KEF R8 Meta Dolby Atmos Speaker Review

[Descartes]

It's generally not recommended to mount speakers on the ceiling if they only have keyhole mounts.
There is no way 4.5kg of speaker will be hold by those two keyholes.

If you want to ceiling mount them, you could screw holes for a VESA mount into the cabinet. I've seen a lot of people doing that with the old LS50.

I have older LS50 how would you mount them on the ceiling?

 

[juliangst]

I have older LS50 how would you mount them on the ceiling?

Screw holes into the cabinet and add a VESA mount bracket.
This youtuber did something similar:

 

[Descartes]

Screw holes into the cabinet and add a VESA mount bracket.
This youtuber did something similar:

Interesting he didn’t share the mounts? Any links?

 

[OverTheAir]

Interesting he didn’t share the mounts? Any links?

I don't know what he used but I've used these https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6839 successfully. I'm sure there must be more expensive/better quality solutions but @ $9.59 for a pair it worked for me for ceiling Atmos speaker duty. I had to drill and bolt to the speaker, which may not be desirable on an expensive speaker but mine were inexpensive and weighed only 10lbs.

 

[Descartes]

I don't know what he used but I've used these https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6839 successfully. I'm sure there must be more expensive/better quality solutions but @ $9.59 for a pair it worked for me for ceiling Atmos speaker duty. I had to drill and bolt to the speaker, which may not be desirable on an expensive speaker but mine were inexpensive and weighed only 10lbs.

Thanks I found them more expensive but look sturdy
Koenig & Meyer 24185 Speaker Wall Ceiling Mount

 

[Descartes]

I voted "Not terrible", and here's why:
The frequency response and directivity are very good, except for the dip and peak which could be compensating for their intended use case, so I am not knocking them for that.
What I am knocking them for, is the insane distortion rise in the low frequencies. Such distortion is, in my opinion, unacceptable for a speaker from KEF.
Yes. I do understand that the height channels aren't super important, but I believe that having good output capacity across all channels in a surround system is very important to achieving an engaging and non-fatiguing experience, and that bass distortion is just too much for me.

And if you look at my post history, you will find that I do tend to favor speakers with good output capability, as I just like the way they sound. So for someone who has a KEF base layer in their system, and who won't really crank it, this speaker would probably work well. However, for someone like me, who does enjoy turning it up (on occasion), I would want a speaker that can actually get loud.

If KEF had addressed the bass distortion, then I would have voted "Fine", since it is still a good speaker (when you ignore the response issues which may not even be issues).

Crossed over at 100Hz should be fine

 

[Descartes]

Just an update... KEF folks are investigating the dip as it is not to spec (nor a requirement from Dolby). Please standby until they get back to me.

Did they get back to you?

 

[exm]

Crossed over at 100Hz should be fine

I have mine at 150Hz.

 

[Descartes]

OK, an update on this. KEF folks are seeing the same dip I measured between 1 and 2 kHz. The simulation of the design didn't show it but actual implementation did. It is thought that it is due to internal reflections due to small/odd shaped enclosure. Fortunately as I mentioned, it is easily EQed due to it being a resonance.

Thank you for the explanation! Are they changing the design then?

 

[Descartes]

If you mean height speakers, no. Hence the reason I am doing all these tests.

Which one did you install?

 

[cyclo]

My latest solution for height speakers.. Adjustable telescopic mounts I got off Amazon...

 

[Descartes]

My latest solution for height speakers.. Adjustable telescopic mounts I got off Amazon...

View attachment 331008View attachment 331007

What brand are the front speakers ?

 

[cyclo]

What brand are the front speakers ?

Front speakers are 20 plus year old Infinity Modulus monitors. The center speaker is a Paradigm Premier 500C.

 

[exm]

My latest solution for height speakers.. Adjustable telescopic mounts I got off Amazon...

View attachment 331008View attachment 331007

Very creative, and looks good! At this point though wouldn't it make more sense to have them peeking above your television downfiring them directly - basically front heights?

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

I have mine at 150Hz.

Assuming you have an AVR to redirect frequencies lower than 150Hz to the sub, wouldn't this make the subs localizable?

I am extremely sensitive to localization, plus my room layout doesn't help, so I can't cross anything more than 80Hz, but 60Hz is ideal and 70Hz is acceptable.

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

Dolby recommends all speakers being capable of 80Hz. These hardly do 100hz which is just unacceptable at this price

I kinda agree about the price too. If one has to cross this high and learn to live with it, wouldn't you just use the Q50a?

Has anyone compared the performance of Q50a and R8 Meta when used as up-firing Atmos modules? I haven't found any direct comparisons in this thread yet.

 

[milosz]

The wavelength of a 150 Hz sound is 2.3 meters / 7½ feet. At 60 Hz it is 6 meters / 19 feet.

I suspect that you are hearing harmonics of these frequencies, as it is not possible to "localize" sounds with such long wavelengths- hearing doesn't work that way.

 

[exm]

I kinda agree about the price too. If one has to cross this high and learn to live with it, wouldn't you just use the Q50a?

Has anyone compared the performance of Q50a and R8 Meta when used as up-firing Atmos modules? I haven't found any direct comparisons in this thread yet.

The R8 Meta has better components: better Uni-Q driver and better crossover.

Also, I wouldn't use upfiring Atmos modules at all.

 

[AudioScience Enthusiast]

The wavelength of a 150 Hz sound is 2.3 meters / 7½ feet. At 60 Hz it is 6 meters / 19 feet.

I suspect that you are hearing harmonics of these frequencies, as it is not possible to "localize" sounds with such long wavelengths- hearing doesn't work that way.

I am not sure what is possible or what's not.

For my setup, once it's crossed below 70Hz, then I cannot localize where the low frequencies are coming from. If crossed above 80Hz, then the "boominess" comes from one side of the room closer to the corner.

For movies, probably it's ok to cross higher, but Atmos Music tracks could be problematic as @juliangst has shown there is a lot of info below 100Hz even for Height Channels.

I wonder if there are other ways to mitigate the high crossover of the R8 Meta?

150Hz for movies should be fine. But with atmos music there sometimes is a lot information below 100Hz on heights and sometimes not. It really depends on the mix.
Here are some examples of spectrums I extracted from captured 5.1.2 pop music (only left channel for each group):

View attachment 294067
View attachment 294068
View attachment 294069
View attachment 294071
The use of the heights is all over the place. It's sometimes almost similar in level as the surround information, sometimes goes down to 30Hz and other times it's barely used at all.

 

[Dj7675]

I wonder if there are other ways to mitigate the high crossover of the R8 Meta?

Some processors (Stormaudio/Trinnov, maybe others) can allow you to send bass below a frequency to the nearest speaker of your choosing. For example if you had a top middle speaker that you wante to crossover at 150hz, you could send below 150hz to a surround speaker and then below 80hz (or whatever your crossover setting is on your surround) would get sent to subs.