Kef R Meta Series Release

[Fahzz]

Darko has a new video on R3 Metas, contrasts them with LS50 Metas. He Loves them FWIW. He has the BLUE ones. Pretty nice looking speakers.

 

[MarkS]

Hi guys,
General question, is michi x5 series 2 over kill for r11 metas or I should just stick with X3 series 2.... no plan on upgrading metas for the next 2-3 years. speakers are in transit, havent pulled the trigger for the amp yet. dedicated listening room 24'16'11' (L,W,H). music mostly Tidal/streaming and Flac files, listening distance anywhere suitable as the room is for music only. goal is a 2.2 system 90%+ music. any suggestions for subwoofer is appreciated( likely candidate is 2x Rel T/9x). feel free to suggest any alternatives for the amp or the subs. thank you ( its my first audio system build, Mostly coming from the Headphone/IEM world, my current headphone and IEM desktop and portable set up price wise comparable to the system I am building ( last comment was just to shed some light to what my ears are used to listening/appreciating). thank you very much

Amplification is a commodity, get something much cheaper like Buckeye. Get room correction (essential), eg Dirac with a miniDSP preamp. Subs are another commodity, Rels are overpriced. You may not need subs at all with R11s, depending on your music diet.

 

[exm]

There's no such thing as too much amplifier power. If anything, it will be a great amp for any future speakers.

 

[bodhi]

There's no such thing as too much amplifier power. If anything, it will be a great amp for any future speakers.

Sure. It just costs about 6000€ extra compared to more reasonable options without any audible benefits.

Nice looking amp, won't lie. Would consider if I was made of money.

 

[exm]

Sure. It just costs about 6000€ extra compared to more reasonable options without any audible benefits.

Nice looking amp, won't lie. Would consider if I was made of money.

For some folks 6000 (insert currency) means the same as 600, so yeah, money isn't always the primary concern for folks.

 

[bodhi]

For some folks 6000 (insert currency) means the same as 600, so yeah, money isn't always the primary concern for folks.

The speakers in question cost less than that. If you have the money just get the Blades and get real improvement.

 

[exm]

The speakers in question cost less than that. If you have the money just get the Blades and get real improvement.

I can ask you for proof that the Blades are a real improvement but I won't go down THAT route lol

 

[bodhi]

I can ask you for proof that the Blades are a real improvement but I won't go down THAT route lol

Whereas I don't need to ask you for a proof that this 8000€ amplifier is better than Hypex NCx500 based amp with some good and cheap pre. Because we both know it isn't.

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

For home theater purposes with a setup of 5.2.4, is it foolish to get a smaller/cheaper non-Meta KEF set (eg. LS50 Meta?) for the surround channels? My AVR has Dirac Live Bass Control so timbre matching different series of KEF shouldn't be a problem.

Here is what I am thinking, feedback is appreciated:

Fronts: 2 x R7 Meta
Center: 1 x R6 Meta
Dolby Atmos: 4 x R8 Meta
Subs: 2 x SVS PC-2000 Pro (existing)
Surround Channels: 2 x R3 Meta (overkill???)

 

[Descartes]

For home theater purposes with a setup of 5.2.4, is it foolish to get a smaller/cheaper non-Meta KEF set (eg. LS50 Meta?) for the surround channels? My AVR has Dirac Live Bass Control so timbre matching different series of KEF shouldn't be a problem.

Here is what I am thinking, feedback is appreciated:

Fronts: 2 x R7 Meta
Center: 1 x R6 Meta
Dolby Atmos: 4 x R8 Meta
Subs: 2 x SVS PC-2000 Pro (existing)
Surround Channels: 2 x R3 Meta (overkill???)

How big is your room?

The LS50 will work perfectly fine!

 

[Ciobi69]

How big is your room?

The LS50 will work perfectly fine!

