KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

[cavedriver]

Not to digress, but German engineering is on a whole different level and I chuckled when that made the news.

I met one of the managers of that engine development team on a train in Germany. What a d***. We had a pleasant conversation about engineering, design, and project management, he talked about his faith for a bit, and then when he was leaving the train reiterated confidently and arrogantly that he would do it again if they could get away with it. Apparently the only lesson he learned wasn't about environmental responsibility or ethics, but rather just, "don't get caught".

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

An interesting speaker.
I've been thinking about buying a high-end speaker for a long time.
There is only one “problem” for me: I am still absolutely satisfied with my Magnat Signature 707.
But my brain screams for more...

 

[anphex]

Just unwrapped and tried out the KEF Reference 3 Meta. Turns out, one speaker seems to have a faulty crossover since the lower woofer has a pretty moderate distortion and the mid woofer RECEIVES FULL ON BASS. The speaker has absolutely no exterior damage, so I can only guess it's a factory error.

So much for my first handmade-in-uk high end reference speaker experience. You had one job, KEF. At least two people fucked up there. This will be a merry warranty claim and shipping hassle.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

An interesting speaker.
I've been thinking about buying a high-end speaker for a long time.
There is only one “problem” for me: I am still absolutely satisfied with my Magnat Signature 707.
But my brain screams for more...

a safe upgrade might be the magnat signature 909

 

[Ciobi69]

Just unwrapped and tried out the KEF Reference 3 Meta. Turns out, one speaker seems to have a faulty crossover since the lower woofer has a pretty moderate distortion and the mid woofer RECEIVES FULL ON BASS. The speaker has absolutely no exterior damage, so I can only guess it's a factory error.

So much for my first handmade-in-uk high end reference speaker experience. You had one job, KEF. At least two people fucked up there. This will be a merry warranty claim and shipping hassle.

You contacted them?

 

[exm]

Just unwrapped and tried out the KEF Reference 3 Meta. Turns out, one speaker seems to have a faulty crossover since the lower woofer has a pretty moderate distortion and the mid woofer RECEIVES FULL ON BASS. The speaker has absolutely no exterior damage, so I can only guess it's a factory error.

So much for my first handmade-in-uk high end reference speaker experience. You had one job, KEF. At least two people fucked up there. This will be a merry warranty claim and shipping hassle.

Strange that this passed their QC.

 

[anphex]

You contacted them?

Will do, I am waiting to receive the original invoice from the second hand seller (hoping it wasn't something shady) and then register it on KEFs website and THEN contact them. I already know this will be annoying. Hope they can just ship me a new one, pick up the broken one and repair/resell it themselfes, not bothering me. Everything else would be very unsatisfying.

 

[muad]

Will do, I am waiting to receive the original invoice from the second hand seller (hoping it wasn't something shady) and then register it on KEFs website and THEN contact them. I already know this will be annoying. Hope they can just ship me a new one, pick up the broken one and repair/resell it themselfes, not bothering me. Everything else would be very unsatisfying.

You bought it used or new? From a second hand seller? An authorized dealer or someone random?

 

[anphex]

You bought it used or new? From a second hand seller? An authorized dealer or someone random?

From a trustworthy person, we have a full contract, id copy, phone number and even did plenty smalltalk about his new speakers (borresen). He packaged and prepared the speakers so neatly you wouldn't have noticed if someone said those where brand new speakers.
Edit: What's weird is that it's not even really apparent in the measurements I did.

 

[ban25]

From a trustworthy person, we have a full contract, id copy, phone number and even did plenty smalltalk about his new speakers (borresen). He packaged and prepared the speakers so neatly you wouldn't have noticed if someone said those where brand new speakers.
Edit: What's weird is that it's not even really apparent in the measurements I did.

KEF's warranty is not transferable and terminated the moment the original owner sold to you. They will most probably offer to repair, but you will have to pay for it.

I suppose the small talk did not extend to the damage to the speakers he was selling...

 

[Crosstalk]

From a trustworthy person, we have a full contract, id copy, phone number and even did plenty smalltalk about his new speakers (borresen). He packaged and prepared the speakers so neatly you wouldn't have noticed if someone said those where brand new speakers.
Edit: What's weird is that it's not even really apparent in the measurements I did.

If it’s not from an authorised dealer, you now can rely on the person who sold you for your warranty. Ask him to register and claim the warranty and help you out. If you claim you would need to spend for the repair. This would mean you might need to replace the crossover and uniq, since you allowed it to play low bass. The suspension and voice coil on them are not meant to handle low bass which means it might work now, but would have already loosened the rubber surrounds beyond its capability and voice coil would be partially fried. So even after changing the crossover it would not match the other working speaker. Give the $#!^ back to the guy who sold you. He messed something for sure and sold it to you silently. This will never happen from factory

 

[dogmamann]

. At least two people fucked up there. This will be a merry warranty claim and shipping hassle.

KEF’s warranty is great. You won’t be having any trouble here. Just contact them and send it over to Netherlands in the original boxes. Hope you still have the boxes with you.

