• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

KEF R3 Speaker Review

QMuse

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
3,124
Likes
2,785
Well sure, it is what it is. But R3 is still a speaker with very smooth directivity and EQ will fix the tonal balance better than radical toe-in you suggested. ;)

These are estimated LW, ER and SP responses. This should sound ok.. :cool:

Capture.JPG
 

Ron Texas

Master Contributor
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Messages
6,077
Likes
8,913
@VintageFlanker I never listened to R3's but I have LS50's and imaging is their strong point. Perhaps it's the curved baffle which makes it so. I'm a bit confused about which Focal speakers you have. Could you clarify?
 

tuga

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
3,984
Likes
4,281
Location
Oxford, England
@VintageFlanker I never listened to R3's but I have LS50's and imaging is their strong point. Perhaps it's the curved baffle which makes it so. I'm a bit confused about which Focal speakers you have. Could you clarify?

Perhaps it's the concentric driver not the curved babble.
 

napilopez

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 17, 2018
Messages
2,109
Likes
8,424
Location
NYC
These are estimated LW, ER and SP responses. This should sound ok.. :cool:

View attachment 66143

That should definitely help. That said @VintageFlanker you might want to try pushing the area aorund 1kHz up a little futher if you still feel they are recessed in the mids. As noted earlier in the thread, it seems some R3 units have a dip in this region that KEF might have fixed in some batches. Mine had a very consistent 1K dip, on both speakers, and in both quasi-anechoic and averaged in-room measurements. As do several other measurements of the R3/R series.

R3 Mystery.jpg
 

QMuse

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
3,124
Likes
2,785
That should definitely help. That said @VintageFlanker you might want to try pushing the area aorund 1kHz up a little futher if you still feel they are recessed in the mids. As noted earlier in the thread, it seems some R3 units have a dip in this region that KEF might have fixed in some batches. Mine had a very consistent 1K dip, on both speakers, and in both quasi-anechoic and averaged in-room measurements. As do several other measurements of the R3/R series.

View attachment 66146

Klippel found dip a little higher, and that is what I based my correction on.
 

tecnogadget

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
558
Likes
1,011
Location
Madrid, Spain
Hum.

Listening to R3s right now. Played some tracks few hours after unboxing/installation.

So far: not impressed.:confused: It don't think it'll need deep investigation to find out Arias are very different speakers (I'd say not worse nor better, but definetly few in common).

On stands, these take up as much space as big floorstandings. Very, very (too) deep. And quite frankly, they kind of sound like it.

At a glance, first sighted and uncontrolled impressions:

- Need much more power than Arias (literally 10dB more on my ADI-2 to get about the same SPL)
- More bass weight against the Arias (like no contest)
- But somewhat boomy and uncontrolled at times (will have to play with bassports, there's no room to optimize positioning)
- A touch on the brighter side (not "harsh", tho)
- Seems to lack low-mids and body. Sounds almost slightly V-shaped in my room (No kidding)
- Narrower soundstage and spread, it seems way easier to audibly locate each speakers.
- Possibly more "pinpoint" imaging.
- Maybe more accurate for near-field with low-volume listening... But:
- Overall signature is somewhat boring to me.

I had the same impression when I first set up my pair. I was impatient and had extremely high expectation bias. It was a quite short session, and did not set them up properly and was also in a rush because I had a social gathering later the same day. I was not impressed because of the high expectations but at the same time there was nothing wrong with the sound, it was refined just not that amusing.

My impressions changed pretty much the next days after they had played for a few hours, I started to know them and fallen in love with their signature. As the weeks passed by I did better placement and also figured out I was running the AVR with them set as "small" and 80hz LPF, their bass was fine, but after fixing that and listened at full range WOW this bookshelf plays bass like Floorstanders. Then I made some informal REW measurements and found they reach 30hz with room reinforcement without hesitation, there is even some good 20hz output.

I'm still waiting to change the living room furniture to finally get them properly set up and after that doing Room Eq to achieve nirvana.
 

QMuse

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
3,124
Likes
2,785
I had the same impression when I first set up my pair. I was impatient and had extremely high expectation bias. It was a quite short session, and did not set them up properly and was also in a rush because I had a social gathering later the same day. I was not impressed because of the high expectations but at the same time there was nothing wrong with the sound, it was refined just not that amusing.

My impressions changed pretty much the next days after they had played for a few hours, I started to know them and fallen in love with their signature. As the weeks passed by I did better placement and also figured out I was running the AVR with them set as "small" and 80hz LPF, their bass was fine, but after fixing that and listened at full range WOW this bookshelf plays bass like Floorstanders. Then I made some informal REW measurements and found they reach 30hz with room reinforcement without hesitation, there is even some good 20hz output.

