KEF - Ci4100QL-THX Speaker - White

These sound absolutely amazing. I had some smaller polk speakers prior to this and primarily got these for their appearance. I didn't think my non-audiofile ears would really recognize much performance improvement beyond less distortion at higher volumes. Wow was I wrong. I hooked these up to my Denon 4700 and even hearing the audacity test was different. Off-axis performance is excellent and there's a tightness/crispness to these that you pick up immediately. I put on some various tracks I'm familiar with and felt like I was hearing aspects of the songs for the first time. I lack the way to articulate it in more technical terms, but the sound is quite immersive. I've since added a KEF center channel and I not only get an immersive experience, I can clearly hear dialog in movies without having to turn on subtitles. I started with these in hopes to get a sense of their off-axis capabilities. I'm wholly confident in KEF's Q-line of speakers to perform well for rear and ceiling atmos surround speakers. Beyond the sound, installation was straightforward. I aligned the templates horizontally on the wall using a laser level and then each speaker vertically. There's a little bit of play in the cut-out, though, so keep the level out for when you actually tighten them down. I doubt it would have mattered, but after measuring I was sure to cut the drywall *inside* the traced line from the template and I still had some room on all sides. The hardware is very solid and the terminals were super easy to use (I used 12 AWG wire). The grills don't pressure fit in, but instead, use a magnet to stay in place against a rubber gasket - no rattles and easy to remove. They also provide a plastic cover for the inner speaker portion so you can safely paint the white trim of the speaker. You can also spray paint the grill. I didn't do this, but it looked like it'd work just fine as the holes in the grill aren't too small if you used a good sprayer.

fantastic audio clarity with superb tonal qualities

This speaker produces the best sound I have ever heard. You can actually hear distinct sounds even when it is turned up.