KEF R3 Speaker Review

[Fedebelga]

C 399 - NAD Electronics

The C 399 ties together all the critical elements of a top performing music system; music sources past, present, and future, in addition to providing a nearly unrestricted reservoir of power that allows your speakers to reveal every nuance of musical detail. This advanced amplifier includes many...

nadelectronics.com

Any thoughts? Enough punch to drive the R3's?

 

[Ata]

More than enough punch. I am driving the less sensitive LS50M with a low/mid-range AVR with no complaints and to an SPL where THD shoots up signficantly.

 

[Synergy4]

It seems the Revel R3 score appears to be very high, but Amir did not seem too impressed after listening to the R3. Was it just too neutral?

"Alas, once again subjective feeling was low. My standard routine is to cycle through my reference clips that I have selected during all my normal listening to sound superb on my Revel Salon 2 Speakers. Sadly hardly any of them sounded all that good here. Yes, the highs were there. The lows at times were there. But overall experience was unexciting and unengaging for lack of a better word.

To make sure my mind has not gone crazy, I replaced the R3 with Revel M16 which I recently reviewed. Wow, all that gorgeous came right back! There are two things I clearly detect:
1. Warm, fantastic mid to upper bass. I can't emphasize enough how much difference this makes and how it impacts my subjective reviews.
2. There is a "loosness" to notes that is hard to describe but notes are separated and delightfully clean and pleasant. I get this same sense when I EQ a speaker for a room."

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

It seems the Revel R3 score appears to be very high, but Amir did not seem too impressed after listening to the R3. Was it just too neutral?

"Alas, once again subjective feeling was low. My standard routine is to cycle through my reference clips that I have selected during all my normal listening to sound superb on my Revel Salon 2 Speakers. Sadly hardly any of them sounded all that good here. Yes, the highs were there. The lows at times were there. But overall experience was unexciting and unengaging for lack of a better word.

To make sure my mind has not gone crazy, I replaced the R3 with Revel M16 which I recently reviewed. Wow, all that gorgeous came right back! There are two things I clearly detect:
1. Warm, fantastic mid to upper bass. I can't emphasize enough how much difference this makes and how it impacts my subjective reviews.
2. There is a "loosness" to notes that is hard to describe but notes are separated and delightfully clean and pleasant. I get this same sense when I EQ a speaker for a room."

EDIT: later testing showed that the room mode at about 105 Hz was impacting the tonality of the speaker. Once I filtered that, the sound was very good. I have since made this part of the protocol.

 

[sweetchaos]

It seems the Revel R3 score appears to be very high, but Amir did not seem too impressed after listening to the R3. Was it just too neutral?

"Alas, once again subjective feeling was low. My standard routine is to cycle through my reference clips that I have selected during all my normal listening to sound superb on my Revel Salon 2 Speakers. Sadly hardly any of them sounded all that good here. Yes, the highs were there. The lows at times were there. But overall experience was unexciting and unengaging for lack of a better word.

To make sure my mind has not gone crazy, I replaced the R3 with Revel M16 which I recently reviewed. Wow, all that gorgeous came right back! There are two things I clearly detect:
1. Warm, fantastic mid to upper bass. I can't emphasize enough how much difference this makes and how it impacts my subjective reviews.
2. There is a "loosness" to notes that is hard to describe but notes are separated and delightfully clean and pleasant. I get this same sense when I EQ a speaker for a room."

The UPDATE is written below it. Don’t know how you missed it.

 

[Synergy4]

EDIT: later testing showed that the room mode at about 105 Hz was impacting the tonality of the speaker. Once I filtered that, the sound was very good. I have since made this part of the protocol.

That to me, does not seem like the music then sounded exciting and engaging. It rather leaves the impression of just OK sound.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

That to me, does not seem like the music then sounded exciting and engaging. It rather leaves the impression of just OK sound.

He just didn't fix the room before listening the speaker, the R3 was one of the first reviews.

 

[dshreter]

If one prefers wider directivity, or is most used to the sound of it, the R3 is going to sound less enveloping.

Amir’s review, with or without the update, isn’t really surprising since he lives with Salon 2s. If it were the other way around and he lived with R3s instead he might think the Salon 2s cacophonous with fuzzy imaging. We can never know though.

