KEF Reference 4C Review (Center Speaker)

[Descartes]

I wouldn't see why not! (note: I own a Ref 2 Meta, so I gladly answer any questions!)

Can you put it very close to the wall?

 

[exm]

Can you put it very close to the wall?

Yes, as close as your cabling allows.

 

[Descartes]

Yes, as close as your cabling allows.

3 inches?

 

[exm]

3 inches?

Maybe this helps?

 

[mmshah]

These are heavily discounted at KEF right now.

 

[Ciobi69]

These are heavily discounted at KEF right now.

Where? I cant find it

 

[mmshah]

Go to speakers and then specials.

 

[mmshah]

Anyone using these as L/R what are you using as a plinth?

 

[Vict0r]

These are heavily discounted at KEF right now.

I kinda forgot that these cost as much as my entire home cinema setup combined.

 

[laurelkurt]

Any recommended stands for vertical use as front L&Rs? I assume 12" to 15" would put the tweeter at/near my seated ears.

 

[JD_Spoon]

Anyone using these as L/R what are you using as a plinth?

I am using them as an LCR trio with fantastic results. For the center, I have it on a pair of isoAcoustics Aperta 200 stands to get it angled properly, For the L/R pair, I have a custom pair of stands that a woodworker associate of mine put together for me for a modest cost. Those are also on isoAcoustics Gaia II feet, again, mostly for fine-tuning the angling and leveling on my not-quite-even floors. If anyone is interested, I can cough up a schematic diagram for the stands.

Ignore the sliders, they're just in temporarily until we can install the last bits of the AV rack and reposition the speaker. As for the /r/tvtoohigh crowd, the installers refused to put a swing-down mount on the mantel due to the facade weakness, and the seats in the room all recline, so your comments will be preemptively ignored.

 

[mmshah]

I am using them as an LCR trio with fantastic results. For the center, I have it on a pair of isoAcoustics Aperta 200 stands to get it angled properly, For the L/R pair, I have a custom pair of stands that a woodworker associate of mine put together for me for a modest cost. Those are also on isoAcoustics Gaia II feet, again, mostly for fine-tuning the angling and leveling on my not-quite-even floors. If anyone is interested, I can cough up a schematic diagram for the stands.

Ignore the sliders, they're just in temporarily until we can install the last bits of the AV rack and reposition the speaker. As for the /r/tvtoohigh crowd, the installers refused to put a swing-down mount on the mantel due to the facade weakness, and the seats in the room all recline, so your comments will be preemptively ignored.

Thanks for the pics looks great, will definitely try to do something similar. Few questions, How high is the front and back of the speaker stand get off the ground? I am concerned about the tweeter height thou the angle up should help. I was told by the KEF rep that one side of the speaker is unfinished which side is that? Also do the little rubber feet for horizontal use come off?

 

[JD_Spoon]

Thanks for the pics looks great, will definitely try to do something similar. Few questions, How high is the front and back of the speaker stand get off the ground? I am concerned about the tweeter height thou the angle up should help. I was told by the KEF rep that one side of the speaker is unfinished which side is that? Also do the little rubber feet for horizontal use come off?

The front base of the speaker should be approximately six inches off the ground, plus or minus maybe a quarter inch, depending on how the feet are set up. I didn't measure the rear height, but the stand is built with an approximately 3-degree slope from front to rear. The angle was calculated to get me into the main beam of the vertical directivity based on my listening distance of twelve feet, if you're deviating significantly, you'd want to recalculate the angle to fit. I've since moved the couch a foot closer, but the vertical directivity is sufficiently wide that I and several other listeners agree that there is no discernable difference in listening tests from either position. Regarding what the rep told you, that does not align with my experience. All four sides and the back are a high gloss veneer, so unless he's talking about the front being aluminum, I'm not sure what he's referring to by unfinished. I think some of these may qualify as B stock, there were one or two imperfections in my center channel, as @amirm called out in the review. The feet are removable, I knocked one of them off sliding it into the stand and it did not mar the finish.

 

[laurelkurt]

I am using them as an LCR trio with fantastic results. For the center, I have it on a pair of isoAcoustics Aperta 200 stands to get it angled properly, For the L/R pair, I have a custom pair of stands that a woodworker associate of mine put together for me for a modest cost. Those are also on isoAcoustics Gaia II feet, again, mostly for fine-tuning the angling and leveling on my not-quite-even floors. If anyone is interested, I can cough up a schematic diagram for the stands.

