Question 1

exactly what does this item include.  Two speakers for the front, or, all five speakers in a system?

Accepted Answer

Hello Jess S -

Short answer:  Both.

Long answer:  The package contains two enclosures (plus matching table stands), with each enclosure housing seven drivers.  These seven drivers take the place of all five traditional enclosures.

Left & Right - traditional.  A dedicated midrange driver, tweeter & mid-woofer supply the sounds for left & right material just like traditional speakers.

Center Channel - 'phantom' speaker.  Matching drivers on both left & right units play exactly the same signal.  When seated between these two enclosures, the sound seems to come from the center - known as a phantom center.  And since the KEF drivers are so accurate (thanks to the Uni-Q technology), this 'phantom' driver placement is uncannily realistic.  Yes, it works!

Surrounds - dipole radiators.  At the back of each enclosure, flat panels radiate back and forth, at right angles to the path of the other drivers.  This dipole sound is 'out of phase' and directed away from the primary listening position, so one doesn't hear that sound directly.  Instead, the sound bounces off the surrounding wall surfaces for a large, ambient & diffused effect.  It seems as if the surround sounds just 'float around' and don't really come from one specific point.  And it works well!

Overall, these two boxes do effectively replace five typical boxes.  The left, right & center channels are all fantastic.  The surrounds are diffused and 'airy' - only missing that over-the-shoulder effect of separate surrounds.  (I actually use additional surrounds in 1 7.1 setup ti supplement my KEF speakers.)

I hope this all helps.  And I hope that you enjoy your KEF speakers as much as I enjoy mine!

Question 2

Can you use these strictly as main speakers in a 5.1 setup with separate center and rears?

Accepted Answer

In fact, you can use them that way if you want to.

The wiring harness has pairs labeled L, R, C, LS, RS.  if you just connected the L and R pairs you would just drive the top front driver in each speaker.

These are very good speakers.  I use them in stereo mode for audio and am impressed by the clarity and definition of the sound.  If I were going to do what you are asking about I would probably also try using the Center drivers as well.  Center is synthesized by driving the lower front driver in each speaker in phase.  If you separated the wires for those drivers in the wiring harness and connected each in parallel with the top driver it might increase the high frequency response.  You'd need to try it.

Question 3

I bought these speakers and there is not very much bass at all.My receiver is kind of old(kenwood vr405) and am not sure if that is the problem.The Kenwood came with a subwoofer,but it is not powered,just plug in wires to receiver.I guess my question is do i need a new receiver to get best quality out of these nice speakers and if so what receiver is recommended? Or just a powered subwoofer and if so which one of those?

Accepted Answer

These speakers produce wonderful, balanced sound - down to their lower limit of 100 Hz.  They definitely NEED to be paired with a powered subwoofer.  So far, I've been very happy pairing them with a Pinnacle CS-88.  (Tightly-controlled subs definitely work best with these speakers.)  
By the way, your receiver - Kenwood VR405 - does not have powered subwoofer output (only RCA line-level sub output) and needs a powered subwoofer to properly deliver 5.1 audio - from any speaker set.  The receiver itself is not the problem.
I have these speakers attached to a 5-channel B&K amplifier, controlled by a matching B&K Reference 30 pre-processor.  And they sound stunning!
Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy your new KEF speakers.

Question 4

The floorstands are no longer available.  What do you suggest for floorstands?  Are there mounting holes on the bottom?  With their size, I'm concerned about trying to use the back mounting holes with a speaker stand.

Accepted Answer

There are 2 mounting holes on the bottom for stands. There are separate wall mounts available also to fit the KEF speakers.

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