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Kef r3 vs philharmonic bmr difference

K20voigt

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So im looking to put together a home theater and somebody recommend me the philharmonic Bmr , i look into it and the speakers looks fantastic and all the good reviews. I'm in........
But now i meet a person who works at bestbuy and told me to buy the kef r3 instead with his discount I'm talking I'm going to save over 1k on the speakers and i can timber match all floor speaker going with the smaller one from kef as a surround., my question is how good are those kef in comparison with the BMR ??
 

NTK

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Welcome to ASR.

If you have not, you may want to check out this thread.

 

Haint

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Both objectively great speakers, but dispersion characteristics (the "spray" of the sound) are polar opposites. R3 is quite narrow (~60 degree spray), BMR is arguably the widest traditional box bookshelf in existence (pretty much a full 180 degree spray).
 
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HarmonicTHD

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In a simplified way: KEF with its coaxial driver (as well as Genelec) give a very precise soundstage, meaning precise location of instruments whereas wider dispersion speakers give more envelopment of the sound. In untreated rooms (with lots of reverb) such as modern living rooms, a speaker like KEF can have its advantages (precise soundstage, better audability of movie dialogue). But these are just rules of thumb and it very much depends on your room and your personal preference for soundstage / envelopment.
Best to try out both at home as they are both excellent speakers.
There is also a video by Audioholics explaining the differences in dispersion characteristics.
 
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Krusty09

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Not sure if this is the right place for this but woot is having a sale on a lot of higher end Kef speakers like r3 and meta.

Not even sure if the sale is any good but thought I'd share the info.
 

Steve Dallas

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Correct. We now have measurements of both speakers, and the R3 is about 120 degrees, while the BMR is about 160 degrees.
 

tw 2022

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Correct. We now have measurements of both speakers, and the R3 is about 120 degrees, while the BMR is about 160 degrees.
seeing this , the r3 *may* be slightly better in tiny rooms.. either would be good in medium sized rooms i would guess... i'd take either and be extremely happy, i would think, in most scenario's..
 

ryanosaur

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the r3 *may* be slightly better in tiny rooms
This is such a finite point as to be relegated almost meaningless in the personal preference category. ;) I like the effect of the BMRs and also the Phil 3s in my 11x15' room. The Phil 3s with the dipole mid also gives a unique quasi-surround effect that is likely lost in a larger room.
Regardless, the other aspect is if you dig on the KEF sound (which for me they caused some listening fatigue). Again... this falls unuder personal preference as the larger R series I auditioned do sound wonderful (until my ears started bleeding ;) ).
 

BrokenEnglishGuy

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This is such a finite point as to be relegated almost meaningless in the personal preference category. ;) I like the effect of the BMRs and also the Phil 3s in my 11x15' room. The Phil 3s with the dipole mid also gives a unique quasi-surround effect that is likely lost in a larger room.
Regardless, the other aspect is if you dig on the KEF sound (which for me they caused some listening fatigue). Again... this falls unuder personal preference as the larger R series I auditioned do sound wonderful (until my ears started bleeding ;) ).
Funny, the R11 is tuned to be kind of dark, some people just don't have good ears.
 

ryanosaur

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Funny, the R11 is tuned to be kind of dark, some people just don't have good ears.
Funny, I didn't tell you what KEFs I auditioned so you can take that assumption and poke your lousy ear joke out like a q-tip missing a the cotton swab. :) That is if you must take a personal dig at somebody you don't know.
 

Recluse-Animator

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KEF speakers are easier to recommend and more future proof because of their coaxial design.
They are a better choice as near field speakers if that situation ever comes.
 

tw 2022

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This is such a finite point as to be relegated almost meaningless in the personal preference category. ;) I like the effect of the BMRs and also the Phil 3s in my 11x15' room. The Phil 3s with the dipole mid also gives a unique quasi-surround effect that is likely lost in a larger room.
Regardless, the other aspect is if you dig on the KEF sound (which for me they caused some listening fatigue). Again... this falls unuder personal preference as the larger R series I auditioned do sound wonderful (until my ears started bleeding ;) ).
i think i'd prefer the bmr's... but the r3 with eq can't be too bad...i may well get to hear both on aug 27th ..
 

amper42

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My BMR Monitors are awesome. I tried Revel M105, Canton Vento Ref 9.2DC and BMR Monitors in my 12'x13' office. The BMR is my favorite. The clean, full bodied sound of the BMR keeps them in my office. It's an exceptional value.
 

tw 2022

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My BMR Monitors are awesome. I tried Revel M105, Canton Vento Ref 9.2DC and BMR Monitors in my 12'x13' office. The BMR is my favorite. The clean, full bodied sound of the BMR keeps them in my office. It's an exceptional value.
i'm working on getting a pair .. but as slow as it's coming about, Dennis may retire before i get to order..
 
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