KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

[dogmamann]

The "Keffies" are bound for a trip to the EU service center in Netherlands where it will show what kind of fault it was. What triggered this was that the second speaker now suddenly showed mid-woofer-only disortion from 1 to 4 Khz. Weird.

Oh also turns out the original original very first vendor is a certified KEF Dealer, so everything is fine and it raised the chance of goodwill a lot, while a repair on actual warranty is still on the table. So my chances are pretty high, kinda?

How much is the freight charges to Netherlands ? Curious since they are heavy! Also, you shipped them in original boxes?

 

[anphex]

How much is the freight charges to Netherlands ? Curious since they are heavy! Also, you shipped them in original boxes?

About 550€ there and back. -_-

Trust me when I say I am coping by the fact that I still made a "deal" even with these expenditures.
Currently my purchase price was 7500 €. If everything goes wrong, the shipping and repair will be 2000-4000€. If everything goes as expected, I might get the expenditures back from the original retailer.

 

[Crosstalk]

About 700 € there and back. -_-

Trust me when I say I am coping by the fact that I still made a "deal" even with these expenditures.
Currently my purchase price was 7500 €. If everything goes wrong, the shipping and repair will be 2000-4000€. If everything goes as expected, I might get the expenditures back from the original retailer.

I also live in Germany and I see few deals here :
https://www.ebay.de/itm/156164651488(no warranty probably)

KEF Reference 3 Meta Demo (Stück)

KEF Reference 3 Meta Standlautsprecher (Stückpreis. Bitte 2 Stück auswählen!) . Aus unserer Ausstellung in top Zustand. Inklusive…

www.sg-akustik.de

 

[anphex]

And this is what happens if you pair the R or Reference speakers with a simple pair of two KEF Kube MIE subs and tinker around for 2-3 hours to get this.
It's insane guys, just insane. Sorry for the wording, but it's clean af.

Note that it's an adaptive oudness-curve or bath-tub EQ design as we Germans call it, that's why it isn't flat when it's not on reference level.

 

[PortalKeeper]

How does this speaker compare in max volume to ascend acoustics Elx ribbon towers? One is 300W and the other is 400W although I’ve read on here that perceived loudness cannot be measured by a single metric. Even so, on the KEF website, it says these have a max output of 113dB. Is that because of some sort of a limiter? When I use the formula 10log(P2/P1), I get 114.77dB using its sensitivity of 90dB/W/m. I have not seen the ELX’s distortion charts though but also I’ve also read that may not matter too much specifically due to the masking effect by lower frequencies. Thanks for any information on this.

 

[dogmamann]

How does this speaker compare in max volume to ascend acoustics Elx ribbon towers? One is 300W and the other is 400W although I’ve read on here that perceived loudness cannot be measured by a single metric. Even so, on the KEF website, it says these have a max output of 113dB. Is that because of some sort of a limiter? When I use the formula 10log(P2/P1), I get 114.77dB using its sensitivity of 90dB/W/m. I have not seen the ELX’s distortion charts though but also I’ve also read that may not matter too much specifically due to the masking effect by lower frequencies. Thanks for any information on this.

There is no limiters on the speakers. That might be the maximum loudness which the speakers may produce beyond which they might break at any point

 

[dogmamann]

How does this speaker compare in max volume to ascend acoustics Elx ribbon towers? One is 300W and the other is 400W although I’ve read on here that perceived loudness cannot be measured by a single metric. Even so, on the KEF website, it says these have a max output of 113dB. Is that because of some sort of a limiter? When I use the formula 10log(P2/P1), I get 114.77dB using its sensitivity of 90dB/W/m. I have not seen the ELX’s distortion charts though but also I’ve also read that may not matter too much specifically due to the masking effect by lower frequencies. Thanks for any information on this.

One a coaxial, the other a traditional multi-way. I think the coherence in sound itself is a deciding factor. It’s unique in sound but I am not sure if everyone will like it

 

[Battlebeast]

How does this speaker compare in max volume to ascend acoustics Elx ribbon towers? One is 300W and the other is 400W although I’ve read on here that perceived loudness cannot be measured by a single metric. Even so, on the KEF website, it says these have a max output of 113dB. Is that because of some sort of a limiter? When I use the formula 10log(P2/P1), I get 114.77dB using its sensitivity of 90dB/W/m. I have not seen the ELX’s distortion charts though but also I’ve also read that may not matter too much specifically due to the masking effect by lower frequencies. Thanks for any information on this.

Why does it matter? If you want to listen at those volumes and go deaf in the process, get some pro audio speakers.

 

[PortalKeeper]

Why does it matter? If you want to listen at those volumes and go deaf in the process, get some pro audio speakers.

I may be using them when playing with a band, they like to play loud, but I use ear plugs. My last kef q950’s weren’t loud enough with my audiophonics lpa-s400et amp unfortunately.

 

[Opal]

I may be using them when playing with a band, they like to play loud, but I use ear plugs. My last kef q950’s weren’t loud enough with my audiophonics lpa-s400et amp unfortunately.

