About the KEF Q50a
Exciting sound effects
Exciting sound effects
Putting together a KEF Q Series home theater system? Then you may want to consider a pair (or two) of KEF's Q50a surround speakers. This crafty speaker fires upward, bouncing sound effects off of your ceiling to add a layer of sound above you — perfect for a Dolby Atmos® or DTS:X™ system.
You can also wall-mount a pair as traditional side or rear surround speakers. In this orientation they fire forward, providing lifelike sound effects in a traditional surround sound speaker arrangement.
Place the Q50a on top of a KEF Q Series floor-standing speaker to reflect sound effects off of your ceiling.
Immersive sound thanks to Uni-Q® technology
KEF's patented Uni-Q technology places this speaker's 1" tweeter in the acoustic center of the 5-1/4" woofer. This concentric design allows sounds to originate from a single point source, making the "sweet spot" (the ideal listening position) much larger.
Here at Crutchfield, we've had the pleasure of hearing Uni-Q technology in person many times. Sit wherever you like — you'll enjoy detailed, accurate three-dimensional sound throughout your room.
Part of a complete KEF Q surround sound system
The KEF Q Series features an array of speakers that are voice-matched for compatibility in an immersive surround sound system:
- floor-standing speakers for front left and right channels
- bookshelf speakers for front, rear, or surround channels
- center channel speakers for clear dialogue
- Dolby Atmos® toppers and surround speakers for effects channels
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Product highlights:
- Dolby Atmos add-on speakers for home theater
- designed to sit on top of compatible KEF Q Series floor-standing or bookshelf speakers
- driver array is angled upward to reflect sound off of the ceiling for immersive overhead sound effects
- connects to a Dolby Atmos-compatible home theater receiver's height channel for power and signal
- can also be used as standard left- or right-channel surround speaker when mounted to the wall
- 1" vented aluminum dome tweeter with waveguide
- 5-1/4" aluminum woofer
- Uni-Q® driver array technology creates a large listening "sweet spot"
- tweeter and woofer are concentrically mounted to create a single "point source" of sound
- frequency response: 105-18,500 Hz (±3 dB)
- sensitivity: 86 dB
- impedance: 8 ohms
- recommended amplifier power: 10-100 watts
- acoustic suspension (sealed) enclosure
- binding post speaker terminals
- black satin matte finish
- keyhole slots for easy wall-mounting
- 7-1/8"W x 7-3/16"H x 10-1/4"D (with rubber feet)
- weight: 9.4 lbs. each
- warranty: 5 years
- MFR # Q50AB
What's in the box:
- 2 Dolby Atmos-enabled surround loudspeakers
- 2 Grilles
- 8 Self-adhesive rubber feet
- Owner's Manual
- Warranty Information
Customer reviews for KEF Q50a
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More details on the KEF Q50a
Features & specs
Type | Atmos toppers | |
Enclosure | Ported | |
Finish | MDF/Vinyl-wrapped | |
Color | Black | |
Tweeter Type | Hard-Dome | |
Tweeter Size (inches) | 1 | |
Midrange Size (inches) | N/A | |
Woofer Size (inches) | 5.25 | |
Woofer Composition | Aluminum | |
Woofer Surround | Rubber | |
Power Range | 10-100 | |
Sensitivity | 86 dB | |
Impedance (Ohms) | 8 | |
Frequency Response | 105-18.5k Hz | |
Connector Type | Binding post | |
Bi-amp Inputs | No | |
Wall-mountable | Yes | |
Bracket Included | Fixed keyhole mount | |
Parts Warranty | 5 Years | |
Labor Warranty | 5 Years |
Product Research
Features
Dolby Atmos-Enabled Surround Speaker: Bring immersive, cinematically vertical Dolby Atmos sound or surround sound optimized for KEF's Q Series loudspeakers home with the Q50a Dolby Atmos-enabled surround speaker. Equipped with the latest Uni-Q driver array (consisting of a 1" tweeter and 5.25" mid-bass woofer) and other advanced technologies, dynamics is excellent while response is accurate and clean. KEF'S Q50a Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker sits above your existing floorstanding or bookshelf home theater speakers. Knowing how the brain perceives sound, KEF engineers have perfected a way of beaming the sound upwards from the Q50a so that it's reflected by the ceiling to replicate the vertical dimension in Dolby Atmos recordings.
