If you're looking for a pair of speakers that can do the job of five, try KEF's fivetwo series. The speakers recently wowed listeners - women especially - at the 2006 IFA show in Berlin. People now buy speakers with sound and lifestyle in mind, although the final decision usually rests with the wife, says Robert Wong of GP Acoustics, Hong Kong distributors for KEF, explaining that women are the major decision makers because speakers have now become part of the furniture.
So how do you get a five-channel effect from two speakers? The surround sound effect is achieved by using side-facing Surface Sound panels by NXT, coupled with drivers that KEF calls Uni-Q. The Surface Sound panels create left and right ambient effects, while the Uni-Q drivers deliver left, centre and right channels up front.
Two versions are available:
a seven-driver stand or wall-mounted Model 7, or an 11-driver, floor-standing Model 11.
Listening to the Model 11 in stereo mode, with the surround format switched off, the first thing you notice is that you do not have to sit in the middle to appreciate the music. Although I was slightly left of centre, Tracy Chapman's vocals still stood out with accurate depth and height. The bass was well-weighted without being distorted and the high notes were clean and sharp.
I added a subwoofer to achieve a cinematic surround sound feeling and used as reference the DVD of The Fast and The Furious 3. I had to smile at the sound of cars whizzing past. I then popped in The Pirates of the Caribbean and it sounded as though you were on the boat as cannonballs screamed past.