Kef R Meta Series Release

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Maybe tilt them back a bit and have something absorbent on the floor. The reflections coming off the floor will be anyhow larger than the ceiling and possibly shifting the image down further (but I never tried it to be honest, nor do I have hard data, just thinking out loud).

I remember doing that but it didn't change the sound?, the point source thing i guess helps a lot... i ended to give up, i got used to how it sounds like, it doesn't bothers me now..



I used some books in the back spikes for test how it change the sound

 

[dogmamann]

To be honest i also find the UNIQ a little too short... i have my head above the top woofer from my R7s, but if i let my head a little down it don't seems like it change too much, so i don't know... it must be only visually?

But it hurts visually.

If i'm remember correctly, i had the r300 but when i listened the R7 the soundstage sounds like coming from below? i don't know, it's sounds very point source too..

Actually, when I listened to the r7 and reference 3 Before, both sounded to have the vocals below the ear level, in comparison to lot of speakers around in the hifi store. R3 on stands sounded significantly above the earlevel. To me, that positioning seriously judges the placement of objects in space. It’s easy to listen to as nothing is “on the face” but also, is bit unlikely because of this.

I saw in some German forums that some guys placed their r11 towers on granite bases to fix this. You notice this easily if you place it against a traditional tower with midranges up to the top.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Actually, when I listened to the r7 and reference 3 Before, both sounded to have the vocals below the ear level, in comparison to lot of speakers around in the hifi store. R3 on stands sounded significantly above the earlevel. To me, that positioning seriously judges the placement of objects in space. It’s easy to listen to as nothing is “on the face” but also, is bit unlikely because of this.

I saw in some German forums that some guys placed their r11 towers on granite bases to fix this. You notice this easily if you place it against a traditional tower with midranges up to the top.

hmm

Im siting in one of these gaming chair that can be reclinate in order to change his angle, so i can get the on tweeter level angle, the thing is after listening more the speaker i have I experienced some '' brain in '' and its sounds like it doesn't change too much now

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Sitting in our couch the Reference 3 are ear level so I never noticed.

 

[Benedium]

Do floor or ceiling reflections cause height imaging issues? Just an uneducated guess heheh.

 

[JRiggs]

Sitting in our couch the Reference 3 are ear level so I never noticed.

Me too. I have R3, not the reference, but sitting on the couch upright they are at ear level. Slightly above ear level when lounging back.

 

[Descartes]

Do floor or ceiling reflections cause height imaging issues? Just an uneducated guess heheh.

No idea that why I treated the ceiling and have thicker rugs on the floor!

 

[dogmamann]

Me too. I have R3, not the reference, but sitting on the couch upright they are at ear level. Slightly above ear level when lounging back.

R3 is to be kept on stands. So obviously it’s above earlevel.

 

[Daka]

Hold your chair - just been doing regular web sweep and found a stereonet result that showed up 50min ago but when you click it’s empty… but of course good old google managed to cache it before they took it down (does it mean it will be announced very soon?)
Link
Did print screen in case this goes awol as well
Quick summary:

R2 Meta and R6 Meta confirmed along side R8 Meta, R7,R5,R11

Titanium only special for R7 meta
Indigo blue only for R3 meta (both available in the summer)
New S3 stands for R3

Prices as indicated by OP (hats off to him for sharing accurate info, shame on KEF - 26% hike)

The new KEF R Series is available now with the R11 Meta priced at £5,500 per pair, the R7 Meta at £4,000 per pair and the R5 Meta costing £3,000 per pair.
The R3 Meta costs £1,900 per pair, while the R6 Meta and R2 Meta are priced at £1,600 (my guess was £100 off) and £1,200 per piece, respectively. Finally, the R8 Meta is £1,400 per pair (wtf? - I hope this better go down to 80Hz)
The S3 Floor Stands are an optional extra at £649

Makes me wonder get discounted R or wait and pay more… they indicate some reference tech will trickle down.. R6 meta is done deal though.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Did print screen in case this goes awol as well
R2 Meta and R6 Meta confirmed along side R8 Meta
Titanium only special for R7 meta
Indigo blue only for R3 meta
New S3 stands for R3

Thanks. Better with some pics...

