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KEF R8 Meta Dolby Atmos Speaker Review

Rate this Dolby Atmos Speaker

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 20 10.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 76 41.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 85 46.2%

  • Total voters
    184

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I've tried this Atmos "aim a speaker at the ceiling" idea with some Elac atmos speakers ( designed by Andrew Jones ) - They are a decent sounding speaker on their own, and I don't see any real resonance peaks in the measurements I made. So, the premise is that they are at least "OK" speakers, possibly better than "OK." They have this same angle built in to their cabinets. I find the sound doesn't appear to be coming from any kind of height dimension from these things. They just sound like off-axis bookshelves sitting on my towers, or even placed on shelves that are about 5 feet off the ground which flank my listening / viewing area. The Atmos height effect from these doesn't seem- well - effective. It doesn't seem like the sound is bouncing off the ceiling very much, most of what I hear is direct from the speakers.

Makes me wonder if any of these up-firing Atmos speakers will really do the effect justice. I have some small speakers I can attach to mouldings on the left and right side walls at about 7 foot height and aim them up to "splash" over the ceiling, I want to see if that gives a better effect. They haven't got any low end to speak of, but then I wonder how well low frequencies can be localized in a room by listeners....the wavelength at 200 Hz is 150 cm, which is 59 inches., so it would seem to me that a person ought not to be able to sense the location at that frequency any more precisely than ± 59 inches. Could I really tell if a 200 Hz sound was coming from Atmos "up" in my room or would I just localize the sound based on higher harmonics? I think the latter; makes me wonder why you'd need bass from an Atmos speaker.

It wouldn't surprise me to find that Dolby applies some filters to the Atmos "up" channels, reducing the low end. Information on what Dolby Atmos does is kind of sparse. I know it's an object-based surround paradigm, with the decoder deciding which sounds go where based on the sound mix and the number and type of channels in the configuration of the playback system; but I know nothing of what, if any, DSP is applied. Filters? Delays? I'd like to know.
Mounting ceiling speakers is not difficult. Drywall cuts like butter and is easily repaired.
 
D

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If you see my post earlier, I'm using these speakers as height surrounds. My processor upmixes any 5.1 signal to 5.2.6 (my current configured). So to answer your questions:
-Why would anyone cash out this kind of money for that small speaker?
My main speakers are Reference 5, Reference 4c and R3 Meta. These speakers aren't that expensive compared to the rest of my setup.
-The speaker is intended to reflect sound off of ceilings.
No, it's not. It can. But you can also use this speaker as a traditional surround speaker.
-Why does it even make sense to measure it?
Because people like to know how this measures?
-Will the reflected sound not differ immensely anyway due to different ceilings?
No idea, I don't use the Atmos reflection.
-How much sound is actually sent to this kind of speaker in a surround config? -Isn't it mainly ambience?
Depends. With Spatial Audio it gets full-range. With upmixers it's usually more ambience-like.
-With this in mind I acknowledge the ok measurements but do they really matter for the intended use?
Yes, see above my system/usage.
Yeah. Still don't get it. :)
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I live in a 96 year old house. My ceilings are plaster. Mounting anything on the ceiling would be a large, messy and expensive undertaking.
I disagree. Plaster is a little harder to cut. Repaired with powdered hot mud. 10 dollars for a bag. 2 coats and no tape. Just need 5 gallon bucket, cheap impact driver from Harbor Freight to mix and 2 thick coats. I have repaired plaster many times. It's easy. In fact, in many ways, easier than drywall. Probably not fair. I flip houses on the side. What is easy for me may be difficult for others. Raised in small factory before OSHA. 30 year experienced co-workers taught me their skills at age 10.
 

jhaider

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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.
I was going to say...the "Atmos bouncer" compensation curve has a small relatively low-Q dip at ~3kHz, followed by a rise peaking at ~7kHz and a dip at I think 10kHz. The curve is published in their patent. This speaker seems to only have the rise.

Overall, this looks like a really, really nice speaker for purpose as well as for an on-wall height speaker. And unlike too many modern KEF speakers it comes with a damn grille! :)

For people who doubt bouncers can work...I've heard one very convincing movie demo, with Definitive Technology speakers. It was a scene in a movie - I think a popular one - that involves somebody getting a haircut (or cutting their own hair?) above the frame, and the shot was hair falling down. The soundtrack localized the sound of the scissor blades above the screen.

I also tried them in a 7.2.2 system way back when Atmos was new and program available was scant. You can read about that here. Incidentally, I "hacked" bouncers for that evaluation using KEF eggs, a miniDSP, and the compensation curve from Dolby's patent.

I also think these speakers would be fun to use to play with some the spatial enhancement techniques pioneered by @Duke. That's on my list to try at some point...
 