 

[Synergy4]

In the end, comparing speaker reviews is a very fuzzy experience. It is a bit like peeling an onion when you get done, there is nothing left but peelings.

Looking at options, it is not clear what the best choice is: Revel M106/105, Kef R3, BMF Monitor, Revel F208

Maybe the Kef R3 will be good enough for now?

This is difficult, because I listen to a very wide range of music types; Classical, Jazz, Blues, Piano, Classic Album Rock, Folk, Electronic & New Age. It is really nice when one can hear all the instruments and the voices cleanly & clearly, but sometimes a good pipe organ can be fun.

My Velodyne F-1800R servo 18" driver sub woofer can handle the very low end of the audio spectrum.

 

[sweetchaos]

Looking at options, it is not clear what the best choice is: Revel M106/105, Kef R3, BMF Monitor, Revel F208

Completely different price points, and design criteria.

Revel M106. Under $2200/pair
Revel M105. Under $1650/pair
Kef R3. Under US$1700/pair
Philharmonic BMR. Under US$1700/pair
Revel F208. Under US$5500/pair (how did the budget just double?)

One of these doesn't below with the rest.

Also, like with wine, there's different flavours of speakers.

 

[Synergy4]

Completely different price points, and design criteria.

Revel M106. Under $2200/pair
Revel M105. Under $1650/pair
Kef R3. Under US$1700/pair
Philharmonic BMR. Under US$1700/pair
Revel F208. Under US$5500/pair (how did the budget just double?)

One of these doesn't below with the rest.

Also, like with wine, there's different flavours of speakers.

Well sometimes one needs to consider, if the budget is just too low, for the expected results.

A nice velvet Cabernet or Chateauneuf du pape is nice, but sometimes a petite verdot, petite sirah, malbec or old vine zinfandel will do.

 

[sweetchaos]

From my guide:

Here's bookshelves:
Under US$2200/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Kef R3 (Amir) (Erin)	6.5	35
#2	Polk R200*	6.3	42
#3	Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 (Amir)	5.8	43
Worthy	Revel M105 (Amir)	5.8	51
Worthy	Revel M106 (Amir)	5.8	46
Worthy	Revel M16 (Amir)	5.6	45
Worthy	JBL HDI-1600 (Amir)	5.8	38
Worthy	Kef LS50 Meta (Amir)	5.7	43
Worthy	Philharmonic BMR (Erin)	5.1	46

Here's towers:
Under US$5500/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Revel F208 (Amir)	6.7	26
#2	Revel F206*	6.4	36
#3	Infinity R263*	6.0	32
Worthy	Revel F226Be (Erin)	6.0	43
Worthy	Revel F35 (Amir)	5.7	39
Worthy	JBL 4309 (Amir)	3.8	41
Worthy	Kef R5 (Erin)	5.9	33
Worthy	Kef R7**
Worthy	Kef R11***

** No spinorama for Kef R7. I'm including it because we have Kef R3, R5 spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these are better.
** No spinorama for Kef R11. I'm including it because we have Kef R3, R5 spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these are better.

where:
* = no precise spinorama is available, only quasi-anechoic spinorama available with less resolution
PS = preference score
LFX = low frequency extension = measured at -6db point

As you can see, there's plenty of options for each budget.

You have to decide what's important to you:
- Deepest bass you can afford? look at best LFX score (from my table above)
- Most theoretically preferred (aka best preference score)? Look at top "FS" score (from my table above)
- Best vertical directivity? Kef R series.
- Best wide dispersion speakers? Philharmonic BMR, and a few Revels
- Looks? Towers vs bookshelves. You decide.
- Best aesthetics/finish? That's subjective. You decide
- Power handling? Towers. Bookshelves are always weaker.
- Distortion handling? Look at each review, and look at 96db distortion plots, and compare to other speakers. Towers will mostly outperform bookshelves.

Luckily, we're not limited by GREAT OPTIONS, only by our imagination.

 

[thewas]

If one prefers wider directivity, or is most used to the sound of it, the R3 is going to sound less enveloping.

