KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

[617]

We do use different scales but such scales need to be chosen carefully. The CEA-2034 standard specifically mentions 50 dB vertical range and proper aspect ratio:

"Data shall be reported in graphical form as illustrated in Figure 4. This chart follows the guidance of IEC 60263, which stipulates that the horizontal length for a 10:1 frequency ratio be equal to 50 dB on the vertical scale. "

And importantly:

"All measurements have errors, including measurements in anechoic chambers and outdoors, so it is important to validate your own techniques by comparing the results to a measurement made in a free field environment. A good way to do this is to submit one of your speakers to a recognized testing laboratory. An agreement of ± 1.5 dB is considered to be good."

The underlying measurement system is subject to noise and variability. No way you want to zoom in beyond the accuracy level of the data itself.

There are also complex micro-level variations in measurements which are not understood and so not possible to label.

I think one of the ironies of the db scale is that people underestimate how big 10db and overestimate how big 1.5db is. 3db is a small but noticeable difference. 1db very subtle. A 1.5 difference in the wiggles of a frequency magnitude response is beyond subtle.

 

[617]

The Reference 5 Meta is the next level up at $21,999.98 for the pair.

Reference 1 is the next up in cost, surely?

Kind of a hard sell, honestly. These things look awesome.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Another great review. Another great KEF product. I can’t be the only one thinking $6500 for a pair is not chump change though. What’s sad about this hobby is how many $6500+/pair speakers don’t deliver. At least this one does. It’s sometimes the little things that speak to how thoughtful the overall product is. In this case the jumper bar solution is really smart. They probably are worth the money. One could easily argue you’d need nothing more for at least the next 20 years.

When you look at the picture, you think they're about 8 feet tall. Actually they're 51" tall. That's 4'3" which is not really overbearing at all. Basically mini-towers that can play distortion and compression free to around 105 db down to 30 hz with the room gain.

I'm reading a lot in here about the bass shelf, but as someone who has Dirac and two 12" subwoofers, I can tell you that generates some hellacious 15 db+ standing wave peaks in a real room. I use Dirac to saw them down to size, but I can't help but think Kef might be smart by letting the room do the work for the speaker down there, given that a lot of these flat to 20 hz in an anechoic room big boys just create peaks have to be attenuated with EQ and or DSP anyway. So why not just take advantage of that to make something with the smaller form factor and the cheaper price and put the money into the finishes and driver quality, thereby getting the same or better sound quality in normal listening rooms? Seems like that's what Kef has done here.

 

[617]

When you look at the picture, you think they're about 8 feet tall. Actually they're 51" tall. That's 4'3" which is not really overbearing at all. Basically mini-towers that can play distortion and compression free to around 105 db down to 30 hz with the room gain.

I'm reading a lot in here about the bass shelf, but as someone who has Dirac and two 12" subwoofers, I can tell you that generates some hellacious 15 db+ standing wave peaks in a real room. I use Dirac to saw them down to size, but I can't help but think Kef might be smart by letting the room do the work for the speaker down there, given that a lot of these flat to 20 hz in an anechoic room big boys just create peaks have to be attenuated with EQ and or DSP anyway. So why not just take advantage of that to make something with the smaller form factor and the cheaper price and put the money into the finishes and driver quality, thereby getting the same or better sound quality in normal listening rooms? Seems like that's what Kef has done here.

The bass shelf is actually cool, it indicates the cabinet is a bit oversized for the woofers. Normally the cabinet is made as small as possible. This speaker is a great value I think, although as you point out, it isn't as big as I thought.

The tweeter is only 2'-1.5 off the ground though. Would look cool if they were tilted back.

 

[amper42]

Personally, at $3250 for the KEF R11 I would much prefer the Revel F226Be currently on sale for $3850. The Revel 70 degree horizontal beamwidth, their outstanding tweeter plus their style would push me toward the Revel. Once you reach $6500 a pair there are lots of nice options to choose from. @amirm might even have better pricing available for the F226Be.

Revel F226Be Floorstanding Loudspeaker (each)

The Revel F226Be joins the award-winning PerformaBe series as a compact floorstanding loudspeaker. As part of the PerformaBe loudspeaker line, the F226Be includes a 1-inch (25mm) beryllium tweeter driven by massive 85mm dual ceramic magnets.

upscaleaudio.com

 

[amirm]

I don't understand why you think presenting this data in a more digestable format is a bad idea, while you present DAC linearity zoomed in to a 10dB scale.

Because the instrumentation there is very precise. Not so with acoustic measurements involving microphones, room noise, non-linearities, etc.

You're changing nothing but the input volume of the DUT. An accuracy of ± 1.5 dB in this context would be terrible.

When you have bass distortion in full percentage points, you could just be looking at distortion products and not anything remotely related to "compression." Such louder SPL tests could also cause room noises, etc. that distort the results.

Really, if you care about audibility of frequency response due to SPL, then you must follow the 50 dB rule and not zoom in more. If I showed you even the best speaker response at 20 dB SPL, it would look bad.

 

[Ron Texas]

Personally, at $3250 for the KEF R11 I would much prefer the Revel F226Be currently on sale for $3850. The Revel 70 degree horizontal beamwidth, their outstanding tweeter plus their style would push me toward the Revel. Once you reach $6500 a pair there are lots of nice options to choose from. @amirm might even have better pricing available for the F226Be.