 

[regan]

Hold your chair - just been doing regular web swipe and found a stereonet result that showed up 50min ago but when you click it’s empty… but of course good old google managed to cache it before they took it down (does it mean it will be announced very soon?)
Link
Did print screen in case this goes awol as well
Quick summary:

R2 Meta and R6 Meta confirmed along side R8 Meta, R7,R5,R11

Titanium only special for R7 meta
Indigo blue only for R3 meta (both available in the summer)
New S3 stands for R3

Prices as indicated by OP (hats off to him for sharing accurate info)
The new KEF R Series is available now with the R11 Meta priced at £5,500 per pair, the R7 Meta at £4,000 per pair and the R5 Meta costing £3,000 per pair.
The R3 Meta costs £1,900 per pair, while the R6 Meta and R2 Meta are priced at £1,600 (my guess was £100 off) and £1,200 per piece, respectively. Finally, the R8 Meta is £1,400 per pair (wtf? - I hope this better go down to 80Hz)
The S3 Floor Stands are an optional extra at £649

Nice catch!
So it seems the prices are significantly higher compared to the R series launch in 2018...
If i'm not mistaking the 2018 R3 price was £1300/$2000 while the new R3 meta is £1900... That's like 50% higher price damn

 

[Daka]

Nice catch!
So it seems the prices are significantly higher compared to the R series launch in 2018...
If i'm not mistaking the 2018 R3 price was £1300/$2000 while the new R3 meta is £1900... That's like 50% higher price damn

They hiked prices last year I believe to £1500 so now it’s another 26%. £1900 for stand mount is harsh.

But I wonder about:

Meanwhile, The Reference's hybrid aluminium bass drivers (below) promise tight, deep, and controlled bass, while the improved crossover design and fine- tuned signal path result in pristine, clean sound.

So might be something extra apart from MAT and Uniq modifications. But 3k R5 and 4k R7 wow

 

[stren]

Those pics make the edges look rounded and perhaps not a truly flat front? Maybe just poor photoshop?

 

[Daka]

Those pics make the edges look rounded and perhaps not a truly flat front? Maybe just poor photoshop?

Hmm well spotted, there is either weird rendering reflections or there are more rounded edges on the front visible with grey R7 and blue R3 - if true this could promise better dispersion

 

[oceansize]

Nice catch!
So it seems the prices are significantly higher compared to the R series launch in 2018...
If i'm not mistaking the 2018 R3 price was £1300/$2000 while the new R3 meta is £1900... That's like 50% higher price damn

The R3s list price is now £1500/pr, so that £1900 is a 27% rise. The R3 is currently on sale at £900/pr though, so that's a 111% rise!

 

[regan]

The R3s list price is now £1500/pr, so that £1900 is a 27% rise. The R3 is currently on sale at £900/pr though, so that's a 111% rise!

Sure, prices fluctuate a lot that's why i chose to compare only their launch prices

 

[MingChops]

The R3s list price is now £1500/pr, so that £1900 is a 27% rise. The R3 is currently on sale at £900/pr though, so that's a 111% rise!

Can‘t use the current close out pricing as means to judge, end of life speakers always close out at attractive pricing.

The general rise is about expected though, the worlds in a very difference place economically now to 2018. These price increases are broadly inline with B&W’s 700 S3 series price increases too, as a point of reference.

705 S2 launch: £1800. S3 launch: £2600 (+45%)
702 S2 launch: £3300. S3 launch: £5500 (+65%)

Grab the current R series offerings while you can if you don’t have them I think.

 

[oceansize]

Can‘t use the current close out pricing as means to judge, end of life speakers always close out at attractive pricing.

The general rise is about expected though, the worlds in a very difference place economically now to 2018. These price increases are broadly inline with B&W’s 700 S3 series price increases too, as a point of reference.

705 S2 launch: £1800. S3 launch: £2600 (+45%)
702 S2 launch: £3300. S3 launch: £5500 (+65%)

Grab the current R series offerings while you can if you don’t have them I think.

Yeah, my post was to really emphasise what a bargain can be had with the end of line R series. I picked up a pair of R3s last month.

 

[AdamG]

@AdamG247 can we merge this into the previous 540-post thread?

Oh man! I missed this callout somehow. Now it’s too late. The host site software would rearrange the two Threads by time stamp of each post. The result would be un-followable mess. My apologies had I caught this callout at the time absolutely would have merged these. Next time if I don’t respond it’s because my notifications sometimes get pretty long. Send me a PM that will ensure I respond in a timely manner. Really sorry I missed this. I could close the old thread and leave a redirect link to this thread for continuity’s sake? Or just leave it as is?

 

[stren]

I also hope the R7 would get an improved woofer over the R3 - it's double the price.