Полочная акустика — KEF T301

The KEF T301 is a satellite loudspeaker from the T Series, built in an ultra-slim cabinet that mounts flush against a wall or rests on a desk next to a flat-screen television. Black and white versions are offered, supplied in pairs, and the same T Series family includes the T301c centre channel, which shares its enclosure of 600 x 140 x 35 mm, with 1.4 litre internal volume and a weight of 1.5 kg.

Key specs that matter

The acoustic layout is a sealed two and a half-way cabinet. Its pair of 115 mm dual layer units look after low and mid frequencies, while treble goes to a 25 mm aluminium dome above the 1.7 kHz crossover point. Rated response runs from 80 Hz to 30 kHz. Sensitivity at 2.83 V and 1 m depends on mounting - 91 dB when fixed to a wall and 88 dB when placed on a floor stand - because the wall acts as a boundary. Nominal impedance is 8 ohm, the maker suggests amplifiers from 10 to 150 W, and maximum output is listed as 107 dB SPL.

Engineering and use context

The main challenge of such a slim cabinet is fitting a cone driver into it. KEF solved this with an ultra-low profile bass and midrange unit using a flat diaphragm, which the company says prevents resonance from the slim enclosure walls. The tweeter is a large, fully vented design. Since the box is sealed rather than ported, nothing on the rear panel needs clearance from the wall, which suits a speaker intended to sit flush beside a screen. The small internal volume and limited bass extension mean the T301 is not intended to reproduce deep bass on its own and is designed as part of a system with a separate low frequency unit. With the light enclosure, the load on a wall fixing is small.

Pairing

The wide power range and easy nominal load let the T301 run from a compact AV receiver as well as larger amplification. In a surround setup the T301c centre matches it in size, driver complement and crossover point, so the front three channels share one voicing and one enclosure style. A powered subwoofer handles everything below the speaker's lower limit, and an AV receiver bass management crossover set there hands the low end to it.

Alternatives

Within the same T Series, KEF also offers the T101 satellite as another option for this category.