Hello – New member here. I’m building a 2-channel system for music listening and would appreciate opinions/guidance on speaker selection. Source material will be from Tidal via a hi-res streamer and a CD collection ripped to FLAC files. Although the listening room is somewhat large (27 ft X 18 ft = 8.2 m X 5.5 m), I’d really like to make it work with bookshelf speakers. Listening position is only about 10 ft = 3.0 m from the speakers, which will be spaced about 7 ft = 2.1 m apart from each other. The speakers will be driven by a high-quality integrated amp that can supply 200W per channel into any load with good headroom. Low end will be augmented by an active subwoofer. The room is somewhat lively without any treatment, but I could add some if needed. I typically prefer to listen at moderate volumes compared to most hi-fi enthusiasts. Music selection spans the full gamut.
I’ve auditioned several models from Sonus Faber, Martin Logan and KEF. Looked at the online reviews that included measurements for those. I’m leaning toward a choice between the Logan XT B100’s and the KEF R3 Metas. I’m aware the R3s measure flatter than the B100s, which have a somewhat elevated high freq response. I can very clearly hear that in A-B testing. But my 60-something ears have likely lost some high-freq sensitivity, so the B100s didn’t seem excessively bright to me, just a smidge brighter than ideal, whereas the R3s seemed a smidge to the mellow side. But I only auditioned them for maybe 40 min total between the two models, and I’ve learned here that a slightly bright speaker might become tiresome during extended listening. Fortunately, Best Buy and Crutchfield have generous return policies.
One thing I perceived that no reviewer mentioned is a very slight boxiness to vocals from the R3, by which I mean that voices sound as if the performer is singing from inside a box. It was a very subtle effect and only sounded that way for the first minute or so immediately after switching from the B100 to the R3 during song passages that were vocal segments with little music. My questions:
I’ve auditioned several models from Sonus Faber, Martin Logan and KEF. Looked at the online reviews that included measurements for those. I’m leaning toward a choice between the Logan XT B100’s and the KEF R3 Metas. I’m aware the R3s measure flatter than the B100s, which have a somewhat elevated high freq response. I can very clearly hear that in A-B testing. But my 60-something ears have likely lost some high-freq sensitivity, so the B100s didn’t seem excessively bright to me, just a smidge brighter than ideal, whereas the R3s seemed a smidge to the mellow side. But I only auditioned them for maybe 40 min total between the two models, and I’ve learned here that a slightly bright speaker might become tiresome during extended listening. Fortunately, Best Buy and Crutchfield have generous return policies.
One thing I perceived that no reviewer mentioned is a very slight boxiness to vocals from the R3, by which I mean that voices sound as if the performer is singing from inside a box. It was a very subtle effect and only sounded that way for the first minute or so immediately after switching from the B100 to the R3 during song passages that were vocal segments with little music. My questions:
- Any ideas on what could account for the boxy-voice effect – psychoacoustic artifact of switching from a bright speaker to one with a flatter response, something wrong with the particular specimens I was demo’ing, bad demo room at Best Buy, old ears, etc.?
- Opinions on the B100 vs the R3 Meta for my use case?
- Other ideas for speaker selection? Budget is somewhat flexible, But I'd like to keep the size of the speaker to something not much taller than the R3.
They will sound different in your room but ANY listening is better than relying on someone else's opinion. 