Ignore the sliders, they're just in temporarily until we can install the last bits of the AV rack and reposition the speaker. As for the /r/tvtoohigh crowd, the installers refused to put a swing-down mount on the mantel due to the facade weakness, and the seats in the room all recline, so your comments will be preemptively ignored.

Nice! What ceiling speakers are those?

 

[Descartes]

I am using them as an LCR trio with fantastic results. For the center, I have it on a pair of isoAcoustics Aperta 200 stands to get it angled properly, For the L/R pair, I have a custom pair of stands that a woodworker associate of mine put together for me for a modest cost. Those are also on isoAcoustics Gaia II feet, again, mostly for fine-tuning the angling and leveling on my not-quite-even floors. If anyone is interested, I can cough up a schematic diagram for the stands.

Ignore the sliders, they're just in temporarily until we can install the last bits of the AV rack and reposition the speaker. As for the /r/tvtoohigh crowd, the installers refused to put a swing-down mount on the mantel due to the facade weakness, and the seats in the room all recline, so your comments will be preemptively ignored.

Cool set up, why not remove that chemine mantle and lower the TV your neck will thank you

 

[JD_Spoon]

Cool set up, why not remove that chemine mantle and lower the TV your neck will thank you

*sigh* First, and to reiterate, it is not an issue. Our reclining chairs mean we can sit at a comfortable viewing angle with the TV in its current position without cranking our necks up for hours at a time. I know, we've done it more than once, and have been using the setup for almost a decade now with no neck problems. It's even been checked and vetted by a friend of ours who's a board-certified orthopedic surgeon when the issue was first raised, so I am confident in my firm assertion that you and everyone else are pointing to a problem that does not apply here. Second, the mantel can't really be lowered or easily removed due to multiple reasons. Local fire code is one of them, but also, there's a hole in the facade where the support frame for it sets that we can't match the brick for (we've looked). Add on to that we both detest the aesthetic of painted brick and that there is no ready solution to the presumptive issue that doesn't turn into a major project. While I suppose we could take on the project of replacing the entire fireplace front and removing the mantel, there are other household improvement projects that are both higher urgency and more important to us than fixing what is, in our situation, a non-problem.

We're actually more likely to install a projector and drop screen, but that is not a project we will take on this year.

 

[Descartes]

*sigh* First, and to reiterate, it is not an issue. Our reclining chairs mean we can sit at a comfortable viewing angle with the TV in its current position without cranking our necks up for hours at a time. I know, we've done it more than once, and have been using the setup for almost a decade now with no neck problems. It's even been checked and vetted by a friend of ours who's a board-certified orthopedic surgeon when the issue was first raised, so I am confident in my firm assertion that you and everyone else are pointing to a problem that does not apply here. Second, the mantel can't really be lowered or easily removed due to multiple reasons. Local fire code is one of them, but also, there's a hole in the facade where the support frame for it sets that we can't match the brick for (we've looked). Add on to that we both detest the aesthetic of painted brick and that there is no ready solution to the presumptive issue that doesn't turn into a major project. While I suppose we could take on the project of replacing the entire fireplace front and removing the mantel, there are other household improvement projects that are both higher urgency and more important to us than fixing what is, in our situation, a non-problem.

We're actually more likely to install a projector and drop screen, but that is not a project we will take on this year.

No worries mate, it’s all good! I personally don’t like to recline when watching movies, I am a sound first picture second, also when chairs are to high they block the sound!
Currently use a 135” screen with a projector until I can afford a 97” OLED!

 

[JD_Spoon]

Nice! What ceiling speakers are those?

KEF Ci200RR-THX. One of them is the specific unit that @amirm measured for his review of that particular speaker, like my center channel is the one used for this review.

 

[Descartes]

KEF Ci200RR-THX. One of them is the specific unit that @amirm measured for his review of that particular speaker, like my center channel is the one used for this review.

Thank you for sharing your toys, to be reviewed!

 

[exm]

These are heavily discounted at KEF right now.

$2,999 non-meta, Rosewood. Great prices though.