Uni-Q Driver Array: At the heart of the Q Series loudspeaker is the Uni-Q driver array. This signature innovation by KEF places the tweeter in the acoustic center of the mid-bass cone, with both drivers acting as a single point source. The result is a more detailed, accurate three-dimensional sound image, which is dispersed more evenly throughout the room than is possible with any conventional speaker. The Uni-Q driver array is made up of a 1" aluminum dome tweeter and a 5.25" aluminum mid-bass woofer.
- 1" Aluminum Dome Tweeter: At the center of the Uni-Q driver array is a 1" aluminum dome tweeter that utilizes KEF's "tangerine" waveguide over the tweeter dome for ultra-wide dispersion. Further enhancements to the 1" aluminum dome tweeter is a damped loading tube and a cone-neck de-coupler. The damped tweeter loading tube reduces any harshness in the lower treble frequencies by gently terminating the sound produced from the rear. The cone-neck de-coupler reduces output in the cone breakup region to improve high frequency performance.
- 5.25" Aluminum Mid-Bass Woofer: The 5.25" mid-bass woofer features an aluminum cone structure that has been engineered to reduce cone breakup and improve midrange performance. The woofer's optimized suspension allows more movement, better controlled excursion, and lower distortion for accurate bass performance. As well as allowing the woofer's cone its full extension, KEF's ingenious Z-flex surround guides the sound from the tweeter across the surround without any disturbance or secondary radiation.
Sleek Cabinet Design: The sculpted Q Series finish epitomizes KEF's approach with seamless, sleek cabinets unblemished by visible fittings and joints. Q Series speakers are coated with a fine satin finish with matching driver colors. If you wish to conceal the drivers, magnetically attached speaker grilles are included.
Gold-Plated Binding Post Terminals: On the rear of the speaker cabinet is a pair of heavy-duty, gold-plated binding post terminals that will accept bare wire (up to 10AWG), pin-connectors, spade-lugs, and banana plugs (single only). Plastic inserts must be removed from the binding posts to use banana plugs.
Mounting & Placement Options: The KEF Q50a loudspeaker can be placed on top of a loudspeaker for Dolby Atmos applications, or can be wall-mounted for surround sound applications.
- Top-Mount: The Q50a loudspeaker has been expertly tuned by KEF acoustic engineers to bring extraordinarily immersive, cinematically vertical Dolby Atmos sound into the home using precision ceiling reflection when placed on top of Q Series floorstanding and bookshelf speakers. The included rubber feet should be used when placing the Q50a on top of another loudspeaker (the rubber feet add approximately 0.1875" to the overall height of the speaker). Make sure the top of your loudspeaker measures 7.125" (w) x 10.25" (d).
- Wall-Mount: The Q50a can also be easily mounted on the wall using the integrated keyhole slots on back of the speaker (mounting screws not included), creating a high-fidelity home surround sound experience that melds seamlessly with the KEF's Q Series speakers.
Q Series: Q Series speakers by KEF deliver natural, accurate, high-resolution sound. First introduced in 1991, the multiple award-winning Q Series has long delighted music lovers and audiophiles with outstanding sound quality and innovative design. The Q Series, now in its 8th iteration, brings high resolution sound with more depth and more clarity. The Q Series consists of three floorstanding speakers (Q550/Q750/Q950), two bookshelf speakers (Q150/Q350), two center channel speakers (Q650C/Q250C), and Dolby Atmos speaker (Q50A) - all sold separately. .
Optional Powered Subwoofer: A KEF Kube series powered subwoofer (sold separately) is the perfect addition to the Q Series loudspeakers.
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Customer Q&A
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Plenty of folks say you shouldn't use the ceiling bounce method. Well it works for our system and room geometry pretty well. KEF engineers know their stuff! Sure it's better to mount these on the wall but that wasn't an option for us. Sound quality from the Q50a is great as expected from KEF.
Mark from Granite Falls, WA