 

[dogmamann]

KEF's warranty is not transferable and terminated the moment the original owner sold to you.

Any first hand experience? If not where is it written ?

 

[ban25]

Any first hand experience? If not where is it written ?

Warranty

KEF Warranty Policy 1. Warranty PeriodAll KEF Products are precision engineered and the Authorised Distributors provide warranty against faulty material and/or workmanship for the following products from the date of original purchase is as follows. KEF may require you to provide proof of...

uk.kef.com

3. KEF Limited Warranty Coverage
This warranty applies to the first purchaser of the KEF product(s) from an Authorised Dealer. This warranty does not extend to any other person or transferee and terminates if you sell or otherwise transfer the KEF product(s) to another party/entity.

 

[anphex]

I am 99,99 % sure this is a misunderstanding and even if it wasn't, this would not be applicable in Germany. Warranty CAN NOT BE VOID on second hand market sales if the original invoice is available proving the original purchase date. Other than that KEF would have to proof TO ME in the first 6 months after purchase that it was a factory perfect speaker, which they can't really since the issue doesn't even appear on measurements, at least not in the precision I can produce at home.


I invite you to check out the issue: https://pics.anphex.one/s/5du36n0jtz/kef-reference-3-meta-faulty
Sorry for my super gibberish english. It was a on the fly video late after work .

Another mention: I have become so paranoid of getting accused of damaging stuff myself that I pack and unpack stuff on video only. I have the full unpackagin and assembly of the speaker in question on a 30 min video where it's absolutely proven that no slip of mine happened. There is also no dent in the packaging.

Of course there is always the possibility that the second hand seller """forgot""" to tell me but I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on my legal insurance then after years of paying without any case.

 

[Tassin]

Does this not breach EU rules on warranty?

Found this on https://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/en/shopping-internet/guarantees-and-warranties.html:

 

[dogmamann]

I am 99,99 % sure this is a misunderstanding and even if it wasn't, this would not be applicable in Germany. Warranty CAN NOT BE VOID on second hand market sales if the original invoice is available proving the original purchase date. Other than that KEF would have to proof TO ME in the first 6 months after purchase that it was a factory perfect speaker, which they can't really since the issue doesn't even appear on measurements, at least not in the precision I can produce at home.


I invite you to check out the issue: https://pics.anphex.one/s/5du36n0jtz/kef-reference-3-meta-faulty
Sorry for my super gibberish english. It was a on the fly video late after work .

Another mention: I have become so paranoid of getting accused of damaging stuff myself that I pack and unpack stuff on video only. I have the full unpackagin and assembly of the speaker in question on a 30 min video where it's absolutely proven that no slip of mine happened. There is also no dent in the packaging.

Of course there is always the possibility that the second hand seller """forgot""" to tell me but I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on my legal insurance then after years of paying without any case.

Since you realized it immediately and you have proof, the seller is doomed. I live in Germany, and I had a similar situation as a seller before. The item had a defect which I was unaware of. Eventually I had to pay for the shipping back to my place and refund everything. It’s a damn expensive speaker if you go the repair route. More than money it’s damn difficult to take it apart and put it together. I would not go that way. The front baffle and woofers have all some screws which are tightened to a specific torque. Once you open it cannot fix it yourself to that torque without knowing how it was set at the factory. More or less means resonance!! Also, the crossover is behind one of the bracing which means you cannot take them out !

 

[exm]

Just unwrapped and tried out the KEF Reference 3 Meta. Turns out, one speaker seems to have a faulty crossover since the lower woofer has a pretty moderate distortion and the mid woofer RECEIVES FULL ON BASS. The speaker has absolutely no exterior damage, so I can only guess it's a factory error.

So much for my first handmade-in-uk high end reference speaker experience. You had one job, KEF. At least two people fucked up there. This will be a merry warranty claim and shipping hassle.

Since you bought it used, it makes more sense. Kef will never ever leave a speaker leave their UK facility with such a problem. There's plenty of YT videos about the Kef UK factory (I recommend to watch some).

Hopefully you can work it out with the seller and Kef. In general, Kef's customer service for their Reference products is fantastic.

 

[anphex]

Since you bought it used, it makes more sense. Kef will never ever leave a speaker leave their UK facility with such a problem. There's plenty of YT videos about the Kef UK factory (I recommend to watch some).

Hopefully you can work it out with the seller and Kef. In general, Kef's customer service for their Reference products is fantastic.

Even if I found the issue more or less by pure chance and using dedicated sine sweeps since the issue isn't audible on music usage and not even showing on measurements?

I doubt they do a full distortion measurement before leaving the factory. I saw these one of these videos and there they hooked up a sine generator and did a quick sweep and that was it. So I don't really blame them since it's really hidden.

Have a look at my home measurements before EQ. The distortion is ridiculously low still. R is the "broken" one.

Edit: Oh, if someone has an idea on how to visualize this specific distortion in REW, feel free to suggest.

 

[staticV3]

Oh, if someone has an idea on how to visualize this specific distortion in REW, feel free to suggest.

Could you be more specific please?