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KEF R3 Speaker Review

Xaviedie

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Xaviedie

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KEF R6 vertical ? cool (use speaker side)
 

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TheBatsEar

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KEF R3 META available! we want his measurements aha! nice new @amirm
Will you send in yours for measurements? :D
If you buy a pair anyway, you might consider shipping them to @amirm first. You can send him a personal message.
Usually this makes only sense if you are in the US.
 

marcom22

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View attachment 257325

Finally I find the time to set up these new babies as they deserve (please don't blame me about the stands painting, they're handmade by me and I am no expert about wood DIY :D).
Obviously I have no kids nor pets eheh...
Aesthetics apart, they sound gorgeous; frankly I was surprised by their bass extension and quality, for sure my room plays a big role in it, but they're absolutely not bass shy, I'm even tempted to sell my subwoofer now ...
They're a little bit hot around 2Khz, nothing annoying to be honest, but it's a thing that jumped to my ears with the very first listenings, now I think my brain is getting used to it. Maybe my next "present outside Christmas" will be an Elisya Xfilter ... ;)
My chain is Tidal Connect through a Raspberry Pi into a SMSL SU9n into Hypex Ncore 252MP.
Cheers!
sorry man, Is the NC252MP enough for the R3? Thanks
 

bYOndo

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sorry man, Is the NC252MP enough for the R3? Thanks
For my listening space (3x3m. more or less) they retain a "full body" at a discomfy listening level. Stellar speakers... p.s.: meanwhile I also bought a Driverack PA2 just for having eq control from the couch (and defying a pair of nasty room resonances too...). Doubled the fun :cool::cool:
 

bloodshoteyed

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speaking from firsthand experience, you just can't go wrong with a purifi/R3 combo
 

Talisman

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Hello everyone, I took advantage of the release of the new R3 Meta to win a pair of R3s for just over 1000 euros.
I photographed the "Shadow flare" could you tell me if it is correctly in place or should it be pushed further down?
Thank you
IMG_20230223_140059_edit_1698147231891921.jpg
IMG_20230223_140045_edit_1698127953194008.jpg
 

steve59

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i wouldn't touch it.
 

HarmonicTHD

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Hello everyone, I took advantage of the release of the new R3 Meta to win a pair of R3s for just over 1000 euros.
I photographed the "Shadow flare" could you tell me if it is correctly in place or should it be pushed further down?
Thank youView attachment 266856View attachment 266857
If it is flush with the front, it is ok. A bit hard to see due to the reflections in the pics. But looks ok.
 

Philipp

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I have a question that I hope could be answered by one of you.
Is my Denon PMA 700 AE capable of driving the R3?
I could get a hold of a new pair of R3 for 900 €, but I can‘t invest in a new amp at the same time.
For what I read in the attached review, it could be OK, but I am no expert like many of you. There are some measurements in the attached document (last pages, scroll down).
Could you please comment on my question, that would help to make my decision.
Actually I hear with Quad 11L2, quiet a good speaker in my ears, but I am sure the kef R3 would be an update and my oldest son would love the Quads for sure.
 

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SiamXIII

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I have a question that I hope could be answered by one of you.
Is my Denon PMA 700 AE capable of driving the R3?
I could get a hold of a new pair of R3 for 900 €, but I can‘t invest in a new amp at the same time.
For what I read in the attached review, it could be OK, but I am no expert like many of you. There are some measurements in the attached document (last pages, scroll down).
Could you please comment on my question, that would help to make my decision.
Actually I hear with Quad 11L2, quiet a good speaker in my ears, but I am sure the kef R3 would be an update and my oldest son would love the Quads for sure.
It would be just fine. This is a great price for great speakers. You can upgrade amp later if you want.
 

gegegege

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It's interesting to see amirm describing his subjective impression of sound, but how does it translate to scientific measurement? How does a "warm" sound measure against a cold one? We often hear people say one speaker is a lot "clearer", and I can tell between my speakers too, how do you measure that?
 

steve59

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For me a warm sounding speaker will have a slightly rolled off treble and more energy in the low mids than the upper mids.
 

Philipp

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… slight mid-bass boost, UK-classic ;-)

In this review, Amir marks the elevated treble with the comment „may sound bright“, everything you hear can be measured or it is just imagination.
0F051C21-42C1-46A2-9EF8-F4E98B2DF0B3.png
 
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HarmonicTHD

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It's interesting to see amirm describing his subjective impression of sound, but how does it translate to scientific measurement? How does a "warm" sound measure against a cold one? We often hear people say one speaker is a lot "clearer", and I can tell between my speakers too, how do you measure that?
Next to what Philip pointed out subjective impressions are just what they are - subjective and only valid for one person and that particular room. Especially the room (reflectiveness) might influence „warm“ or „bright“ perception so does listening distance or toe-in.

That’s why I and many people here just don’t care about subjective impression as they are simply not transferable to someone else.

Hence always try to demo a speaker at home (after preselecting based on measurements and not YouTube/Internet Opinions) - at least that’s what I do.

As for the R3. It is easily EQable for personal preference or room effects due to its nice directivity. And always worth a listen at home.
 
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fineMen

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As for the R3. It is easily EQable for personal preference or room effects due to its nice directivity. And always worth a listen at home.
Not quite. For a comparison see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/adam-t5v-review-studio-monitor.18122/

The directivity index (red line in the CEA2034 graph) of this contender is raising with frequency, while the KEF remains, after a mild transition in the mids, at some level throughout. This is not what we are used to.

Another, a bit less pronounced: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/neumann-kh-150-monitor-review.39922/

On the other hand, people don't really care: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-chora-816-speaker-review.42988/
 

YSC

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Not quite. For a comparison see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/adam-t5v-review-studio-monitor.18122/

The directivity index (red line in the CEA2034 graph) of this contender is raising with frequency, while the KEF remains, after a mild transition in the mids, at some level throughout. This is not what we are used to.

Another, a bit less pronounced: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/neumann-kh-150-monitor-review.39922/

On the other hand, people don't really care: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-chora-816-speaker-review.42988/
The slope of directivity index can be personal taste or preference. Afaik the “response to EQ is that the speaker having nice off axis will not change the primary+ reflected sound producing something strange sounding with EQ, and it’s not “if you don’t like it, just EQ it until you like it” thing, its merely: try it raw, if you feel it still not to your taste, try eq a slope in and see if you still don’t like it, if still hate the sound, return it
 
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