KEF R8 Meta Dolby Atmos Speaker Review

[Shando]

The old R8 measures better, is a lot cheaper and should already be pretty overkill for atmos

View attachment 287444

How much room do they need or how high should the ceiling be and how far away would the ideal seating be if I was to use them to bounce the sound off the ceiling?

My current HT room is set up with the KEF R11 front speakers about 15-18 feet away from the seating area. The ceiling is about 9 foot downstairs. I have 2 R3 as rear surround also where I could place them on too.

If I use them downstairs, I won't be able to rear wall mount them due to the curtains covering the wall. I can front wall mount them though.

Upstairs set up would be 14 feet away from the front speakers, 10 foot ceiling, but it opens up into a 20-22 foot high entrance hall to tile floors by the front door. It is an open game room with a balcony overlooking the stairs and entrance hall.

 

[juliangst]

I would not get atmos ceiling bounce speakers if you're that far away from your speakers.
If you just want two atmos channels I would just mount them as side heights.
This would give you the height ambience effect and you don't lose as much SPL as with ceiling bounce atmos speakers.

 

[Shando]

I would not get atmos ceiling bounce speakers if you're that far away from your speakers.
If you just want two atmos channels I would just mount them as side heights.
This would give you the height ambience effect and you don't lose as much SPL as with ceiling bounce atmos speakers.

What is the ideal distance for ceiling bounce speakers then?

The issue with side heights is that one side might be an additional 5 feet away than the other side or I might have to put them to forward of the listening position due to the fact one side of the wall has a small entryway before a door and then it starts to stick out with a fireplace drywall by it too. I can't mount them on the wall behind the sofa due to curtain rods and the curtains covering the entire drywall there.

 

[MacCali]

How big of a difference is the R8A vs the R8? I am thinking of buying 2-4 of them to use as height speakers or maybe placing them on top of the R11 left right speaker and R3 rear surround speaker for a 5.1.2 or 5.1.4 set up right now. I don't think I can mount them on the wall for rear height speakers unless I put them on the side walls.

Erin measured the R8a, which is the nine meta and it seems to be perfect when it’s 30 degrees off axis. Just not sure what he means by that. Do I toe the speakers or tilt them downwards 30 degrees

Kef R8a Atmos Speaker Review

Kef R8a Atmos Speaker Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[jimk1963]

Erin measured the R8a, which is the nine meta and it seems to be perfect when it’s 30 degrees off axis. Just not sure what he means by that. Do I toe the speakers or tilt them downwards 30 degrees

Kef R8a Atmos Speaker Review

Kef R8a Atmos Speaker Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

The 30 degrees probably matters little in either X or Y direction, based on the nearly symmetrical horizontal and vertical plots - which as Amir noted is to be expected with the Uni-Q’s concentric point source. Erin also noted that the broad high frequency bump should be easily equalized out by an AVR/preamp, reducing the need/worry to aim the speakers for off-axis listening.

My big takeaways were (1) fairly low sensitivity and limited dynamic range, and (2) very limited bass response, requiring cutoff in the 125 Hz range. This likely mismatches these speakers with the mains, and as Erin noted Dolby recommends all these speakers to have similar passbands. So a conundrum.

To me, this speaker is almost ideal… Better would be a driver the size of the Ci200RR -THX speaker (8” woofer), maybe that exact driver in fact, in a larger enclosure to extend the bass down (and maybe a bass reflex port). KEF specifies 0.35-0.7 cu ft for “reasonable to ideal” Ci200RR response, so maybe a 12x12x10 geometry with the 10” being the angled dimension so 5-6” effective. Maybe too big for the market, dunno. Or maybe add a port to the R8 to extend its bass a bit.

 

[geox]

Kef should have had a bipole successor to R800DS or atleast an R1 bookshelf :/ r8a for surrounds seems a bit lacking for asking price.

 

[MacCali]

Kef should have had a bipole successor to R800DS or atleast an R1 bookshelf :/ r8a for surrounds seems a bit lacking for asking price.

They are on sale and I got the for 659 before tax, I was considering SVS but honestly I don’t know when the price is only 150 more I think this is better deal.

I’m guessing SPL will play a roll, but I don’t think it should be crazy and also I’m running a processor so my amps will champ those np. Since sensitivity was pointed out @jimk1963

I’m super limited on my setup, as my room is small just trying to spruce things up a bit

 

[Vacceo]

Kef should have had a bipole successor to R800DS or atleast an R1 bookshelf :/ r8a for surrounds seems a bit lacking for asking price.

Bipoles seem to have fallen out of fashion due to object-base codecs.

However, turn them into a tripole for side surrounds and that would give you the best of both worlds.

 

[Shando]

The 30 degrees probably matters little in either X or Y direction, based on the nearly symmetrical horizontal and vertical plots - which as Amir noted is to be expected with the Uni-Q’s concentric point source. Erin also noted that the broad high frequency bump should be easily equalized out by an AVR/preamp, reducing the need/worry to aim the speakers for off-axis listening.

