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KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 1.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 5 1.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 82 18.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 360 79.6%

  • Total voters
    452

kchap

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I went with a relative to a Hi-Fi store to compare the B&W 703s to the R11s. Note, I do own an over 20yo pair of 803s and therefore I am biased. In fact, I preferred the the R11s.
 

Sammy135

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Can the r11's tweeter performance keep up with the dynamics of a compression driver tweeter such as the jbl hdi 3800?

Is 102 db really enough to test tweeter compression, or should you go higher?

I have the ls50 meta, and I'm planning my next upgrade, but just really worried about compression. The ls50 meta compression a lot, same with the r3s. The reference 1 tweeter measurements didn't compression at all, and doesn't look like the r11 compression that much either.

But when you put these in a movie reference levels, can it keep up with the standards that THX and Imax films has set?

I was really looking to get the jbl hdi series or the jbl 698, but rather stick to the kef family, if the r11 can keep up in dynamics
 

Redman43

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I hate when companies and in this case reviewer states that speakers costs "3250 dollars each". Who the hell buys 1 or 3 of these ? Yes, there might be about 4 cases of that happening every decade but it's just plain stupid to put it that way. These cost 6500 and it should be stated in the review that way.
 

thewas

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Is 102 db really enough to test tweeter compression, or should you go higher?
In my opinion it is due to two reasons, at 102 dB / 1 meter usually the woofers of such loudspeakers are at their limits and also the energy spectrum of most music is declining to higher frequencies.
Track260MaxL.png

Source of plot: https://www.hifi-selbstbau.de/index...chenq-mit-dem-waveanalyzer?highlight=WzI2MF0=
 

Tassin

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Sammy135

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In my opinion it is due to two reasons, at 102 dB / 1 meter usually the woofers of such loudspeakers are at their limits and also the energy spectrum of most music is declining to higher frequencies.
Track260MaxL.png

Source of plot: https://www.hifi-selbstbau.de/index...chenq-mit-dem-waveanalyzer?highlight=WzI2MF0=

Makes sense for music.

But for a movie, which reference level being at about 105 db, and sitting about 3 to 4 meters away... I'd really like to know if

1) the kef tweeter can keep up at 105 vs the 102 and at that long distance
2) for how long? Tweeter drive system will probably overheat and start compression... a long 5 minute drawn out action scene
 

thewas

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Makes sense for music.

But for a movie, which reference level being at about 105 db, and sitting about 3 to 4 meters away... I'd really like to know if

1) the kef tweeter can keep up at 105 vs the 102 and at that long distance
2) for how long? Tweeter drive system will probably overheat and start compression... a long 5 minute drawn out action scene
Even for a movie I strongly doubt someone will have an long term average of 105 dB at the high frequency at the listening position continuously, as such would be VERY loud and also dangerous for the hearing, see also above plot for the spectrum, In my experience also the limit of almost all loudspeakers comes first in the bass, even the 4 x 6.5" woofers of the R11 Meta won't easily reach that level at 3-4 meters distance.
Here are distortion measurements of the old R11 non Meta, you see that rather the woofers suffer at 100 dB /1 m:

1711529266296.png

Source of above measurement: https://www.hegel.com/images/reviews/H190audiogermany.pdf
 

zgmf_x10a

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I hate when companies and in this case reviewer states that speakers costs "3250 dollars each". Who the hell buys 1 or 3 of these ? Yes, there might be about 4 cases of that happening every decade but it's just plain stupid to put it that way. These cost 6500 and it should be stated in the review that way.
People who put 3 of these behind acoustic transparent screens? Given the symmetrical bass drivers could probably put one on its side to use as centre channel.
 

Prana Ferox

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I hate when companies and in this case reviewer states that speakers costs "3250 dollars each". Who the hell buys 1 or 3 of these ? Yes, there might be about 4 cases of that happening every decade but it's just plain stupid to put it that way. These cost 6500 and it should be stated in the review that way.
It means they're sold in fixed integers, so you can't walk into Best Buy and request to buy 7.2 of them to match your AVR
 

douede

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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.


With my brother, we drove 100kms to a shop to hear/test the Revel F226Be.
=> We found its bass too light/short...
(My brother finaly bought the Arendal 1723 Tower S THX, upgraded its crossover parts, and is happy with it. Gustard R26>Nilai>...)
 
Last edited:

welwynnick

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I hate when companies and in this case reviewer states that speakers costs "3250 dollars each". Who the hell buys 1 or 3 of these ? Yes, there might be about 4 cases of that happening every decade but it's just plain stupid to put it that way. These cost 6500 and it should be stated in the review that way.
Absolutely.

Genelec and Neumann speakers are often priced singly for some reason. I don't think Kef or their dealers usually do that.
 
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