Id say kef r3 non meta, the ls50 in movies are limited

 

[Descartes]

Id say kef r3 non meta, the ls50 in movies are limited

Not as surround sound speakers with subwoofer and crossed over at 100HZ

 

[Ciobi69]

Not as surround sound speakers with subwoofer and crossed over at 100HZ

They Maybe enough but just buy 4-5 of the speakers, better than two different sets, and I prefer the old r3 which are beautiful and can handle more, even crossed higher the ls50 its a small speaker and at high volume its not the best

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

How big is your room?

The LS50 will work perfectly fine!

My room is 12’ x 20’.

It seems majority consensus is R3 for home theatre system. Would I be missing out too much if not going for R3 Meta?

 

[Steve Dallas]

My room is 12’ x 20’.

It seems majority consensus is R3 for home theatre system. Would I be missing out too much if not going for R3 Meta?

Surrounds are mostly noisemakers. If you cross LS50s at 90 or 100Hz, they will do just fine in that size room. If you go with LS50s, you can afford 2 pairs and realize 7.x.x instead of 5.x.x.

RE: R3 Meta vs OG R3, there is no consensus as to which one is better in practical use. In surround duty, that is even more true--especially if you use full range DRC.

As mains in my home office, I have a slight subjective preference for the OG R3. I sent the Metas back as there was no discernible improvement in my use case. The OG R3 is a damn fine speaker.

 

[Descartes]

Surrounds are mostly noisemakers. If you cross LS50s at 90 or 100Hz, they will do just fine in that size room. If you go with LS50s, you can afford 2 pairs and realize 7.x.x instead of 5.x.x.

RE: R3 Meta vs OG R3, there is no consensus as to which one is better in practical use. In surround duty, that is even more true--especially if you use full range DRC.

As mains in my home office, I have a slight subjective preference for the OG R3. I sent the Metas back as there was no discernible improvement in my use case. The OG R3 is a damn fine speaker.

I had a 9.1.4 all with LS50 and they were spectacular!

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

Surrounds are mostly noisemakers. If you cross LS50s at 90 or 100Hz, they will do just fine in that size room. If you go with LS50s, you can afford 2 pairs and realize 7.x.x instead of 5.x.x.

Using LS50M's as Surrounds in a set of R7M and R8M seems like a workable (and economical) solution, especially it seems everyone here is happy with them.

Just curious though, when crossing over at 90 or 100Hz, don't these frequencies >80Hz become "localizable" when coming out of the subs?

Even with a pair of subs, with my current system, I found that if any speaker (except the Atmos up-firing ones) has a cross over higher than 80Hz, then the sub locations become localizable, really annoying.

 

[Steve Dallas]

Using LS50M's as Surrounds in a set of R7M and R8M seems like a workable (and economical) solution, especially it seems everyone here is happy with them.

Just curious though, when crossing over at 90 or 100Hz, don't these frequencies >80Hz become "localizable" when coming out of the subs?

Even with a pair of subs, with my current system, I found that if any speaker (except the Atmos up-firing ones) has a cross over higher than 80Hz, then the sub locations become localizable, really annoying.

Localization begins between 80 and 120Hz in most cases. It is dependent on the room and on the person.

There is a decent discussion here:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/at-what-point-does-bass-become-omni-directional.1268766/

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

Localization begins between 80 and 120Hz in most cases. It is dependent on the room and on the person.

Yea, unfortunately either it's my room or me, I need at least 80Hz (70Hz is best) crossover in order to get rid of localization.

I guess pairing the R7 and R8 Metas with the LS50s is not a great idea after all, in my case. But then R3 Meta is a bit "overkill" as surround channels.

 

[ypaul123]

Hi guys,
I'm about to purchase the R3 Meta speakers, and I've got jut two simple questions -

Will my x4500h Denon receiver be able to handle them ?

what speaker cable would you recommend that will make the R3 Meta's shine ? (within reasonable budget) ?

Thanks in advance,

Paul