Last weekend, I finally got some time to install the remaining speakers in the theater. These were the surround speakers, specifically the Kef iQ8ds dipole surround speakers. Mostly I picked these speakers because they use a similar driver to the mains and center speaker, but I was ecstatic about the eBay deal I got also. The speakers retail for about $700 a pair, but that kind of a price is not within my budget for a pair of speakers. Seven hundred would closer to my entire surround speaker budget--two pairs! Anyway, about a year and a half ago (November, 2006), I was watching eBay for Kef surround speakers. I was seeing an old model, the Q8, come up once in a while and thought I might snag a couple pair. However, given the Q8's black plastic housing, they aren't very attractive and they were older technology. Then, out of the blue, I saw seven pairs iQ8ds speakers offered by one person on eBay for a "But It Now!" price of $250. It sounded too good to be true! I initially decided it was too good to be true. However, I kept thinking about that great deal--$250 for $700 speakers! How could I pass it up? I had to look more deeply at this great deal. So, I went back to eBay and looked at the sellers ratings from other buyers. Others had bought speakers from this person and everything had worked out well. Things were sounding better (know what I mean :-). . . except the speakers offered were only in a "dark apple" housing. As you can see from the pictures, it is a nice looking wood grain. Not too bad, I thought, but I would prefer black. But black wasn't a choice with this deal. I could get black from other online retailers for $599, but that was too much for me. So after a little consternation, I bought a pair using the "But It Now!" feature of eBay. It didn't take too long, and I received the speakers. I unboxed them, hooked them up, they sounded fine, and so I was happy with the performance. Now I needed another pair, so I went back to eBay looking for more. I wasn't to be satisfied easily . . . as it turned out, my low-price seller had sold out! Shoot! I had to keep looking . . . and looking . . . and looking . . . and . . . you get the picture. It wasn't easy to find a second pair of iQ8ds speakers in dark apple. From time to time I would see my preferred black finish but not dark apple. I thought about eBaying my dark apple pair and buying two pairs of black, but that would be too much cash for this frugal shopper. So I continued to wait for another pair of dark apples. Finally in the fall of 2007, I was able to snag a second pair on eBay for $375. It wasn't as good of a deal as the first pair, but it was good enough.
Upon installation I'm very happy with the sound quality. I haven't had tons to listen to yet with a lot of surround sound material . . . but that will come soon enough.
Specs on the Kef iQ8ds speakers:
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