Revel F226Be Floorstanding Loudspeaker (each)

The Revel F226Be joins the award-winning PerformaBe series as a compact floorstanding loudspeaker. As part of the PerformaBe loudspeaker line, the F226Be includes a 1-inch (25mm) beryllium tweeter driven by massive 85mm dual ceramic magnets.

upscaleaudio.com

There was a recent thread expressing a fear that Revel will not be around long at least in the line of business that it is in now.

 

[Chromatischism]

All dome tweeters have an “oil-can” resonance. In the case of soft domes it is damped to reduce audibility but is in the audio band, in the case of a well designed metal dome it is too high to be audible and therefore pointless to add damping and increase the dome mass, but look like a scary spike to the ignorant on a measurement.

I'm curious about this term...oil hasn't come in cans in a very long time!

 

[Chromatischism]

Expensive speaker, but not controversial, voted it Fine. I'd probably look at other options given the cost, would I find a speaker which has been tested here on ASR that has such low distortion and similar or better frequency response & directivity for a lower price - probably, but I'm not looking!

Buchardt A700 are awfully competitive vs these.

 

[Doodski]

I'm curious about this term...oil hasn't come in cans in a very long time!

View attachment 359400

RFLKMAO.. I hung around a Texaco bulk station for several years as a toddler when my mother was working there and I had all the stickers and folding paper/cardboard calcs and smelly stuff that made me a Texaco kid...Lol... I would go for rides and I loved it!

 

[Putter]

I'm curious about this term...oil hasn't come in cans in a very long time!

I think it refers to the sound old fashioned lubricant cans made when used. Pic from Wikipedia.

 

[DWPress]

It sounded clean even during sweeps. So I decided to push it to 102 dBSPL:

This is why you buy a high-performance tower speaker folks instead of bookshelf. Same amount of floor space but far better handling of music at elevated levels.

@amirm - this bit should be on the forthcoming FAQ.

Physics wins again.

 

[HYQID]

Impressive!

 

[Mnyb]

Yes the audiophile fad with extremely overpriced miniature speakers can go these have the same footprint.
And speakers/subs and combination thereof if they have any actual bass they need to be EQ anyway .
So if the room is the small side go big anyway and tame it with EQ and enjoy the headroom

 

[er|κzvio1in]

Personally, at $3250 for the KEF R11 I would much prefer the Revel F226Be currently on sale for $3850. The Revel 70 degree horizontal beamwidth, their outstanding tweeter plus their style would push me toward the Revel. Once you reach $6500 a pair there are lots of nice options to choose from. @amirm might even have better pricing available for the F226Be.

Revel F226Be Floorstanding Loudspeaker (each)

The Revel F226Be joins the award-winning PerformaBe series as a compact floorstanding loudspeaker. As part of the PerformaBe loudspeaker line, the F226Be includes a 1-inch (25mm) beryllium tweeter driven by massive 85mm dual ceramic magnets.

upscaleaudio.com

I appreciate the performance of Revels but their aesthetics never seem to match my preferences. It's mostly the drivers that are at fault. They're not pretty enough for their price point IMO. I've a similar issue with Dynaudio but not as much. I like to see nice looking drivers on display which some companies seem to understand better than others.

 

[Haskil]

If someone wants "Made in UK" (which I can understand) they can buy their higher series like Reference or Blades, one part of their significant price difference is due to that.

Made in Great Britain or just assembled ?
Do you think Kef has two manufacturing lines of the same HP (I'm talking about components) ? One in Europe, the other in China?
Furthermore, Kef has been owned since 1992 by a multinational based in Hong Kong which also owns Celestion and is listed on the stock exchange.

 

[Doodski]

I appreciate the performance of Revels but their aesthetics never seem to match my preferences. It's mostly the drivers that are at fault. They're not pretty enough for their price point IMO. I've a similar issue with Dynaudio but not as much. I like to see nice looking drivers on display which some companies seem to understand better than others.

Sigh..Pffft! Does this make a difference?

 

[thewas]

My current speaker is the R900 (with EQ 41 Hz -10db).
I have always found it a bit slow, lacking slam, and with a kinda "plastic" treble.
Wondering if this R11 meta is significantly better...

Am quite sure most of that can be totally transformed by the appropriate EQ, it is almost all in the frequency amplitude response.

 

[thewas]

Made in Great Britain or just assembled ?
Do you think Kef has two manufacturing lines of the same speakers? One in Europe, the other in China?
Furthermore, Kef has been owned since 1992 by a multinational based in Hong Kong which also owns Celestion and is listed on the stock exchange.

Mainly assembled, you nowadays will very rarely find a product where every component comes from the same country.
Why same speakers, cheaper series are assembled in China and more expensive in UK.

Source of above photo: https://nintronics.co.uk/products/kef-reference-1-meta-customer-trade-in

 

[Haskil]

Thank you Amir for this new test!
Excellent speakers resulting from a serious study using high-performance measurement tools put in the hands of leading engineers. Honestly remarkable. And an overall reasonable price compared to other passive speakers: as they say, they are well placed on the market for a passionate music lover who is looking for a faithful, elegant speaker that fits easily into their living room.


The bass "problem" at the slightly lower level is not a defect, it is even a quality because the room gain often wreaks havoc. And it will be enough to place this speaker very close to the rear wall so that it regains a little level or to correct it slightly after measurement.

And then, something that should be investigated. Browsing the Internet, I saw several cases of coaxial HP Kef with a broken membrane near the suspension... always on small bidirectional wireless libraries... Included in a three-way model and relieved of bass, this HP should escape this risk because its membrane will hardly move with the naked eye. (Not to mention that in Europe, Kef after-sales service doesn't really seem to listen to customers...)