My big takeaways were (1) fairly low sensitivity and limited dynamic range, and (2) very limited bass response, requiring cutoff in the 125 Hz range. This likely mismatches these speakers with the mains, and as Erin noted Dolby recommends all these speakers to have similar passbands. So a conundrum.

To me, this speaker is almost ideal… Better would be a driver the size of the Ci200RR -THX speaker (8” woofer), maybe that exact driver in fact, in a larger enclosure to extend the bass down (and maybe a bass reflex port). KEF specifies 0.35-0.7 cu ft for “reasonable to ideal” Ci200RR response, so maybe a 12x12x10 geometry with the 10” being the angled dimension so 5-6” effective. Maybe too big for the market, dunno. Or maybe add a port to the R8 to extend its bass a bit.

How high up would in ceiling speakers for the Ci200RR need to be?

Do you know what is the ideal distance to sit for the bouncing off the ceiling for the R8a would need to be?

 

[MacCali]

How high up would in ceiling speakers for the Ci200RR need to be?

Do you know what is the ideal distance to sit for the bouncing off the ceiling for the R8a would need to be?

I think even with the in ceiling Amir said you need to have it tilted to get the best performance.

Either way, I think the R8a is a better option with the enclosure. Only think is now I need to build a rig to make these angles. Still trying to get the whole schematic, since if I put them on the wall they won’t be pointed at my ears in the first place. They won’t be aligned in front of me directly. Seems like that’s almost 30 degrees give or take if I just put them up on the wall and have them separated far enough without any angles

 

[amirm]

OK, finally got a chance to do my listening tests. I took the speaker to my theater which has a flat, 7 foot or so ceiling. I placed the speaker horizontally at different heights and played music to it. No matter what I did, the direct sound was super strong and there was no impression of sound source being anywhere but the speaker itself. Worse yet, at that acute angle, it just didn't sound good. On-axis though, speaker sounded very nice.

Net, net, for surround duty, crossed over high enough, they are good. For Atmos height, it would be a strong pass.

 

[Shando]

OK, finally got a chance to do my listening tests. I took the speaker to my theater which has a flat, 7 foot or so ceiling. I placed the speaker horizontally at different heights and played music to it. No matter what I did, the direct sound was super strong and there was no impression of sound source being anywhere but the speaker itself. Worse yet, at that acute angle, it just didn't sound good. On-axis though, speaker sounded very nice.

Net, net, for surround duty, crossed over high enough, they are good. For Atmos height, it would be a strong pass.

You are saying they are bad for bouncing off the ceiling and better mounted on the walls aimed down?

 

[exm]

OK, finally got a chance to do my listening tests. I took the speaker to my theater which has a flat, 7 foot or so ceiling. I placed the speaker horizontally at different heights and played music to it. No matter what I did, the direct sound was super strong and there was no impression of sound source being anywhere but the speaker itself. Worse yet, at that acute angle, it just didn't sound good. On-axis though, speaker sounded very nice.

Net, net, for surround duty, crossed over high enough, they are good. For Atmos height, it would be a strong pass.

So basically you recommend these as wall-mounted speakers, but not for upfiring Atmos speakers, correct? (personally, I am not a big believer of upfiring Atmos speakers and I don't see why anyone would spend R8 Meta on upfiring units. For wall mounted speakers, these pair nicely with R Meta and Reference speakers).

 

[amirm]

So basically you recommend these as wall-mounted speakers, but not for upfiring Atmos speakers, correct?

That's correct. They are good anywhere you need a small speaker and listening to it more or less on axis. I suppose you could mount the on the ceiling aiming down but otherwise, no to using them for in-ceiling atmos.

 

[Shando]

That's correct. They are good anywhere you need a small speaker and listening to it more or less on axis. I suppose you could mount the on the ceiling aiming down but otherwise, no to using them for in-ceiling atmos.

Which up firing speaker is recommend?

 

[Descartes]

That's correct. They are good anywhere you need a small speaker and listening to it more or less on axis. I suppose you could mount the on the ceiling aiming down but otherwise, no to using them for in-ceiling atmos.

So if I mount them on the wall close to the ceiling pointing down they should be able to reproduce ATMOS

 

[exm]

So if I mount them on the wall close to the ceiling pointing down they should be able to reproduce ATMOS

That’s how I have mine configured. You would set them up as height speakers in your processor.

 

[Shando]

If the Left wall is an additional 6-8 feet away from the MLP, is that going to be an issue? The Right Wall will be about 7 feet away from the MLP, but the Left Wall is about 15 feet away due to the wall and the fireplace.

 

[Shando]

I would not get atmos ceiling bounce speakers if you're that far away from your speakers.
If you just want two atmos channels I would just mount them as side heights.
This would give you the height ambience effect and you don't lose as much SPL as with ceiling bounce atmos speakers.

What frequency would you set them too? 120 hz?

 

[Vacceo]

That's correct. They are good anywhere you need a small speaker and listening to it more or less on axis. I suppose you could mount the on the ceiling aiming down but otherwise, no to using them for in-ceiling atmos.

So they could work as height (vertically mounted vertically on the same wall as the front, rear or side speakers) speakers quite well?