A couple initial thoughts: How many hours of play time are on the components? It’s possible they’re not broken in yet, which can often yield hard, thin sound. I’d give them at least 100 hours of playing before making any firm conclusions. Second, I don’t think your speaker placement is doing you any favors. Eight feet apart seems far too wide, and if possible I’d start with something closer to five feet apart in a more nearfield setup. Just some thoughts off the top.
Looking for Advice on My Nearfield Setup – KEF Q350 + Yamaha A-S501 + Topping E30 II
Hey everyone,
Hoping to get some feedback on my current setup and whether I’m heading in the right direction for nearfield listening.
Right now I’m running:
DAC: Topping E30 II (in DAC mode, not preamp)
Amp: Yamaha A-S501BL
Speakers: KEF Q350 Bookshelf Speakers
The setup is in my office, which is 11' x 12' with 10' ceilings. The speakers are spaced 8 feet apart and sit 42" high on custom stands. My listening position is about 4.5 feet from the speakers, and they’re toed in just slightly—essentially aimed right at my ears.
While I understand that KEF speakers are very dependent on proper positioning and imaging, I’m just not loving the sound right now. I’ve experimented a bit with the filters on the DAC and tone/loudness adjustments on the Yamaha, but I still feel like something is off—maybe the synergy, or maybe this setup isn’t ideal for nearfield use?
I’m still within my return window for the amp and speakers, so I’m open to making a change if needed. My budget is about $1200 for both the amp and speakers, though I could stretch a bit (painfully) to something like the KEF LS50 if it’s really worth it. That said, I’m totally open to other brands—both speaker and amp.
While I appreciate the clarity and imaging the KEF Q350s are known for, I'm finding the overall sound a bit sterile and lacking warmth. Vocals and instruments feel a little distant or cool, rather than full-bodied and engaging. I was hoping for something more rich, natural, and emotionally involving-the kind of sound that wraps around you and feels organic, not clinical.
Even at lower volumes, I want a sense of presence and fullness, but instead, I feel like I'm getting a flatter, more analytical presentation. There's good detail, but not much soul or musicality-if that makes sense.
Appreciate any advice on:
Better placement tweaks for nearfield listening
Alternative speakers or amps that work better in a small room
Whether the Q350s just aren't the best match for nearfield
Suggestions on getting more out of the current gear before swapping
Thanks in advance for any help—really just trying to learn and get the best sound possible without throwing money at the wrong solution.
7 responses Add your response
I have spent a few years trying various office systems (including a laundry room when my son was born). The very best sound I have had was by eliminating the room. That is using the RAAL SR1b earphones or CA-1a headphones. However, even for myself I cannot listen to the phones for the whole time I am in my office (M-F about 18 hours). The RAAL SR1b gets late night duty and takes top honours for best 2-channel sound. I learned that you could get almost any speaker to work in a small room using convolution filters to run on Roon or JRvier (this is DSP). This only works for streaming and requires a bit of computer technical savvy. I got my floor standing Thiel CS3.7's to sound good in the same size room as you. I paid $750 to get a digital guru to remotely fix my setup. Digital Room Calibration Services, Convolver, Headphone Filtersets After a few years of the 3.7's I went to a more appropriate speaker for a small room. The Magnepan LRS+ at $1000. This speaker will fill your room with a wall of sound. It lacks a bit of the detail that a KEF LS50 Meta has. However, it is even easier than the LS50 to place in a small room. The LS50 is good in a small space but you need to have acoustic treatment to handle the first reflections. The LRS+ in comparison did not need the treatment because the sound radiating pattern is more direct. You can place the LRS+ panels closer to the side wall and angle the speaker to your seating position. You need to place the speakers at least 3 feet from the front wall. Only issue with the LRS+ is that to really make it sing you need some power and that will add to the cost. I tried the following with seriously great results,
The following are low-cost amps that could drive the LRS+
I ended up losing the office space to an even smaller room and I sold the LRS+ to buy a used Magenpan Mini ($1000). I have it sounding better than the LRS+ since the Miini has better details. I am using the Schitt Wotan and a Schitt Yggi+ DAC. With the LS50 | LRS+ | Mini I am using the KEF KC62 sub which works perfectly with these lively speakers. With the LRS+ and LS50 I was about 8 feet away from the speakers. With the Mini I am about 4 feet away. The Mini is my best setup in a small room after the RAAL SR1b earphones. I am rather surprised at how good this sounds. My small room system is Schiit Yggi+ OG | Schit Kara F preamp | Schitt Wotan amp | Magnepan Mini | KEF KC62 sub. If your amp has the power, then the LRS+ or Mini will give you a very engaging sound with less problems with placement. The LS50 and other cone speakers are more difficult to place in a small room, so you need treatments for best sound. |
- Adjust distances to a EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE. This is what a equilateral triangle looks like (Side a = Side b = Side c), speakers at 2 vertices and you at the 3rd vertex.
- Toe in the speakers straight at you first (for adjustment purposes)..and then toe it back out about 10 to 15 degrees (since it’s not a great idea to point concentric drivers straight at you). - If it still sounds like asse’, send the sterile KEF back and get this Elac floorstander designed by Andrew Jones (sale price, $560/pair). It seems to be on sale at crutchfield and should sound great with your Yamaha. It doesn’t matter if your room is small or whatever. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_970DF52/ELAC-Debut-2-0-F5-2.html - Next, sell the sterile Topping to one of those Topping fans at ASR and get a Fiio K11 R2R dac for $170. It’s sinad measurement won’t be as good as the Topping, but, it won’t be as sterile. https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-K11-Headphone-Amplifier-Balanced/dp/B0D9BCRVXN?ref_=ast_sto_dp Don’t read ASR reviews and buy things...sterility and nausea is all you’ll have. Good luck. |
Get a sub https://rel.net/products/ht-1003-mkii https://us.kef.com/products/kube-8-mie-subwoofer |
I can't seem to figure out how to post individual responses as it's only giving me one option. So just wanted to respond in one message to everyone.
waltonj, your EQ suggestion and comments on the Yamaha A-S501’s tone controls were super helpful. I hadn’t really explored those settings in depth yet, so I’ll definitely experiment with them to see if I can tailor the sound more to my taste.
guyver1stclass, your mention of the sonic difference between high-quality components and less revealing speakers was insightful. It helped me realize that maybe I’m not fully hearing the potential of my setup just yet, and I might need more time and positioning tweaks before making final judgments.
roberttcan, that point about the KEF Q350’s distance from the rear wall really got me thinking. I’ve been trying to balance ideal placement with the constraints of my space, but I’ll play with the toe-in and pull them out a bit more from the wall as you recommended. Also, your detail about the Yamaha’s 3D/imaging tradeoff vs. something like a Marantz gave me a clearer picture of what to expect from different sound signatures.
coral_213, your visual with the equilateral triangle was perfect — sometimes a simple graphic is the best way to drive a point home. I’m going to recheck my speaker/listener distances to match that geometry and dial things in tighter.
glupson, thanks for the link — I hadn’t seen that resource yet, and it looks like a great read for getting deeper into the tuning process.
marcel, I appreciate you pointing out the Q350s’ capabilities and how they might scale with better gear. It gave me confidence that I made a solid speaker choice and just need to keep refining things.
Again, big thanks to all of you — it means a lot to get this kind of guidance from experienced listeners. I'm going to keep experimenting and fine-tuning based on all this great advice. |
