Kef R Meta Series Release

[alont]

We will have to wait for proper measurements to determine how much of an improvement this new series is. I for one am quite optimistic based on the improvements we saw with the reference and ls50 meta series.

 

[Talisman]

Unlike 2018 R series, R meta has better coax. It's motor has underhung voice coil, double gap, copper ring between the gaps, polymer chassis, meta absorber.

The only difference between R meta series and Reference meta series coax motors is ferrite magnet vs neodimium (in Reference).

I'm not sure in what world this isn't a substantial improvement ?

In a world where in order to be able to define REAL as improving, it needs to be perceptible.
If all these innovations didn't translate into a better listening experience, would that be a real improvement?
(I'm not saying it isn't, we still can't say without data, I'm just philosophizing about what an improvement is)

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Most of the improvement will be their FR, the FR from the R series is not that great. If you listened any R series you can hear the aggresive upper treble and the slope after 10khz is not like the references, is smoother that should be. The original UNIQ 12th gen can be EQd very easily too.


Hope they improve the dispersion too.

 

[alont]

And also hopefully the removable shadow flare is gone/fixed

 

[dogmamann]

There isn’t any issue per se with the former Non Meta R series. As I pointe out before, it’s a refinement over something that worked already fine.

As a rough and hypothetical example: if A speaker has 0.150% distortion over most of the working audio band, and you manage to lower it to 0.100% for speaker B, you have slightly improved something that was already great, the improvement will be welcome even though discerning it by ear will be quite difficult.

Speaker design/manufacturing has reached the diminishing returns point in where there is little room for improvement, unless you come up with a very disruptive conception that “changes it all”.

If we don’t cheer up this kind of small but progressive improvements, then we could have stopped when 10% distortion was considered great decades ago…thanks fully not.

The R Series towers already had poor bass extension despite it’s rigid and heavy cabinet and size. If an audible improvement js what should have aimed I guess, this would have been something which could have been improved. But I understand that would just make it dangerously close to the references!

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

The R Series towers already had poor bass extension despite it’s rigid and heavy cabinet and size. If an audible improvement js what should have aimed I guess, this would have been something which could have been improved. But I understand that would just make it dangerously close to the references!

The thing is the R series towers are made for small rooms... in my room i got a solid subwoofer bass like with my r7s, but yeah.. just don't put a slim towers with 6.5'' woofers into a big room... they need the in-room bass gain
The whole idea of Kef is if you wanna put them into a bigger room, buy 2 KEF KF92 subwoofers, if you look at kef subwoofers, these have a high pass filters for the mains..

But most people in my room would put some bookshelfs..

But i get your point, the bass output from Kefs speakers depend too much of in-room gain.

 

[dogmamann]

And also hopefully the removable shadow flare is gone/fixed

Doesn’t look so from the pics

 

[CrustyToad]

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.

Same here. An open box pair for 900. Still in the box for now after a recent move so have to wait but couldn't pass on the deal

Curious to see how the R meta measure though

 

[dogmamann]

Most of the improvement will be their FR, the FR from the R series is not that great. If you listened any R series you can hear the aggresive upper treble and the slope after 10khz is not like the references, is smoother that should be. The original UNIQ 12th gen can be EQd very easily too.


Hope they improve the dispersion too.

So if you eq the r7 you can get the r7 meta probably.

 

[stren]

For those of you excited at the 6c - might want to consider the Reference 2c on audiogon for not much more. Non meta, but you'd think it'd be overall still better.

 

[Daka]

Today is the day when I await the apologies of those incredulous who insinuated that I had photoshopped the scoop images that I so lovingly shared, 7 days before it was made public and without any other record at the time in specialized media, forums or Google searches.

Even for me it was surprising the time difference between the private and public presentation. In my mind I thought that that same night or the next day we were going to see them published on KEF's website.

I for once stood behind you

 

[holbob]

Today is the day when I await the apologies of those incredulous who insinuated that I had photoshopped the scoop images that I so lovingly shared, 7 days before it was made public and without any other record at the time in specialized media, forums or Google searches.

Even for me it was surprising the time difference between the private and public presentation. In my mind I thought that that same night or the next day we were going to see them published on KEF's website.

If it is me you're talking about, then I would like to say this :-

whoooooooooossssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Daka]

That’s a question that you must ask yourselves.

