KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System

KEF's latest surround sound system is a cinematic delight

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British audio brand KEF is hardly a stranger to our hi-fi testing room.

The brand is a rarer sight in our AV room, though, with the XIO soundbar the only KEF-branded product to have graced this space recently. Excellent though the XIO is, a soundbar won't always cut it, especially for those who want cinema-style, all-encompassing surround sound. That's where a 5.1 speaker system comes in, and KEF has been a key player in this sector of the home cinema market for some time.

Its latest offering, the Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System, is headlined by a five-star pair of standmounts, backed up by more members of the entry-level Q-series. It aims to deliver proper cinematic sound in a stylish package.

KEF doesn't currently offer this system as an all-in-one package; for now, you will need to purchase components separately, at a total cost of £3146. That includes the Q Concerto Meta standmounts at £1099 per pair, a pair of Q1 Meta bookshelf speakers (£499), the Q6 centre channel (£699), and the Kube 12 MIE subwoofer (£849).

KEF also offers the Q4 Meta on-wall speakers, which can be swapped in for the Q1 Meta if your goal is to save some space. They are priced at £349 per speaker.

If you want to turn this into a 5.1.2 system, KEF also offers the Q8 Meta Dolby Atmos 'toppers' at £599 a pair.

An obvious competitor to the KEF Q Concerto Meta system is the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package (reviewed at £2496 but can often be picked up for less).