by KEF’s ‘tangerine’ waveguide over the tweeter dome.
KEF has developed the UNI-Q driver further, with the addition of a damped tweeter loading tube. This provides a gentle absorption of sound produced from the back of the tweeter for enhanced treble performance. A new, low-distortion inductor on the crossover rounds out the improvements, and enhance the woofer bass response.
As part of a stereo setup, the UNI-Q driver is astonishing, but when employed in a Dolby Atmos setup, that remarkable point source imaging adds up to a cinematic experience which will have you on the edge of your seat.
If you’ve been thinking about making the move towards a full Dolby Atmos setup, but have been looking for a compact, high-performance Atmos speaker which is easy to integrate, then look no Further. The KEF Q50a Atmos speakers could very well be the Dolby Atmos speaker you’ve been looking for!