KEF R3 meta Measurements

[SacreDro]

The R3 Meta si twice the price of the LS50, 1200 Euro vs 800 Euro for the LS50, so is the R3 Meta 30% better than the LS50, I guess not, so I am not sure about if the price gap is worth the extra cash.
I saw some Cabbase Minorca MC40 for sale at around 600 Euro and Monitor Audio Gold 100 5G at 1000 Euro, the guy from the store told me that all of them are good, the LS50 may have less resonance than the R3 Meta and that the R3 is more suitable for a bigger room.
In terms of sound the LS50<R3 Meta<MA Gold 100 5G and Cabasse MC40 in the middle.

I did not saw any measurements for the Monitor Audio, since the guy told me that he had the Kef R3 Meta, but went to Monitor Audio as his main speakers, the tweeter makes a little difference that's why he bought them, the MA are are sale 50% since the new ones arrived, so I am not sure if he was just trying to sell me them go get rid of the speakers.

 

[ehabheikal]

The R3 Meta si twice the price of the LS50, 1200 Euro vs 800 Euro for the LS50, so is the R3 Meta 30% better than the LS50, I guess not, so I am not sure about if the price gap is worth the extra cash.
I saw some Cabbase Minorca MC40 for sale at around 600 Euro and Monitor Audio Gold 100 5G at 1000 Euro, the guy from the store told me that all of them are good, the LS50 may have less resonance than the R3 Meta and that the R3 is more suitable for a bigger room.
In terms of sound the LS50<R3 Meta<MA Gold 100 5G and Cabasse MC40 in the middle.

I did not saw any measurements for the Monitor Audio, since the guy told me that he had the Kef R3 Meta, but went to Monitor Audio as his main speakers, the tweeter makes a little difference that's why he bought them, the MA are are sale 50% since the new ones arrived, so I am not sure if he was just trying to sell me them go get rid of the speakers.

Never trust a sales man.

 

[Punter16]

The MA Gold will be more detailed and more "accurate" or lively. You will probably get more "WOW" from them. The R3 Metas will provide a wider sound and the sound is much more neutral and subdued. In my experience, you need a lot more amplifier and a good DAC to make the R3s come alive...not as much with the MA.

 

[SacreDro]

The MA Gold will be more detailed and more "accurate" or lively. You will probably get more "WOW" from them. The R3 Metas will provide a wider sound and the sound is much more neutral and subdued. In my experience, you need a lot more amplifier and a good DAC to make the R3s come alive...not as much with the MA.

At a high price, I was talking to a friend that has studio equipment, the R3 Meta are nice, but for the money being a consumer grade he told me to go with Yamaha HS8 and I would not be worried about sound quality, amplification etc.
These guys from the dealers are just salesman that do not recommemd the right prodcuts for the right price, just what they want to sale or need to sale.

 

[Count Dacula]

I'd say, not really. The only drawback is that the LS50 might fail sooner because of active elecronics, but still they're great speakers as long as they aren't run very loud and get a graciously high subwoofer crossover frequency.

If the electrics failed i'm sure any member here could "hot wire" them.... oh, "bypass" would be the correct term.

 

[Count Dacula]

I just dropped in....

 

[Count Dacula]

and made a meem.

 

[exm]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have a question though..

I'm also trying to remove the plastic ring around the Uni-Q driver of my R5 meta, but I'm not sure how I can do that from the inside. The ring mounting holes don't seem to be through holes, by guessing from the R11 unboxing video from Youtube(attached a screenshot)..

So could you explain a bit further how I could pull or push from inside? Your help will be much appreciated!

It's very simple. Use a pry tool on the outside. Gently insert the tool between the speaker cabinet and the plastic ring and pop it out.

 

[renkitch]

For a lot of people, this with a sub could truly be endgame. And they're probably gonna go on sale from time to time, just like their predecessor. Wow.

It won't be the endgame you hope for with a resonant sub. The timing will be awful.

 

[exm]

Thank you for your response. However a plastic pry tool is a bit too thick to insert, and I don't want to use a steel watch driver like the picture, which will make some scratches.
So I was wondering what objectivecoder did from the inside..
Thanks again anyways, have a great day!

Put some soft (maybe a kitchen towel?) against the wood, and use a small screwdriver in that case. It will pop right out.

 

[LionIT]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have a question though..

I'm also trying to remove the plastic ring around the Uni-Q driver of my R5 meta, but I'm not sure how I can do that from the inside. The ring mounting holes don't seem to be through holes, by guessing from the R11 unboxing video from Youtube(attached a screenshot)..

So could you explain a bit further how I could pull or push from inside? Your help will be much appreciated!

Same doubt to remove the shadow flare of my R3 Meta.
I found on a well-known Chinese store some mini suction cups with threaded stud on the back that can be pulled with pliers.
Zero risks to damage the flare.

 

[LionIT]

I can't understand this graph maybe...
The crossover between woofer and uni-q is declared at 420hz, but here it seems between 260/280hz.
Maybe the measurement was made on tweeter axis at very low distance @Nuyes ?
I saw the statement about 5ms gating, but can't understand why that difference...

 

[thewas]

View attachment 447126
I can't understand this graph maybe...
The crossover between woofer and uni-q is declared at 420hz, but here it seems between 260/280hz.
Maybe the measurement was made on tweeter axis at very low distance @Nuyes ?
I saw the statement about 5ms gating, but can't understand why that difference...

Such nearfield driver measurements do not show the correct relative levels of each driver (as they are proportional to the driver surfaces) which results in such errors when thinking the curve crossing points represent the real acoustic crossover points.

 

[Alexx]

On Nad C399 amplifier are these speakers valid and well matched?
I had the old R3 on Rotel 1592 and they were well matched I have no idea the new Meta on Nad.
Thank you very much.

 

[voodooless]

There is no such thing as matching. Those amps have no sound signature. All they need to do is being able to drive the speakers adequately. Given that the C399 is based on Hypex nCore, I would not worry too much.

 

[Alexx]

OK thank you.