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Kef R Meta Series Release

Daka

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Today was the world premiere of the new R Meta loudspeaker series. The interesting thing is that none of the audio and video media have commented yet, and KEF has not updated its website either.

I got this insight from an installer on Barcelona
View attachment 261390

And then got some extra pics from my dealer contact:

View attachment 261394View attachment 261392

View attachment 261393

Looks like the R6C made its comeback ! Last R series from 2018 only offered the R2C
Did anyone comment on how did they sound? Or any details on what’s been said?
 

Daka

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I'm pretty sure the R3 titanium grey will be mine. I already want to be convinced !
Same here - though I’m not fan of red driver - would prefer gold like ls60, but will match my ls50 meta titanium perfectly…. As long as price is sensible
 

holbob

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Tecnogadjet has gone to a lot of trouble to keep this rumor about the R Meta series going. Great photoshopping bro!
 

holbob

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I would like the reviews to say no reason to upgrade from R3's. Please.
Even though i've only owned the R3 for 10 days, I would be delighted to see a massive improvement. Let's not deny progress for personal reasons.
 

Mario Sanchez

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Today was the world premiere of the new R Meta loudspeaker series.
...
Looks like the R6C made its comeback ! Last R series from 2018 only offered the R2C
R6C, but no "Meta" postfix (also reflected in the backdrop for the corresponding stand)? Does it have metamaterial absorption like the rest of the new R series? It'd be amusing if it does have the technology rolled in, only to be named in a way that would be easily confused for the "older-gen" R series product...
 

Kachda

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If this is true, glad i sold my R3 pair a couple of days ago. Prices will definitely go down for they originals I guess
 

Streamc

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Well most complaints about the R3s are in regards to "listening fatigue" which I guess has to do with the tweeter. So maybe some tweeter adjustments might fix that?
Fatigue? Really? Interesting. Very interesting. As owner I do not agree. Need some research. I do not see them as bright speaker. Nor on my setup nor on listening rooms or YouTube.
 
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diddley

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I would like the reviews to say no reason to upgrade from R3's. Please.
If the R3 's you have sound good to you, why upgrade?
Mine certainly does sound good and i don't think that the new meta's will bring a significant difference.
 

diddley

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for 1200 euro's they did ask that last year and still do.
With perfect service (on one speaker the connectors where broken of and they send a car out to fix it straight away). so my place to goto
 

muad

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blade2.jpg

Damn, I was really hoping for this colourway. Or at least going away from a glossy finish. Maybe a ls50 meta anniversary edition will have the finish I'm after.
 

HooStat

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Damn, I was really hoping for this colourway. Or at least going away from a glossy finish. Maybe a ls50 meta anniversary edition will have the finish I'm after.
I agree. I didn't buy the R3 because of the gloss. Our house just doesn't support gloss black.
 

dogmamann

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I don't like the pink drivers from the walnut kef, the gold with the blue also looks weird well, to me the black/orange is the best
For me the graphite grey is a winner but wish it had a Matt option too. Nevertheless it looks really nice. I like R7 more than R11. R11 always gives me the vibes of a cheaper lifestyle speaker than a hifi speaker due to its proportions. Long, narrow too many drivers , which is common for home theatre speakers from cheaper brands.

R7 and Reference 3 has proper dimensions to me.
 
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dogmamann

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Tecnogadjet has gone to a lot of trouble to keep this rumor about the R Meta series going. Great photoshopping bro!
As much as I didn’t believe it before, the photos doesn’t look fake. At this point, I agree I was completely wrong about thinking they weren’t coming.
 

dogmamann

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If the R3 's you have sound good to you, why upgrade?
Mine certainly does sound good and i don't think that the new meta's will bring a significant difference.
Ls50 had good improvement in real world listening. R series currently has quite a narrow soundstage. If that is improved, well that’s the biggest improvement to my ears then!
 

bodhi

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Details exactly as my dealer told me last week, even the red driver.

I'm going to pay visit to the guy about R7 upgrade. Probably going to be way too expensive, next best thing would be to switch back to bookshelves with R3 Meta.
 

Daka

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Ls50 had good improvement in real world listening. R series currently has quite a narrow soundstage. If that is improved, well that’s the biggest improvement to my ears then!
Same here. Wider dispersion, same as reference meta did compared to previous ref. Tbh I would like ls50 meta mid high, dispersion characteristic with extra woofer so distortion doesn’t take off at higher spl. That’s all.
 

nawfal07

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Today was the world premiere of the new R Meta loudspeaker series. The interesting thing is that none of the audio and video media have commented yet, and KEF has not updated its website either.

I got this insight from an installer on Barcelona
View attachment 261390

And then got some extra pics from my dealer contact:

View attachment 261394View attachment 261392

View attachment 261393

Looks like the R6C made its comeback ! Last R series from 2018 only offered the R2C

Thank you for the update and photos. Seems like R6C will not be Meta though. I think maybe because it didn’t exist in the last generation, why not just catch up with the rest.
 
Last edited:

dogmamann

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Details exactly as my dealer told me last week, even the red driver.

I'm going to pay visit to the guy about R7 upgrade. Probably going to be way too expensive, next best thing would be to switch back to bookshelves with R3 Meta.
R3 Meta is in my opinion the best R Speaker option. I always felt the R series towers to have the uniQ Unit below the ear level which makes it sound nice if you are lying down a couch but while sitting despite very little shit in tonality, the image of the singer is always below ear level. Stand mounting a R3 which has the uniq above this level if that’s important to you.

I think the reference 3 is taller than the R7 and therefore you get the image shifted slightly above on them making them feeling different in sound during the demo.

On graphs from midrange up, they are similar in lot of ways but in person they sound different may be for this reason.they measure it in the midrange axis. If a proper listening comparison is to be made, the heights should be matched I think.
 
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