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amirm

amirm

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-Why does it even make sense to measure it?
Because some are better than others and the only way to know is to measure it? We have been on a quest to find best speakers for Atmos height. This is in that series. If you don't have this application or understand it, then just move along....
 

Thomas_A

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It is an unusual design for a "roof-bouncing/beaming speaker". It looks better like a wall-mounting one, either sides or front height.
 

Vacceo

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I'd like to try Atmos one day. But none of my music/video games benefit from it I think?
Streaming services are increasingly offering more content in Atmos. If you watch series, there are quite a nice bunch with Atmos sound; films go without saying.

For videogames, many use DTS and Atmos channels. Doom Eternal is a good example.
 

Vacceo

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If you see my post earlier, I'm using these speakers as height surrounds. My processor upmixes any 5.1 signal to 5.2.6 (my current configured). So to answer your questions:
-Why would anyone cash out this kind of money for that small speaker?
My main speakers are Reference 5, Reference 4c and R3 Meta. These speakers aren't that expensive compared to the rest of my setup.
-The speaker is intended to reflect sound off of ceilings.
No, it's not. It can. But you can also use this speaker as a traditional surround speaker.
-Why does it even make sense to measure it?
Because people like to know how this measures?
-Will the reflected sound not differ immensely anyway due to different ceilings?
No idea, I don't use the Atmos reflection.
-How much sound is actually sent to this kind of speaker in a surround config? -Isn't it mainly ambience?
Depends. With Spatial Audio it gets full-range. With upmixers it's usually more ambience-like.
-With this in mind I acknowledge the ok measurements but do they really matter for the intended use?
Yes, see above my system/usage.
Since you're using them in height duties, would you say they can compete with an in wall more "orthodox" setup?

Can these speakers provide an Atmos experience similar to what you get in a setup like yours but with in-cealings?
 

exm

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Since you're using them in height duties, would you say they can compete with an in wall more "orthodox" setup?

Can these speakers provide an Atmos experience similar to what you get in a setup like yours but with in-cealings?

Tough question since I have no result experience with in-wall speakers. My journey for height speakers went from SVS Prime to Kef Q50A to R8 Meta. I honestly didn’t expect much difference between the Q50 and R8M but I was immediately surprised how much more open these speakers sounds. Didn’t have that experience when I went from the SVS to the Q50. Kef really worked some magic with this generation Uni-Q. That’s why I am upgrading my non-Meta Kef Reference center also shortly :)

About you second question: I believe Dolby wants Atmos speakers to be directly aimed at the mlp and I feel that these speakers, especially with 6 in my room, achieve this. My ceiling is actually vaulted so in-ceiling isn’t even an option! I really love these speakers but boy, are they expensive (even after the dealer discount).

Kef will refresh the Q series with Meta soon, so I am expecting a more affordable similar Q Meta. Guessing a $899 MSRP?
 

Billy Budapest

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I disagree. Plaster is a little harder to cut. Repaired with powdered hot mud. 10 dollars for a bag. 2 coats and no tape. Just need 5 gallon bucket, cheap impact driver from Harbor Freight to mix and 2 thick coats. I have repaired plaster many times. It's easy. In fact, in many ways, easier than drywall. Probably not fair. I flip houses on the side. What is easy for me may be difficult for others. Raised in small factory before OSHA. 30 year experienced co-workers taught me their skills at age 10.
This is almost 100 year old lathe and plaster construction. The plaster is hard as rock. We’ve had to repair walls and ceilings and it’s not easy. Cutting into the plaster ceilings to mount speakers and wiring is not an option. Many of the ceilings in my house don’t even have light fixtures.
 
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Kal Rubinson

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A Hilti power drill will do the job just fine and will go in like into butter.
Sure. What happens when the drill hits the steel mesh? (This is all theoretical for me.)
 

beagleman

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Because some are better than others and the only way to know is to measure it? We have been on a quest to find best speakers for Atmos height. This is in that series. If you don't have this application or understand it, then just move along....

I "think" the impication, is that in some implementations speakers such as this, Frequency response being ideally flat, may not matter in actual use, nor even give the most ideal sound in actual usage............

Other stuff such as distortion of course directly relates.

Not sure I agree/totally disagree with the above assumptions, but who knows?
 
D

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I "think" the impication, is that in some implementations speakers such as this, Frequency response being ideally flat, may not matter in actual use, nor even give the most ideal sound in actual usage............

Other stuff such as distortion of course directly relates.

Not sure I agree/totally disagree with the above assumptions, but who knows?
Exactly what I meant. I can't imagine why the response need to be exact for up-firing speakers which will be playing ambient sounds reflected from the ceiling..
 
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