KEF R6 meta Measurements and Review

[soundofsilence]

I just don't like the idea of an LS50 as a center channel. It isn't going to keep up with your other speakers. Remember that the center has just as much or more demanding content pumped through it than your FL/FR.

Unless you are also a music listener too?

 

[Onetrack97]

I’m considering an R6 Meta as an upgrade to my center channel. Currently, I have a GoldenEar SuperCenter XL driven by a 200W monoblock.

It‘s in a Salimander cabinet so the GoldenEar passive radiators are not ideal. The cabinet has a 9.0” front opening, I could remove the glass, drop it in from the top, and have 10.0” height to work with.

No KEF dealers in my area have any Metas in stock.

The other speaker that is a possibility is the Paradigm Foundation 90C. It’s about $3k and big but will just fit in my space.

Does anyone have experience with the Paradigm or seen any detailed test data.

I hate to buy a speaker without listening to it but I might.

 

[No_hair_left]

Be interesting to see how to the r2 meta compares to the r6 in measurement, I recently demo'd an r6 against my r2 at home and after an eq I couldn't tell the difference. The r6 semed to be a touch louder at the same level but not much so.

 

[Daka]

Be interesting to see how to the r2 meta compares to the r6 in measurement, I recently demo'd an r6 against my r2 at home and after an eq I couldn't tell the difference. The r6 semed to be a touch louder at the same level but not much so.

Dynamic compression - it will have worse along side higher noise. Other characteristics would remain similar though. So depends if you require 96db at 1m or not. If yes then R6 will be a better choice and possibly worth the difference. In HT most likely you would say yes to that.

 

[Osteopic]

With a pair of Revel F226be as fronts, would it be a horrible mistake to use an R6 Meta as center channel? Mismatched tember and all...?
Could get C208, but seems to be on indefinite backorder if I want it in black. The C426be is out of my price range.

 

[Onetrack97]

With a pair of Revel F226be as fronts, would it be a horrible mistake to use an R6 Meta as center channel? Mismatched tember and all...?
Could get C208, but seems to be on indefinite backorder if I want it in black. The C426be is out of my price range.

I’ve had multiple surround sound systems going back to the days of analog Dolby.

I’ve only had one system in which the center speaker was matched to the LR. That was with the GoldenEar Triton Two+ and SuperCenter XL.

Eventually the system grew into a 7.3.4 with in-wall surround and height speakers. The subs are ported, connected via a MiniDSP HD and balanced with MultiSub Optimizer. One issue that I had was that the center needed to be in a cabinet and the GoldenEar has passive radiators.

So I recently replaced the center with the KEF R6 Meta. I had trouble finding many higher end centers that would fit in my space.

Initially, the KEF sounded a little hollow. I played with equalization but I realized that the R6 does actually benefit from some break in time. Now, I’m running it without PEQ and it fits right in. No, it doesn’t sound like the GoldenEars but my experience is that the material sent to the center is quite different and perfect matching is over hyped.

My original play was to replace the LR with KEF but since I’m 99.9% TV & Movies, I might just leave it for now.

I did play with the R6 set up as a Left channel so that I could compare. With the subs in-play, you’d never know the R6 was not a full range speaker.

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

I've been using R6 Meta for months now, and it plays TV shows and Movies perfectly.

Due to its wide dispersion pattern, all seats can hear the dialog clearly.

There is no more tweaking required, unless you're watching a Christopher Nolan movie.

 

[DanielN]

Thanks for the excellent review and all the great discussions in this thread!

I'm very close to ordering 3x R6 Metas for LCR duty. There is no way I could stretch to the Reference 2 or 4. I will be running them small, paired with two SVS SB3000's in diagonally opposite corners of a fairly small room. Only problem is that I haven't been able to listen to an R6 Meta.. I've convinced myself that this time (my previous LCR speakers are 20 years old), one of the things I'd like to try to achieve, is being able to play louder, comfortably, with low distortion.

I keep reading between the lines when Erin does his reviews, for instance, that there is something magical happening when efficiency goes up, when output capability and headroom goes up, that there is some kind of dynamic snappiness that comes with that, that can't be explained by just looking at compression or distortion graphs. My current system does reference levels without any mechanical issues, but probably distorting and compressing a lot..

So, not R2/R5, I want cone area to be a step up from what I have now. Convinced myself to stretch to R6 or poooossibly R6+R7s. I will probably use a crossover of 80-100Hz for all three.

Here's my question I hope someone can help me out with; you think I'll be happy with 3x R6? I could go for R7s LRs, but I don't see how that would help me with being able to enjoy movies at closer to reference levels than now, given that most loud output in movies come from the center and subs? Even if I went for R11 LRs, in my head, that gives me _zero_ more headroom for matching movies, as I will still be limited by my center speaker's capabilities? Here, I'm assuming that what I hear as my current system being uncomfortable at higher listening levels, is 100% down to center channel limitiations, not my LRs. Anyone with input on this, that has felt that more capable LRs had a meaningful impact on loud movie listening levels?

The R6 Meta seems amazing, and I've listened to and really enjoyed R7 Metas in a hifi 2ch setting. Just need to get over the fact that the R6s will look so small as LRs, I think. I'm used to floor standing LRs. Maybe I just need a stand that makes them look more tower-y Choosing R7s over R6s for LR seems expensive to just get a larger enclosure, and then I'll have to deal with LCRs having different phase behaviour when matching to the subs, which is an issue today - when my current LCRs are perfectly time aligned by impulse response, they have very different phase at 80Hz so pairing all three well to the subs is hard (sealed LRs, ported center, not identical, but I'm not sure how much of the phase differences are due to that difference vs what is due to the room and placement) . Having LCRs all sealed and identical is tempting.

