KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

[ahofer]

Sure - check this out. Speakers are resonant high pass filters - the Q (filter steepness) determines the shape of the passband right above the corner frequency. The higher the Q, the more likely it is that any ringing will be audible. Generally it is preferred to not go above a Q of about 0.71, if possible. 0.5-0.71 is a common area.

Notice how it has a hump right before it falls off below Fb? That's a clue that the Q is very high.
View attachment 360633


An "ideal" EBS alignment looks like this (drawn in in red).

View attachment 360634


KEF are certainly not the only company who does this - Neumann has it as a bit of an issue as well on some models, albeit less severe.

View attachment 360640

so same thing, somewhat tamer, here (30-50Hz)? -

 

[dfuller]

so same thing, somewhat tamer, here (30-50Hz)? -
View attachment 360641

Yes, that is much closer to ideal. Notice how much closer to a smooth line it is?

 

[dfiler]

Regarding the need for full towers like the R11 when you have subwoofer(s)...

With Dirac ART, this dilemma changes once again. I am going to move my R3 to surround duty and buy R11 for the front. With my home theater being almost a perfect cube, this will likely improve some of the nulls which are defying passive treatment. I can hope at least. ;-)

 

[Vacceo]

Regarding the need for full towers like the R11 when you have subwoofer(s)...

With Dirac ART, this dilemma changes once again. I am going to move my R3 to surround duty and buy R11 for the front. With my home theater being almost a perfect cube, this will likely improve some of the nulls which are defying passive treatment. I can hope at least. ;-)

Let us know about your eq readings once that happens! It should be interesting to see the results.

 

[dfiler]

Let us know about your eq readings once that happens! It should be interesting to see the results.

Certainly! First though, Dirac has to release ART for Denon AVRs. Last I heard, beta testing is done and perhaps we’re just waiting on Masimo to release it.

Interestingly, if ART can help tame nulls with full size bed layer speakers, that will significantly change the benefit of larger towers like the R11. I too am looking forward to seeing more real world results.

 

[Vacceo]

Even a simple REW graph of before and after can give us an idea of the changes without EQ. With ART, that can be helpful to other users as that can shed some light on what to expect.

 

[quattro98]

What are you planning to use for surround rears? I'm planning a similar (but cheaper) system around the R series.

Our room has some placement challenges. I’d prefer another set of R3 Meta for the rear, but we have to use ceiling speakers. Atmos x4 and the rear surrounds will be KEF Ci250RRM-THX. Our seating position is in the center of the room, so rear elevation will be greater than recommended. There will be separation from the rear Atmos due to the length of the room. The rear surrounds will be close to the back of the room along a wall/window boundary. In prior systems, I’ve had good sound with some compromises to the rear surrounds so I think is worth going with a 7 channel setup.

 

[Chromatischism]

but we have to use ceiling speakers

Why? Put a sofa table behind your seats and put the rear surrounds on it.

 

[n1rvana]

I love the R Mera series except for the gloss finish. It's the only thing holding me back from purchasing.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

I love the R Mera series except for the gloss finish. It's the only thing holding me back from purchasing.

not everyone has good taste, dont worry...

 

[SlothRock]

I love the R Mera series except for the gloss finish. It's the only thing holding me back from purchasing.

The only thing holding me back from purchasing is the $8500 cost to get two R11's and an R6 meta center

 

[MaxBuck]

I wish there were more cardioid speakers. Not everyone has the space to keep the speakers far enough from walls. That's why the D&D 8C are still my dream speakers.

Mesanovic makes a couple of great cardioids also.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

to be honest, this must sound very different than the previous R series without eq

R3 UNIQ:

 

[Flussgott]

Do i need these when I want to upgrade from my Polk R700? Are they significant better?

 

[hyfynut]

The shape of the bass roll off has me wondering what you would have subjectively thought if it closer to the wall behind it an no bass boost filter.

In my experience moving speakers closer to the wall behind them to enhance bass performance has a negative impact on midbass frequencies in the vocal range in almost every case.

 

[Purité Audio]

Speakers should be close to the front wall to minimise their own cancelation , but you may have to take steps to treat any undesired room gain, which was impossible with ‘traditional’ systems.
Keith

 

[cavedriver]

Cut away of either the R11 (Meta?) or the Reference 5, not sure. from a facebook post. More likely the Reference 5 based on image matching and word "Reference" on stand below speaker, but there's no review thread for any of the Reference towers on ASR.

Actually, someone else shared what looks to be KEF's image of the interior of the R11 Meta as well:

Note the lack of any dynamat or other typical surface-adhered rubber or foam products anywhere on these speakers, consistent with the engineering feedback that those products don't work very well when applied to MDF inside a speaker cabinet. There is lots of stuffing everywhere, again consistent with engineering advice on that strategy.

 

[sifi36]

Cut away of either the R11 (Meta?) or the Reference 5, not sure. from a facebook post. More likely the Reference 5 based on image matching and word "Reference" on stand below speaker, but there's no review thread for any of the Reference towers on ASR.

Actually, someone else shared what looks to be KEF's image of the interior of the R11 Meta as well:

Note the lack of any dynamat or other typical surface-adhered rubber or foam products anywhere on these speakers, consistent with the engineering feedback that those products don't work very well when applied to MDF inside a speaker cabinet. There is lots of stuffing everywhere, again consistent with engineering advice on that strategy.

That’s the Reference 5 (could be Meta, hard to tell from such an image), the black and copper colour way is not available for the R series.

 

[AOR]

Cut away of either the R11 (Meta?) or the Reference 5, not sure. from a facebook post. More likely the Reference 5 based on image matching and word "Reference" on stand below speaker, but there's no review thread for any of the Reference towers on ASR.

Actually, someone else shared what looks to be KEF's image of the interior of the R11 Meta as well:

Note the lack of any dynamat or other typical surface-adhered rubber or foam products anywhere on these speakers, consistent with the engineering feedback that those products don't work very well when applied to MDF inside a speaker cabinet. There is lots of stuffing everywhere, again consistent with engineering advice on that strategy.

The top image is a Reference 5 (non-meta) from the KEF factory/museum in Maidstone, Kent.
The bottom is the R11 Meta.

 

[cavedriver]

The top image is a Reference 5 (non-meta) from the KEF factory/museum in Maidstone, Kent.
The bottom is the R11 Meta.

"R&D Engineer - KEF" - that's a dangerous sig to have around here- someone might ask you a question! (I have two in mind already)