R3 + Dual subs

Yes it’s often stand mount + subs vs floorstander.
But in my case is that subs are and would be in use as well. Is there a benefit of running with subs tower like r7. Would sound stage any bigger due to two ports and extra woofer? Would frequencies above 80Hz provide any chest slam in movies? Anyone with r7,r11 used it in HT?

 

[airgas1998]

Noticed the outgoing range are all given a distortion figure that is <0.3% from 120hz to 20khz. Yet the new range are <0.5% for basically the same freq range.

Combine this with the fact every speaker (despite being the same physical measurements) across the board is now lighter by 1-3kg... I wonder if the build/cab construction might have maybe dropped a bit in quality? (The cynical side of me thinks perhaps to create a bigger delta in performance and build to the Ref series).

Because you would have thought all things being equal with respect to the cab and build, that adding MAT to the UniQ (the single largest change) would have reduced distortion, not added to it. So whilst we potentially gain a little treble refinement with MAT here, are we potentially also losing some refinement in other places from a lesser cabinet colouring the sound :\

re: the R7 vs R3 + subs debate. I'm sure everyone on this forum knows all to well how bass response is intrinsically linked to the position of the speakers relative to the listening position, for any given room. So it's not apples vs apples per se to compare quite fundamentally different configurations, but of course a significant benefit to having subs is decoupling the critical bass response away from the speakers. You can then place the main speakers to best optimise their position in the room for mids/treble, and then position the subs for best bass response, as the 2 are often mutually exclusive.

To relate that point to my use case, I use R5's which measure <30hz in-room and provide more than adequate bass levels in output terms. But I now use them with a pair for subs (1723 1S), plugging up the R5 ports to roll off the bass early and run the subs as a stereo pair with a 100hz crossover (plus PEQ on sub). This by far the best overall response in my space. Note I don't have bass management in my 2ch setup hence plugging the ports, it works well enough esp given PEQ onboard the subs (I'm sure adding in Dirac for example at the source would be only better again).
So whether one picks R5's, R7's, or even R11's - it has been my personal experience that dual subs will yield better results in almost any given room - because it's not just about output.

i always thought when a YTber did a deep unbox of the former model r11 that it certainly looked subpar for the then full retail price of 6k u.s.

 

[Daka]

KEF R7 Meta Review: A New Reference

They call it Meta, and it's the biggest sound improvement in a long time.

www.lbtechreviews.com

Summary:
There’s no denying that KEF’s meta-fication of the speakers has pushed the price up into the upper air. This is not only due to the Meta or the improved cabinet, but also the general price increase on everything from parts to shipping. It doesn’t matter for the R7 Meta’s qualities, because they are so much better than their predecessors that we are really talking about a completely different speaker. They are up there in a completely different class than their predecessor. The R7 Meta is a speaker that is so thoroughly good at everything that it can be considered a reference in this class.

 

[Talisman]

KEF R7 Meta Review: A New Reference

They call it Meta, and it's the biggest sound improvement in a long time.

www.lbtechreviews.com

Summary:
There’s no denying that KEF’s meta-fication of the speakers has pushed the price up into the upper air. This is not only due to the Meta or the improved cabinet, but also the general price increase on everything from parts to shipping. It doesn’t matter for the R7 Meta’s qualities, because they are so much better than their predecessors that we are really talking about a completely different speaker. They are up there in a completely different class than their predecessor. The R7 Meta is a speaker that is so thoroughly good at everything that it can be considered a reference in this class.

They sound like words from the most classic audiophile mythology, where any new version is INFINITELY better than the previous one, even if the previous one was already at a very high level.
This is just marketing, I'd rather see measurements and hear for myself.

 

[Daka]

They sound like words from the most classic audiophile mythology, where any new version is INFINITELY better than the previous one, even if the previous one was already at a very high level.
This is just marketing, I'd rather see measurements and hear for myself.

Might well be, but reviewer is claiming he was skeptical about KEFs claims and was very surprised might indicate there more to this speaker that we can judge based on spec sheet at the moment. Might well be this price will be worth paying for. Might. Need to hear it to believe it

 

[dogmamann]

i always thought when a YTber did a deep unbox of the former model r11 that it certainly looked subpar for the then full retail price of 6k u.s.

Why do you think it’s subpar?

 

[Fahzz]

I just checked the original R3 release price in the US and it was $2199. The metas are about the same???

 

[Daka]

I just checked the original R3 release price in the US and it was $2199. The metas are about the same???

Pound to dollar was waaay different though