In this review, we will be comparing Sonos Five and Q350, two Bookshelf speakers from Sonos and KEF. The main difference between these two speakers is that the Sonos Five is a Powered speaker which means that it has a built-in amplifier inside the speaker body so you don't need an external power amp or an integrated amp whereas the KEF Q350 is a Passive speaker so has to be matched with an amplifier to get any sound from it.
Let's have a brief look at the main features
of Sonos Five and KEF Q350 first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
In the following sections, we will get into more detail in order to better understand how the Sonos Five and KEF Q350 compare and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one of these loudspeakers is the better choice for you.
Drivers
Both Sonos Five and Q350 are 2-way speakers.
| Driver |
Sonos Five |
KEF Q350 |
|
Driver Setup
|
2-way
|
2-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
3 x 0.8-inch
|
1-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
- |
- |
|
Woofer
|
3 x 2.75-inch
|
1 x 6.5-inch
|
Sonos Five features a 3 x 0.8" Dome Tweeter and 3 x 2.75" Cone Woofer . On the other hand, the Q350 features a 1" vented aluminum Dome Tweeter and 1 x 6.5" Aluminum Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 2500Hz.
Frequency Response
Sonos Five has a frequency range of whereas Q350 has a frequency range of 63-28k Hz. With a minimum frequency of Hz, the Sonos Five can go significantly deeper on the low side and provide stronger bass compared to the Q350's min frequency of 63Hz.
Below graphs depict how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average values of the Min and Max Frequencies of other speakers in the Bookshelf class in our database.
Sonos Five has a front firing port whereas Q350 has a rear firing ports. Sonos Five's front-firing port gives more flexibility in placement in regards to proximity to walls compared to KEF Q350 with its rear-firing port.
Size of a speaker can sometimes become an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare Sonos Five's and KEF Q350's external dimensions. Sonos Five has external dimensions of 201.6 x 363.5 x 174.6mm ( 7.9375 x 14.3125 x 6.875inch) whereas KEF Q350 has external dimensions of 358.0 x 210.0 x 306.0mm ( 14.0 x 8.2 x 12.0inch) .
Sonos Five is 156.4mm shorter and 131.4mm less deeper than KEF Q350 but it is also 153.5mm wider.
Base Surface Area Comparison
Base surface area of a loudspeaker may become a determining factor when the space in your room or desk is limited.
The base surface area of the Sonos Five is approximately 634.7cm2 / 98.4inch2 and base area of the KEF Q350 is approximately 642.6cm2 / 99.6inch2. The Sonos Five requires 1% less surface area than the Q350 which gives it a small advantage on placement in tight spaces.