I'm still waiting to change the living room furniture to finally get them properly set up and after that doing Room Eq to achieve nirvana.

As we are all well aware judging speakers without seeing in-room response is extremely unreliable. Let's wait until he posts in-room response and then we'll have a better picture.
 

tecnogadget

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
558
Likes
1,011
Location
Madrid, Spain
If you're blocking the ports on the r3, then purely on area the 2x5" beat the single 6.5, but it's also a smaller cabinet so...

But yes it could be another good option for LR as well as centre if you are blocking ports anyway. Speaking of which the uni-q's have an odd number of tangerine waveguides - meaning that they are not symmetric on the x axis when rotated. I assume this doesn't really affect using a R2C as a L/R speaker rotated 90 degrees.

@Amir If you ever get to test the R2C or any other center that performs well, is there any possibility of also measuring them in Vertical configuration?? This would be very interesting for anybody who wants to run them as mains or have a full front set up to avoid the classic Center Channel Lobing.
In this case, being a concentric sample, I'm quite intrigued as to how similar the dispersion/performance gets between Horizontal vs Vertical positioning.
 

Ron Texas

Master Contributor
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Messages
6,077
Likes
8,913
@tecnogadget glad to hear the R3's are doing well in your home. If you can't find nirvana with EQ, find a guru.
 

tecnogadget

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
558
Likes
1,011
Location
Madrid, Spain
As we are all well aware judging speakers without seeing in-room response is extremely unreliable. Let's wait until he posts in-room response and then we'll have a better picture.

I have some rough and casual measurements. I could try to make a better effort and try several MMM over the listening area and average. I was used to always do Sweep with REW, the first time I've read about MMM was here because of you QMuse (many thanks). Too bad I don't have a mic boom so I could also do several sweeps (like the dirac couch pattern) and average them.

napilopez As for that infamous 1khz dip that shows on third party measurements but not on Klippel I'm starting to suspect about the protruding Shadow Flare ring...
I'm having replaced my R3's and R2C because of cosmetical issues on the lacker, KEF was very supportive of my case and provided excellent customer service. I hope the new units are cherry-picked from the factory and newer batch (mine were from the first manufactured breeds of September 2018). If this units have the Shadow Flare perfectly flush relative to the cabinet and 1khz does not show up maybe its case closed.
 

617

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
2,403
Likes
5,296
Location
Somerville, MA
I'd really suggest a low q eq at around 30 and another at 150. Play around with gentle eq in this region, it can do wonders to clear up muddiness. The r3 is a well designed speaker, meaning it is relatively room insensitive, so you should be able to get them sounding great.
 

QMuse

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
3,124
Likes
2,785
I have some rough and casual measurements. I could try to make a better effort and try several MMM over the listening area and average. I was used to always do Sweep with REW, the first time I've read about MMM was here because of you QMuse (many thanks). Too bad I don't have a mic boom so I could also do several sweeps (like the dirac couch pattern) and average them.

MMM RTA with pink noise doesn't require a boom - you can do it while holding mic in your hand as well, as shown in this video. :)
 

tecnogadget

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
558
Likes
1,011
Location
Madrid, Spain
@tecnogadget glad to hear the R3's are doing well in your home. If you can't find nirvana with EQ, find a guru.

My profile pic shows my previous dedicated HT set up in an almost 100% treated room (still and old pic since the center has been replaced by a KEF R600c). After living so much time with such a room gives you "standar room" anxiety. Thinking about modals, comb filtering, early reflections and so as if they were COVID-19 :p.

The thing is where I currently live could be defined as pretty much the most irregular possible room in the world. This should be an acoustical nightmare and yet I can't stop enjoying the R3's as much as the previous dedicated room. I'm suspecting that's the power of great coaxial-concentric drivers and good Directivity Index. I'm sure somebody will stab me if I confess they are only 50cm apart. The setup is as bad as it could be and still sound
 

QMuse

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
3,124
Likes
2,785
I'd really suggest a low q eq at around 30 and another at 150. Play around with gentle eq in this region, it can do wonders to clear up muddiness.

How can you possibly advise that without seeing his in-room measurements?
 

tecnogadget

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
558
Likes
1,011
Location
Madrid, Spain
MMM RTA with pink noise doesn't require a boom - you can do it while holding mic in your hand as well, as shown in this video. :)

Yeahh thats exactly what I meant to do, I already started to practice during the lockdown. I meant about the boom in order to make sweeps following the dirac couch pattern and then average them. Better have results of the 2 measurements techniques than 1 don't you think ?
The sweeps I made were fixing the Umik provided little stand fixed to the couch, not very easy to change position other than main listening position this way...
 
Top Bottom