Amir’s review, with or without the update, isn’t really surprising since he lives with Salon 2s. If it were the other way around and he lived with R3s instead he might think the Salon 2s cacophonous with fuzzy imaging. We can never know though.

Also he does the listening tests of his loudspeaker NFS reviews with a single speaker and we know from Toole's research that the less loudspeakers are used the more wide directivity is preferred.

 

[Kachda]

From my guide:

Here's bookshelves:
Under US$2200/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Kef R3 (Amir) (Erin)	6.5	35
#2	Polk R200*	6.3	42
#3	Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 (Amir)	5.8	43
Worthy	Revel M105 (Amir)	5.8	51
Worthy	Revel M106 (Amir)	5.8	46
Worthy	Revel M16 (Amir)	5.6	45
Worthy	JBL HDI-1600 (Amir)	5.8	38
Worthy	Kef LS50 Meta (Amir)	5.7	43
Worthy	Philharmonic BMR (Erin)	5.1	46

Here's towers:
Under US$5500/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Revel F208 (Amir)	6.7	26
#2	Revel F206*	6.4	36
#3	Infinity R263*	6.0	32
Worthy	Revel F226Be (Erin)	6.0	43
Worthy	Revel F35 (Amir)	5.7	39
Worthy	JBL 4309 (Amir)	3.8	41
Worthy	Kef R5 (Erin)	5.9	33
Worthy	Kef R7**
Worthy	Kef R11***

** No spinorama for Kef R7. I'm including it because we have Kef R3, R5 spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these are better.
** No spinorama for Kef R11. I'm including it because we have Kef R3, R5 spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these are better.

where:
* = no precise spinorama is available, only quasi-anechoic spinorama available with less resolution
PS = preference score
LFX = low frequency extension = measured at -6db point

As you can see, there's plenty of options for each budget.

You have to decide what's important to you:
- Deepest bass you can afford? look at best LFX score (from my table above)
- Most theoretically preferred (aka best preference score)? Look at top "FS" score (from my table above)
- Best vertical directivity? Kef R series.
- Best wide dispersion speakers? Philharmonic BMR, and a few Revels
- Looks? Towers vs bookshelves. You decide.
- Best aesthetics/finish? That's subjective. You decide
- Power handling? Towers. Bookshelves are always weaker.
- Distortion handling? Look at each review, and look at 96db distortion plots, and compare to other speakers. Towers will mostly outperform bookshelves.

Luckily, we're not limited by GREAT OPTIONS, only by our imagination.

I have heard both the R3 and the BMR and I definitely found the BMR to go lower than the KEF.

 

[muad]

I have heard both the R3 and the BMR and I definitely found the BMR to go lower than the KEF.

It does but the bass as a whole is shelved down... It's skews the numbers

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

The R series goes deep, the thing is their slope its kind of a weak. ( room friendly? too much friendly? xD )

But you can modify the slope 60hz-100 hz - > 20 hz (port tunning), using a low-shelf filter adding 1 or 2dB, 3db. And ButterWorth filter for cutting at the port tunning
R3: 40hz
R7: 31hz+40hz.

 

[Synergy4]

The BMR Monitor review at Erin's Corner seems to be positive: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/philharmonic_bmr/
Low efficiency?

Erin's Corner review of the Kef R3 is a different format & more neutral: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kef_r3/
I guess one needs to view the video to get more details.

 

[BIGB]

Hi All,
Wanted to check if Yamaha RN 803 is capable of driving Kef R3(just ordered) I’ve a REL T9i with high level connection to 803. Should I upgrade the amp? Room size is 14x11 feet. I listen at moderate volume only. Thanks

 

[hch]

Hi All,
Wanted to check if Yamaha RN 803 is capable of driving Kef R3(just ordered) I’ve a REL T9i with high level connection to 803. Should I upgrade the amp? Room size is 14x11 feet. I listen at moderate volume only. Thanks

You should be fine with the 803, I have driven mine with 2x45w and that works great at moderate levels. With the room size you have and the sub, I don't think you'll ever need more than the 803 in terms of power.

 

[hch]

BTW I see that the Yamaha RN 803 produces 194 watts into 4 ohms and has a SINAD of 92, so this is a good amp. Nice performance at a reasonable price this.