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KEF R3 Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
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That’s stupid, if it comes out due to vibration due to the playback, it’s extreme poor design if a speaker changes its sound due to playing back of sound. But transportation problems is acceptable as long as they mention this in the manual.
Did you know screws on your speakers loosen over time and affect sound? Oh, what a poor design!
Alice of Old Vincennes
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They shouldn't. Imagine if critical screws in a moving vehicle loosened over time.
uwotm8
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Unfortunately they do. Sometimes.
But yes:
Not just the design, but also reasons of using these (one of the reasons of using those rings - "let's get rid of ugly screws, we're going minimalistic") and causes of optimization - from making those flares just a flimsy plastic caps to assembling in China.
Dynaudio got their portion of bad QC too after moving Evoke and cheaper lines to China (while BM and LYD are still marked as made in Denmark, I hope Danes don't lie
).Monitor Audio did it right many years before it became so mainstream - they used a central screw which goes from woofer to the back side of the speaker. No visible screws at the front panel and you can shape driver flare whatever you want. But there was a little thing they didn't manage those years (I didn't hear current models) and that was the sound
It makes the tiniest, minutest, teensy little difference to the measured response.... I wouldn't let it worry me.
Steve Dallas
Major Contributor
Mine moved during shipping (presumably), but have never moved in regular use. I don't think that actually happens.
I agree. All reports I have read about over the years are a result of shipping. Never from sound while playing.
Some of the beauty rings just loosen over time, some don't. It's a design flaw they fixed with the KEF R3 Meta, a dealer in Germany told me.
Just press them back in, if it bothers you a drop of glue will sort it.
Just press them back in, if it bothers you a drop of glue will sort it.
They are not beauty rings. They have a purpose.
We
I do not think the KEF’s shadow flares would come off due to the vibration of the speakers themselves, thereby altering their own frequency response.
Show me one other speaker which has such kind of a problem? My References have the plastic rings too, and if you press them, it’s possible to change their position a little bit, if you pull them out a little bit, there is a dramatic change in sound. I would go nuts if that happens due to the playback and luckily it doesn’t happen that way atleast on the references. Anyways imo, the shadow flare thing in the whole Kef series is a questionable design decision
erinsaudiocorner says it’s not
On The KEF R Series and References as per kefs document itself it’s not a decoration but it’s something functional. I have not come across any other speaker ever which had its screws loosened over time. It is possible that very old poorly made speakers with particle boards can have this problem but that happens after several years.Unfortunately they do. Sometimes.
But yes:
Not just the design, but also reasons of using these (one of the reasons of using those rings - "let's get rid of ugly screws, we're going minimalistic") and causes of optimization - from making those flares just a flimsy plastic caps to assembling in China.
Dynaudio got their portion of bad QC too after moving Evoke and cheaper lines to China (while BM and LYD are still marked as made in Denmark, I hope Danes don't lie
Monitor Audio did it right many years before it became so mainstream - they used a central screw which goes from woofer to the back side of the speaker. No visible screws at the front panel and you can shape driver flare whatever you want. But there was a little thing they didn't manage those years (I didn't hear current models) and that was the sound
I do not think the KEF’s shadow flares would come off due to the vibration of the speakers themselves, thereby altering their own frequency response.
Show me one other speaker which has such kind of a problem? My References have the plastic rings too, and if you press them, it’s possible to change their position a little bit, if you pull them out a little bit, there is a dramatic change in sound. I would go nuts if that happens due to the playback and luckily it doesn’t happen that way atleast on the references. Anyways imo, the shadow flare thing in the whole Kef series is a questionable design decision
That’s from Erin’s audio corner. Again, it’s very easy to get this screwed if this part is not a fixed part to the baffle. I can easily push the ring (attempting to clean for example) on one corner and the opposite corner comes out more than 1 mm on my references. I have seen R Series boxes with the “beauty rings” protruding more than 1mm in the showrooms many times. If it was just a beauty ring, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But it is not. I bet majority of the R Series users are unaware of this issue and none of them are hearing what the reviewers heard!
More than a beauty ring indeed, cheers.
uwotm8
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I never said these are not functional. They are. But that flare shape could be done another ways (MA screw-through-speaker is just one of examples). They way it stays fixed for years and no transportation drop that doesn't kill the speaker should make them move. Measurements you provided shows that it's critical for rings to be precisely on their right positions so it's KEF problem to assure this (if they care of course), not customer's.
Just decide if this is teensy little.
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They seem to have solved it with the Meta refresh.
They never changed the cabinet design between R / Reference when they refreshed to Metas. From the looks and weight they are exactly the same. I do not know if they changed anything internally. The older cabins were well designed and is a good baseline for working on the drivers and crossovers. If I am not wrong if one has the money, they can buy the meta drivers and crossovers to Metafy the old one. Downside is having no warranty on doing so.
So far we have no report of the R3 Meta rings coming loose, i would guess they add a dab of hot glue or something during assembly now.
Which is an option for those that have loose rings with the R3 too.
Which is an option for those that have loose rings with the R3 too.
It’s not loose on R3 either. It’s a press fit mechanism like a speaker grill. It’s possible to push on one corner and the opposite corner pops up. Using a hot glue would work but think of this: you are spending over 2000 euros on a speaker which has a high possibility of not sounding right, out of the box and need customers effort to make it right. This doesn’t happen on boxes costing 100 or even 25.
The plastic rings on the references has glue behind them, yet mine was miss aligned. Even worse my whole front baffle was misaligned but the dealer fixed it for me by removing the nuts from the rear of the speakers and then realigning. He told me that sometimes that it had happened with another customers unit also, but since it’s a fix they can do it at the store, they won’t have to send it to KEF.
This arises lot of questions about their general
kolestonin
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Mine arrived with the ring out of the baffle and I had to push it inside. You can read my post here:
Wharfedale EVO 4.4 vs KEF R3
What's it? :rolleyes: Told you my story, especially about my previous "system" (#49). Attention is hereby reported healthy and explanation I don't know who will take advantage of it actually. Better you decide. Well it is what it is as shown in measurements, + it improves impuls response and...
www.audiosciencereview.com
This was the case with the the original R3 I also owned.
I can also confirm there are no visible differences on the shadow flare/ring material or design.
They maybe changed something under the hood but my experience showed the contrary.
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