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A good test was the children’s chorus in "Gaucho’s" central bridge from the Dave Matthew’s Band Away from the World which the KEF didn’t tease out in as much detail and body. On macrodynamics this comparo was a wash though. Both speakers dealt with quickly alternating loud-quiet-loud passages equally well whilst the KEF had the edge on transients which I personally enjoyed a lot.
Where the small ‘X’ took off was soundstaging. This extended far more in depth and width than expected. This virtual stage was generous and airy without feeling blown up. Of note here was the UniQ’s promised broader dispersion which even off-axis captured a well-focused complete musical imagery.
Where earlier UniQ versions irritated me a bit with their tendency for treble bite on compromised or HF energetic fare like "Spirit" from Dead Can Dance’s A Passage in Time, KEF’s engineers have trained this out of their current units. Playback remains highly detailed and very keen on hall data where each corner is illuminated but defaulting into the crystalline glassy or biting sharp no longer happens.
KEF’s PR slogan HiFi your Computer! is apt. If you endeavour to pair up a laptop and pair of X300A Wireless for the most compact possible stereo system, you won’t be disappointed. Setup via the intuitive software assistant is a snap and takes just a few minutes. Sonically the compact Brit with its quite powerful amps impresses with good shove and a pressurized energetic though still balanced character which leaves any MediaMart’s mini system in the dust by miles.
Final placement merely requires two nearby wall sockets to play on the desktop, a bookshelf or a stand in the free space of a midsized room. The DSP switch adjusts for the occasion. WLAN integration approaches jack of all trades acumen. Any AirPlay or DLNA-happy smartphone or tablet can send its music to the KEF. This includes streaming apps like Spotify, TuneIn & Co. In modern homes where hifi towers of power, miles of engorged cables and CD or vinyl racks are verboten or out of fashion, KEF’s X300A Wireless is one of the smartest solutions to combine minimal real-estate impact with ambitious sound. That their gunmetal grey ended up looking this smart doesn’t hurt on this count. Nor that the price remains so affordable.
Psych profile for KEF’s X300A Wireless… • no 4.7-liter volume box will dish out wall-rattling low bass. This one doesn’t even try. Yet the bass it does do pleases with substantial pressure and dry punch.
• by design the woofer is also the midrange. That must cover a lot of bandwidth without stress. Which comes off. In trademark KEF style the vocal band is open, lively and ultra precise. This captures the timbres of voices and acoustic instruments without coloration. Brilliant speech intelligibility is an extra bonus.
• the treble demonstrates how mature the UniQ array has become. This speaker delivers detail and raw information without overdone brilliance. That’s relevant not only in the nearfield but overall.
• Astonishing is the broad off-axis response. Even well outside the sweet spot the sonic imagery remains focused and whole rather than falls apart. On width and depth the panorama is bigger than such a small speaker would seem to support. Even during complex passages the KEF retains quite good resolution and separation but for the same price certain competitors go even further.
• Any affordable compact box has macrodynamic limits which here remain well outside what one could digest extensively particularly in the nearfield. An 18m² room on stands is no real challenge either as long as your listening distance doesn’t exceed 2.5-3m and you stay clear of excess bass energies.
Facts
• Concept: Active 2-way bass-reflex monitor with integral WiFi module for WLAN streaming with built-in D/A conversion (one per speaker)
• Dimensions and weight: 180 x 280 x 243mm WxHxD, 7.5kg
• Finish: Gunmetal grey, pure white
• Warranty: 2 years