You use KEF speakers to play in a band? Wow i dont think there is a need to do tat to spoil your kef speaker faster

 

[PortalKeeper]

You use KEF speakers to play in a band? Wow i dont think there is a need to do tat to spoil your kef speaker faster

I’m confused, I thought these speakers are built to last like at least 20 years. Is that only when using them at conservative volumes due to heat issues otherwise?

 

[staticV3]

I’m confused, I thought these speakers are built to last like at least 20 years. Is that only when using them at conservative volumes due to heat issues otherwise?

PA and HiFi equipment is built to fundamentally different standards and should not be used interchangeably.

KEF speakers can very well play 20+ years in a domestic environment.

Use them in a concert environment and they may fail much sooner.

 

[anphex]

Good evening everyone, sorry to spam this review thread again but I really need a community opinion.

Attached are images made with RTA with super close field measuremnts (1cm off membrane) of the upper and lower woofer of said problematic Reference 3 Meta. Notice the spray of high frequency distortion. Now this only happens at high volumes of low sine notes the speaker shouldn't really try to reproduce. Since I got my subwoofer setup now it actually doesn't even have to reproduce those frequencies anymore.

The shipment to and back from netherlands would set me back 550 €, which is still okay since I got the speakers for 7500 € almost new. And it seems for now that KEF will PROBABLY repair it on warranty, if not goodwill.

Everything else measures perfectly fine but your see and hear the distortion spray that occurs when the lower woofer gets multiples of 31 Hz or any frequency below that. When using music and subwoofers it's below audible threshold (mine is about 40dB said the klippel test if focussing really hard) but I would always be bothered by not having it checked sooner. It's an annoying decision. Never get big heavy speakers guys, the shipping is a nightmare.

 

[Crosstalk]

If you plan to keep the KEF and always use a sub I doubt I would spend $600 to address the issue. It's possible the speaker could also be damaged in return shipping or any number of unexpected results. It's not an issue but you want it to be perfect? It's your time and money. I keep my gear long term and don't sell much knowing that it will be worth much less when I'm done with it. You simply have to weigh how focused you will be on a non-issue and how much you want to pay to fix an issue you won't hear? I would relax and forget about it.
Your decision may be totally different. Good luck!

Kef service would simply verify this and possibly say it’s within their margin of tolerance (which can be anything). They don’t give warranty on them. Warranty is only valid if something stops working altogether or, you can always clear some distortion easily. I have a friend who sent in his R3 since it had a deviation of 5dbs on certain frequencies between his two speakers. They said it’s within the tolerances. He ended up paying for to and fro shipping if I remember correctly.

I would simply sell it off, if m not satisfied, (if the loss is affordable). That +1/-1 db tolerance is total BS. It will happen only on golden samples

 

[PortalKeeper]

PA and HiFi equipment is built to fundamentally different standards and should not be used interchangeably.

KEF speakers can very well play 20+ years in a domestic environment.

Use them in a concert environment and they may fail much sooner.

Would Genelec be a good loud hi end option then? Some of their speakers hit some really loud volumes I think.

 

[anphex]

Would Genelec be a good loud hi end option then? Some of their speakers hit some really loud volumes I think.

At about 105dB @1m the tweeter is getting limited by the DSP for protection.

If you want to go really loud, you need to go big + horn designs. In fact PA speakers ARE sometimes a good option for hifi when calibrated, it's just that they're usually ugly, bulky, heavy and have very specific radiation pattern.

But for these price ranges of a genelec (7000-10000 €) you can got a set of Funktion One, Martin Audio or VOID Acoustics.

 

[Crosstalk]

At about 105dB @1m the tweeter is getting limited by the DSP for protection.

If you want to go really loud, you need to go big + horn designs. In fact PA speakers ARE sometimes a good option for hifi when calibrated, it's just that they're usually ugly, bulky, heavy and have very specific radiation pattern.

But for these price ranges of a genelec (7000-10000 €) you can got a set of Funktion One, Martin Audio or VOID Acoustics.

The genelec 83xx series are really ugly.

 

[PortalKeeper]

At about 105dB @1m the tweeter is getting limited by the DSP for protection.

If you want to go really loud, you need to go big + horn designs. In fact PA speakers ARE sometimes a good option for hifi when calibrated, it's just that they're usually ugly, bulky, heavy and have very specific radiation pattern.

But for these price ranges of a genelec (7000-10000 €) you can got a set of Funktion One, Martin Audio or VOID Acoustics.

Are you saying these kef speakers are limited or some model genelecs? And thanks for those brand recommendations, I’ll check them out.

 

[staticV3]

Are you saying these kef speakers are limited or some model genelecs?

There is no DSP protection built into the R11 Meta, because it is a passive speaker.

@anphex was referring to a Genelec speaker (but did not specify which one for some reason)

 

[dogmamann]

There is no DSP protection built into the R11 Meta, because it is a passive speaker.

@anphex was referring to a Genelec speaker (but did not specify which one for some reason)

You will only know the limit of the kefs when they explode.