KEF R3 Speaker Review

[JoetheLion]

Fancy audiophile cable was used so no worries there.

Like an atheist who, to be on the safe side, goes to communion.

 

[Gerbrand]

I purchased a pair of R3s today at 1298 euro. I come from a pair of 20 year old B&W floorstanders and, briefly, a pair of Elac DBR62 (I still have them, as my rear speakers). So far I have been thoroughly impressed by the imaging and clarity. My room is rather small (16 sqm/170 sqft) and well treated. I could post a few measurements in a few days.

Gerbrand

 

[Streamc]

I purchased a pair of R3s today at 1298 euro. I come from a pair of 20 year old B&W floorstanders and, briefly, a pair of Elac DBR62 (I still have them, as my rear speakers). So far I have been thoroughly impressed by the imaging and clarity. My room is rather small (16 sqm/170 sqft) and well treated. I could post a few measurements in a few days.

Gerbrand

What amp do you use?

 

[SlowCar]

I have got information that new version of KEF R series will be introduced in the autumn. Information comes from one of the shops so nothing confirmed though...

 

[Gerbrand]

What amp do you use?

I am using an Emotiva XPA-2 (2x250 W into 8 ohms).

I have got information that new version of KEF R series will be introduced in the autumn. Information comes from one of the shops so nothing confirmed though...

It would explain the discounts I am seeing here in Europe.

Gerbrand

 

[Harryharryharry]

I purchased a pair of R3s today at 1298 euro. I come from a pair of 20 year old B&W floorstanders and, briefly, a pair of Elac DBR62 (I still have them, as my rear speakers). So far I have been thoroughly impressed by the imaging and clarity. My room is rather small (16 sqm/170 sqft) and well treated. I could post a few measurements in a few days.

Gerbrand

Nice, I recently picked up a second hand pair and am very impressed. How do they compare to the dbr62s for you?

I've considered a pair of the elacs for my office/DJ setup but not sure I'll want to go back from the R3s!

 

[Fahzz]

I have got information that new version of KEF R series will be introduced in the autumn. Information comes from one of the shops so nothing confirmed though...

Some of us hope that's bad info. We already bought ours.

 

[Gerbrand]

Nice, I recently picked up a second hand pair and am very impressed. How do they compare to the dbr62s for you?

I've considered a pair of the elacs for my office/DJ setup but not sure I'll want to go back from the R3s!

Hi,

Actually the biggest diference between the ELACs and the KEFs (to my ears) is the imaging. I think I like the frequency response of the ELACs actually better than the KEFs, so I might use some equalization to fix that.


Below some data I took today for comparison. The top traces are the KEFs (equalized up to 200 Hz to correct for the room). The bottom trace is (one) ELAC without any equalization. Both are x'ed-over to a dual sub below 80 Hz.

BR

Gerbrand

 

[regan]

I have got information that new version of KEF R series will be introduced in the autumn. Information comes from one of the shops so nothing confirmed though...

 

[mglobe]

Question for the the brighter minds here: I’m amazed by how high above the R3’s the image is. This seems to be particularly true for sounds that are dead center. I would imagine it has something to do with vertical dispersion, but I see nothing that would make it asymmetric. Anyone have any theories?

 

[tecnogadget]

Question for the the brighter minds here: I’m amazed by how high above the R3’s the image is. This seems to be particularly true for sounds that are dead center. I would imagine it has something to do with vertical dispersion, but I see nothing that would make it asymmetric. Anyone have any theories?

I don't have any theory for this, but what you say is true. I got my R3 on stands, where the UniQ height is the same as the floorstanders (R5,R7,R11) slightly below ear level, and the phantom image proyects way higher than the UniQ, above ear level (centered with the Tv).

 

[gamerpaddy]

Got my hands on a pair of grade b (used in store) R3's for 1200 eurobucks.
they have a nice sound stage but i got the feeling they scream / ring my ears at some notes a little more compared to what i had before (elac bs203.a)
not sure if i want to keep them.
may try the genelec 8030c instead, on a pa5 the r3's are dead silent, from the genelecs i heard people saying they hiss a little. thats a no go.

 

[mglobe]

Got my hands on a pair of grade b (used in store) R3's for 1200 eurobucks.
they have a nice sound stage but i got the feeling they scream / ring my ears at some notes a little more compared to what i had before (elac bs203.a)
not sure if i want to keep them.
may try the genelec 8030c instead, on a pa5 the r3's are dead silent, from the genelecs i heard people saying they hiss a little. thats a no go.

Try them with less (or zero) toe-in so that they centerlines of the speaker axis crosses behind you.

 

[mike70]

Got my hands on a pair of grade b (used in store) R3's for 1200 eurobucks.
they have a nice sound stage but i got the feeling they scream / ring my ears at some notes a little more compared to what i had before (elac bs203.a)
not sure if i want to keep them.
may try the genelec 8030c instead, on a pa5 the r3's are dead silent, from the genelecs i heard people saying they hiss a little. thats a no go.

you're using a PA5 with the R3? ... that ampifier can be out of steam with that speakers, check it out.
one thing is SINAD at operational level and other thing is clipping ... and the tweeters in the R3 are very transparent, maybe you're simply hearing what's happening.

 

[mike70]

Try them with less (or zero) toe-in so that they centerlines of the speaker axis crosses behind you.

Kef recommends 0 toe-in

 

[gamerpaddy]

my listening position is just bad
basically (yes.... theres no way around, middle shelve would obstruct the right tweeter.)

at basically 0° Toe it sounds wrong unless i sit on the other side of the room.
at 36° toe its alright, but i constantly gotta turn down the volume in some parts of my music (wasnt a problem on the elacs)
im at 0° tilt, may try 30°


pa5 handles them just fine, didnt had problem with lower efficiency speakers at louder volumes, never went into clipping.
but got two NAD 2200 sitting around, might try these in bridged as a last resort, was about the sell them soon.

 

[jgiannakas]

I think you’re severe limited by your room setup. A room calibration would benefit you the most - I’d suggest you start out with a umic 1 and rew to take some measurements and see what’s going on frequency response wise then consider whether room correction would help you. It may be that the speakers are hitting a resonance/mode that your last ones didn’t.

Also maybe try putting the tweeter/mid unit on the outside instead of the inside?

 

[mike70]

i think a pro nearfield monitor is better for that application ... the R3 are more adequate for domestic hifi listening.
the nearfield monitors usually have switches to adjust the bass / treble response (-1, -2, +1, +2 db ...) to the boundaries.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

my listening position is just bad
basically (yes.... theres no way around, middle shelve would obstruct the right tweeter.)

at basically 0° Toe it sounds wrong unless i sit on the other side of the room.
at 36° toe its alright, but i constantly gotta turn down the volume in some parts of my music (wasnt a problem on the elacs)
im at 0° tilt, may try 30°


pa5 handles them just fine, didnt had problem with lower efficiency speakers at louder volumes, never went into clipping.
but got two NAD 2200 sitting around, might try these in bridged as a last resort, was about the sell them soon.

If i remember well kef recommend the r series min at 1.5m and 22cm to the rear wall... Also stands.. No the forniture

 

[jmbgator]

If i remember well kef recommend the r series min at 1.5m and 22cm to the rear wall... Also stands.. No the forniture

This is per their manual so you're right in the minimums...