KEF R6 Meta R6 as LCR or 3 KEF R3 Meta

[Descartes]

Primarily used for home cinéma!

3 KEF R6 Meta as LCR​

or​

3 KEF R3 Meta as LCR​

 

[sweetchaos]

Need to see some measurements before we can draw any conclusions....hopefully any day now!

 

[Beave]

The R6C has the 2nd woofer, while the R3C has the port. Slight pros and cons to each approach. As sweetchaos wrote, probably need to see measurements for both to really know.

Will subwoofers be used with them?

 

[jhaider]

I do not know but assume the R6 LCR is considerably more expensive. So there's that.

However, considering one is generally doing bass management there are upper bass headroom advantages to an extra driver in a larger cabinet, and no disadvantages from losing output below the nominal passband provided by the port. So on balance and knowing nothing of their measured performance my instinct would be to favor the double 7" midbass sealed version over the single 7" midbass vented version.

EDIT - looking at the specs @sweetchaos provided one caveat - if you can mount all three vertically. 500Hz is potentially a little high. Maybe not but one would need to see the polar maps. I do know I've heard W(MT)W centers with dome midranges that were just barely less unacceptable than toppled MTMs.

 

[Benedium]

Best ask Kef themselves.

 

[Descartes]

The R6C has the 2nd woofer, while the R3C has the port. Slight pros and cons to each approach. As sweetchaos wrote, probably need to see measurements for both to really know.

Will subwoofers be used with them?

Yes two subs!

 

[exm]

How about 2xR3 and 1xR6c?

 

[Descartes]

How about 2xR3 and 1xR6c?

I like to have all three front speakers the same!

 

[Benedium]

R6c ×3 all horizontal? Otherwise they may not sound the same? Also have to toe in LR? If 3x R3, all have to be same distance from front wall?

 

[sarumbear]

Primarily used for home cinéma!

3 KEF R6 Meta as LCR​

or​

3 KEF R3 Meta as LCR​

R3 for ease of placement and as you will be using a subwoofer you don’t need the bass extension of a port. Besides, R6 may have more distortion at the lower end you will use them at due to piston limit.

 

[sarumbear]

R6c ×3 all horizontal? Otherwise they may not sound the same? Also have to toe in LR?

It’s a concentric speaker, there’s hardly any difference in orientation. Check their Spinorama. There’s no need to toe in.

 

[exm]

I like to have all three front speakers the same!

I get that point, but you are basically getting the same speaker here. I really feel that the R3 and R6 are serving a different purpose:
- The bass reflex R3 is better positioned as a L/R speaker over the closed box R6
- The closed box design is actually very smart for a center

Anyway, if you would force me to choose, I would go for 3xR3. But I don't see any reason why you won't buy the R6 instead.

Good luck!

 

[sarumbear]

- The bass reflex R3 is better positioned as a L/R speaker over the closed box R6
- The closed box design is actually very smart for a center

Can you explain why on both?

 

[Benedium]

Just guessing... but is the kef centre speaker (like most other center speakers) designed to be placed closer to front wall along with the tv? Perhaps a center speaker up against a wall can achieve the same frequency response as a floorstanding and bookshelf speaker that is placed 3 feet from the wall?

 

[MarkS]

I'm intrigued by the idea of sealed speakers for less low-freqency phase shift and hence easier/better sub integration in my music-only system. This makes two vertically-oriented R6's a tempting option (assuming they don't have stupid holes for the rubber feet on one long side ... anybody know?)

 

[emybaneesim]

R3 for ease of placement and as you will be using a subwoofer you don’t need the bass extension of a port. Besides, R6 may have more distortion at the lower end you will use them at due to piston limit.

Sorry I'm not sure I follow what you mean here, since the R3 is the ported model.

Are you thinking you could run the R3 sealed or that you would be crossing over well above the port tuning frequency and have more headroom than with the R6?

I would also generally think a closed box would be easier to place (in terms of closer to walls) but do you mean that the R6 would not naturally sit on a stand like the R3?

I realise you know what you are talking about, so not questioning your expertise in any way!

 

[MarkS]

Sealed speakers have less phase change with frequency, and so are (at least in principle) easier to integrate with a sub, because the sub's phase change with frequency will definitely be different throughout the crossover region. In principle this can be fixed with DSP, but AFAIK the least expensive system that does this (or at least tries to) is Dirac Live Bass Control. Manufacturers such as Sigberg and Arendal agree with this general principle; Arendal tells you to plug the ports on their main speakers if you're using a sub. However, a plugged port is likely less than optimal compared to a design that is intended to be used only sealed.

This is why I'm intrigued by the idea of using the R6 for L-R speakers in a 2.x set-up. (For me currently, x=1.)

How much does any of this matter in the real world? Likely not very much, as subjectively excellent results are often obtained with ported main speakers crossed over to subs.

 

[Descartes]

I think I will wait to make a decision until I see measurements for both the R3 Meta and the R6!
Hopefully Amir will be testing them soon, since I’m not sure not Erin will be doing any testing in the near future.

 

[sarumbear]

Sorry I'm not sure I follow what you mean here, since the R3 is the ported model.

Are you thinking you could run the R3 sealed or that you would be crossing over well above the port tuning frequency and have more headroom than with the R6?

I would also generally think a closed box would be easier to place (in terms of closer to walls) but do you mean that the R6 would not naturally sit on a stand like the R3?

I realise you know what you are talking about, so not questioning your expertise in any way!

I am sorry I mixed the model numbers.

 

[Benedium]

Looking forward to R6 measurements.