 

[jmbgator]

Thanks for the excellent review and all the great discussions in this thread!

I'm very close to ordering 3x R6 Metas for LCR duty. There is no way I could stretch to the Reference 2 or 4. I will be running them small, paired with two SVS SB3000's in diagonally opposite corners of a fairly small room. Only problem is that I haven't been able to listen to an R6 Meta.. I've convinced myself that this time (my previous LCR speakers are 20 years old), one of the things I'd like to try to achieve, is being able to play louder, comfortably, with low distortion.

I keep reading between the lines when Erin does his reviews, for instance, that there is something magical happening when efficiency goes up, when output capability and headroom goes up, that there is some kind of dynamic snappiness that comes with that, that can't be explained by just looking at compression or distortion graphs. My current system does reference levels without any mechanical issues, but probably distorting and compressing a lot..

So, not R2/R5, I want cone area to be a step up from what I have now. Convinced myself to stretch to R6 or poooossibly R6+R7s. I will probably use a crossover of 80-100Hz for all three.

Here's my question I hope someone can help me out with; you think I'll be happy with 3x R6? I could go for R7s LRs, but I don't see how that would help me with being able to enjoy movies at closer to reference levels than now, given that most loud output in movies come from the center and subs? Even if I went for R11 LRs, in my head, that gives me _zero_ more headroom for matching movies, as I will still be limited by my center speaker's capabilities? Here, I'm assuming that what I hear as my current system being uncomfortable at higher listening levels, is 100% down to center channel limitiations, not my LRs. Anyone with input on this, that has felt that more capable LRs had a meaningful impact on loud movie listening levels?

The R6 Meta seems amazing, and I've listened to and really enjoyed R7 Metas in a hifi 2ch setting. Just need to get over the fact that the R6s will look so small as LRs, I think. I'm used to floor standing LRs. Maybe I just need a stand that makes them look more tower-y Choosing R7s over R6s for LR seems expensive to just get a larger enclosure, and then I'll have to deal with LCRs having different phase behaviour when matching to the subs, which is an issue today - when my current LCRs are perfectly time aligned by impulse response, they have very different phase at 80Hz so pairing all three well to the subs is hard (sealed LRs, ported center, not identical, but I'm not sure how much of the phase differences are due to that difference vs what is due to the room and placement) . Having LCRs all sealed and identical is tempting.

I have 3 X R6 for my front setup and they sound fantastic...Very dynamic. They match up nicely with my dual SVS PB-3000s at a crossover at 90Hz (according to Dirac Live).

R6 is basically an "R7 lite" without the rear port so they don't dig as low in the bass. Not a problem if you're using subs to take care of the bass frequencies.

 

[DanielN]

I have 3 X R6 for my front setup and they sound fantastic...Very dynamic. They match up nicely with my dual SVS PB-3000s at a crossover at 90Hz (according to Dirac Live).

R6 is basically an "R7 lite" without the rear port so they don't dig as low in the bass. Not a problem if you're using subs to take care of the bass frequencies.

Thank you! How did you mount the LR R6s? Stands? Haven’t seen that many short MTMs used as LRs.

 

[jmbgator]

Thank you! How did you mount the LR R6s? Stands? Haven’t seen that many short MTMs used as LRs.

I use the Isoacoustics Aperta 200 isolation stands (Here), and they sit on top of my SVS PB-3000 subs, with one sub on each side to my front left and right. It works out nicely because the height of the subs puts the R6 tweeter right at ear level when I’m sitting down. I also had limited space so placing them on top of my subs was my only option. I’m guessing any solid speaker stand that can support 40lb speakers will do.

 

[Shando]

Is there a big or noticeable difference between the R2C and the R6 Meta? Trying to figure out if it is worth upgrading a R6 Meta for around $1,500. I mostly use my set up for home theater with a 5.2.4 set up currently.

2x KEF R111x KEF R2C
2x KEF R3 (Surround)
4x KEF Q8A
1x KEF R2C
2x PSA subwoofers

What is considered a good sales price for a KEF 6 Meta also

Is there any other Center Channels between $2,000-$3,500 to consider besides KEF?

 

[No_hair_left]

Is there a big or noticeable difference between the R2C and the R6 Meta? Trying to figure out if it is worth upgrading a R6 Meta for around $1,500. I mostly use my set up for home theater with a 5.2.4 set up currently.

2x KEF R111x KEF R2C
2x KEF R3 (Surround)
4x KEF Q8A
1x KEF R2C
2x PSA subwoofers

What is considered a good sales price for a KEF 6 Meta also

Is there any other Center Channels between $2,000-$3,500 to consider besides KEF?

Assuming you are selling the r2c to recoup some of the costs I would still say that even at 1100 its still not worth the upgrade, sure it measures great but whether its all that audible of not is up to you.

 

[Shando]

Assuming you are selling the r2c to recoup some of the costs I would still say that even at 1100 its still not worth the upgrade, sure it measures great but whether its all that audible of not is up to you.

I would be selling the R2C, I got it for a great deal last year when they went on clearance for like $700. So selling it for $400-$500 would be a pretty nice bonus to help pay for a new center.

Is there any center channels in the $1500-$3500 range you would recommend that would be a big upgrade? I don't mind waiting for a sale.

 

[No_hair_left]

I would be selling the R2C, I got it for a great deal last year when they went on clearance for like $700. So selling it for $400-$500 would be a pretty nice bonus to help pay for a new center.

Is there any center channels in the $1500-$3500 range you would recommend that would be a big upgrade? I don't mind waiting for a sale.

Wouldn't really know, people of people in here that have listened to a lot that should be a able to help.