KEF X300A Wireless Digital Hi-Fi Speaker System - Gunmetal Grey (Pair)

This review is intended to help you make an informed purchasing decision. As an Amazon customer myself, I appreciate it when others take the time to carefully and meticulously explain details about products, including cons and pros, honestly. All my reviews are never altered or dishonest, they will always be intended to help you 100% and I would only ask that you vote my review helpful if you found it helped you. Thank you. Pros: Wireless Very High Quality, Crisp Clear High Notes Looks like it's made of expensive material. Cons: Disconnects frequently via Wireless Distortion Static Very difficult to configure to play No Volume Control on the Speakers themselves Each Speaker needs to be plugged in individually This is something you may want to rent for a day to play music at the pool, but No way are these professional grade studio monitors to keep forever. These are absolute trash compared to cheaper yet more effective studio monitors. The Wireless has taken its toll on these speakers, you simply won't get the same quality through a wireless connection

I've owned KEF Reference speakers back to the 107/2 around 1990. They have been among the finest audiophile speakers on the market for over half a century. I was looking for speakers worthy of my new Mac Pro ($5,000) and NEC PA271W monitor. I bought the X300A Wireless and have listened as they went through their break-in. The sound keeps improving. They have wonderful detail in the mid- and high end. I read reviews on them lacking bass. From my viewpoint, the soundstage and resolution is wonderful and the bass is impressive for a small speaker that sits on my desk. For, granted, a little more money, they have very good Digital to Analog Convertors in both speakers, digital (via USB) inputs (bypassing the poor performing sound cards in our computers), and two Class A/B amps in both units. I've had no problems streaming from my iPhone with AirPlay. Are they reference speakers? No. If you want the best, get the KEF Blades. But they'll set you back about $20K before you buy a DAC and power amps - and good luck fitting those on your desk. With my Mac Pro Mac running OSX 10.11.2, I went into Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup, clicked on KEF X300A Speaker, and set Format to 96000.00 Hz and 2ch-24bit Integer. This does allow full use of the 96kHz 24 bit DAC, which is twice the resolution of the Audioengine A5, which doesn't have a digital USB input. For me the X300As were worth the price. I will likely enjoy them for 20 years. If you want to save a few hundred dollars, look at the Audioengine A5+. If you're short on desk space, the Audioengine A2+ are only $250, and will still sound much better than your Mac, PC, laptop, or tablet. If you need the bass, either connect a subwoofer to the mini speaker on your Mac and configure it for playing all three speakers, or look into a 2.1 system. In my 10' X 12' office, these fit the bill. And they are solid and attractive.

Excellent sound, period. My first "good speakers" and they are excellent. Wireless set up can be pain, but I am not very patient or keen on reading directions. I still need to get around to setting up wired set up. My friend uses his wired and has zero complaints.

Not enough bass

I bought these as highly recommended and because the have a built in amp. They work off your wifi, not Bluetooth. The sound is excellent BUT I usually have to spend a half hour or more trying to connect them so that they will play, every time... Sometimes I have to reinstall the connection to the wireless, often. Honestly? Not worth the aggravation in my view. Update: I have giv n up. Twice I returned them and they replaced some nternal card but they inevitably stop workIng. VERY DISAPPOINTING.

Do not buy. KEF customer support is worthless. My speakers will not stay connected to Airplay. They sound good when they work but you never know when they will cut out. I have recently purchased a third party Bluetooth to connect the speakers but even with that the speakers will cut out and need to be reset, this requires me to get a ladder because they are on a very high shelf.

No hum, No hiss. Excellent audio quality via DIRECT USB connection to Mac Mini 10.12.3. I had given up on quality audio output from my desk computer. Even with high quality amplified studio monitor speakers I always had hum and his on my system. Having read excellent reviews on this system, I decided to yet again take a chance on a computer audio system. The first clue that this experience would be different was the OPTIONAL ground wire on the plug. So obviously this system is designed for optional use with a non grounded two prong plug. What this means is NO GROUND LOOPS! Indeed, when I plugged in the speakers there was no hum or his at max power. Initially I had trouble with the USB connection off my monitor (internally a hub). When I connected the speakers directly to a USB outlet on my Mac mini I had a reliable connection. Bass is good for ME with the bass plugs out near a wall. I am using the near sound setting. I run the power at 1200 o'clock. I cannot comment on wireless as I wanted a wired solution.

They sound and look fantastic. But on wireless they only really work well with Apple products. I have 2 Android phones, setup crashed over and over on both, I could only get the speakers set up and use wireless with an iPad.