KEF R3 meta Measurements

[abdo123]

Is it a little hot high or is just me seeing it wrong?
Specially at the crucial 3Khz.

The frequency response measurements above 300Hz are misleading at best.

 

[regan]

Another comparison, measurements made by Nuyes.

View attachment 266290View attachment 266291

Uhm... So which one's better?

 

[Sokel]

The frequency response measurements above 300Hz are misleading at best.

So is below as it's 5ms gated.So,what do we see in the FR chart?

 

[abdo123]

So is below as it's 5ms gated.So,what do we see in the FR chart?

I think it's nearfield and gated.

 

[Bjorn]

KEF's precise directional control is truly amazing.

First of all. Thank you very much for the measurements. Great job.

I wanted to comment your conclusion above. The directivity of this speaker starts to deviate horizontally around 2000 Hz. Between 2000 Hz and upwards it's overall uniform but not super constant. When we are below 2000 Hz we see that the directivity gradually get's wider. It's not too deviant to 1.5 kHz, but below 1.5 kHz it's collapsing with major changes. At 800 Hz the directivity is around 160°, and increase of approximately 60° compared to the higher frequencies. And below this it get's wider and the distinction from the higher frequencies increases. Obviously we don't care much about what happens below the Schroeder frequency, but we should at least consider the directivity down to 250 Hz area of a speaker.

Vertically, the speaker is much better. While it changes vertically from around 100° till 120° from 4 kHz to 2.5 kHz, it's able to remain a 120° directivty down to around 600 Hz.

I would argue that while it may be beneficial to remain horizontal directivity high in frequency (and especally when the horizontal dispersion is narrow), the directivity between approximately 500 Hz and 5 kHz is much more important to keep constant. This is the most sensitive area to us and deviations in the power response here will greatly effect the sound quality in a normal room with little acoustcial treatment.

 

[FeddyLost]

Measurements look like good studio equipment.
At least like "another control pair".

 

[oversky]

You can laugh all you want... it's wrong

... it's a tangerine waveguide. Lemons have no place here. See, totally different thing: squeezer.

This is the lemon squeezer in my kitchen.
But I like your figure. Thanks.

Amazon.co.jp

 

[dogmamann]

Measurements look like good studio equipment.
At least like "another control pair".

What is a control pair?

 

[kipman725]

The bass could be greatly improved by making an active version.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

The bass could be greatly improved by making an active version.

“Greatly” is a big word and very unspecific. Afterall you can’t cheat physics as the driver size is what it is.

Adding an active sub is probably easier anyway.

 

[emybaneesim]

This is the lemon squeezer in my kitchen.

Cheapest I can find that is $25. With this multifunctionality Kef are adding, the value proposition gets even better.

Perhaps the voice coils can do double duty as a toaster too (with apologies to Tim Cook)?

 

[martijn86]

I'd go for a 92. Better SPL in not much larger size.

Although my personal preference is overkill drivers that hardly have to work. I think for a balanced setup aimed at music and accuracy, a small subwoofer with room gain can go a long way. But if size, budget and wires is not an issue, I'd shop at Rythmik or if I was more into home theatre, I would check out JTR speakers.

 

[hmt]

Where do you all see better directivity than the R3? To me it looks the same except for some differences because this measurement is much more smoothed that the NFS measurement. Also the THD looks mostly the same.

 

[3125b]

as the driver size is what it is.

Well yes, but there are better 6.5“ drivers than the one they use. Look at what the (more expensice) KH150 is capable of.

However probably not at 800-900€/pair (excl. VAT) the first gen actually costs (and these will slowly approach as well).
Performance is probably similar to the ~80€ standalone drivers, obviously these are custom made, but I can‘t imagine it‘s anything special in terms of performance.

 

[YSC]

definitely looked better in performance and great look as home decoration also!

 

[hmt]

Do they? They (the KH 150) also top out at 96 db 1m below 50Hz. The on axis FR is surely better since this is an active design.

 

[dogmamann]

The bass could be greatly improved by making an active version.

The single Woofer on r3 even on r7 distorts easily when pushed up in bass region. if they go for a completely different woofer with lower distortion, it can be achieved. Not with the current one. R11 on the other hand can be made active and the bass can be improved with reasonable amount of distortion. But if used passively, the bass region is less louder in amplitude without any boost therefore you won’t hear any distortion.

 

[ferongr]

Wondering how it would perform with a Purify 6.5" driver in it. Through I would imagine KEF would never use such a "weird" looking driver since they put too much emphasis on exterior design.

 

[Mnyb]

What about kef’s weird bass/port tuning a bit to low and a tad sloping . In the reference series you can choose if you want this or a more normal br tuning with port inserts ? Why not make this selectable on the R series ?
It said to compensate room gain and get a lower fs ? But not many other brands practice this tuning .

Folks must get lucky, I never been overwhelmed by to much bass in any apartment or house I lived in with any equipment ? are kef trying to solve a non problem ?

 

[testp]

This is not my property, so I can't push it hard.
(to avoid any possible internal damage).

And in a few weeks my studio will be receiving the R6 meta.

Regarding upcoming R6 measurements, will you be positioning it vertically aswell?