Kef Reference 1 vs LS50M w subs

[Descartes]

No there isn’t, whole point is sound wise they are not that different. So there would be no point in creating anything in the middle would there?
You know how they test reference woofers and blade as well? By ear - watch KEF factory tour. For that kind of money you would expect more advanced measurements to be done.
The reference price should be lower - at the moment is heavily overpriced. But that ain’t gonna happen.

They don’t use computer and analytical tools to measure their Reference speakers and Blades?
That is surprising do you have the video links!

 

[Skyro]

Until the R series gets updated!

At first glance the improvement from Ref to Ref Meta seems much smaller if at all compared to LS50 to LS50 meta. Makes me think there won't be a huge jump when/if R series Meta gets released.

 

[Descartes]

At first glance the improvement from Ref to Ref Meta seems much smaller if at all compared to LS50 to LS50 meta. Makes me think there won't be a huge jump when/if R series Meta gets released.

What makes you say that?

 

[Skyro]

What makes you say that?

Like I said just from first glance of the FR but we won't know until Amir provides the full suite of measurements.

 

[Daka]

At first glance the improvement from Ref to Ref Meta seems much smaller if at all compared to LS50 to LS50 meta. Makes me think there won't be a huge jump when/if R series Meta gets released.

Measurements wise maybe not but people do say it’s noticeably better so must be something there

 

[Daka]

Until the R series gets updated!

Hmm might be some time, I think they want first people to go with reference new update before doing R lineup for obvious reasons.

 

[Descartes]

Hmm might be some time, I think they want first people to go with reference new update before doing R lineup for obvious reasons.

Yep separate the rich from their money!

 

[Daka]

Omfg - got Purify amp today and turned R3s into monster speakers. I don’t need to supplement them with sub anymore, amour if air they push from rear port is crazy. Soundstage grew even further. Previously had them double amped via Arcam. Wow.

 

[bo_knows]

Omfg - got Purify amp today and turned R3s into monster speakers. I don’t need to supplement them with sub anymore, amour if air they push from rear port is crazy. Soundstage grew even further. Previously had them double amped via Arcam. Wow.

Good to hear. Which brand did you go with or did you DIY?

 

[fun]

Measurements wise maybe not but people do say it’s noticeably better so must be something there

From preference score perspective, the differences between Reference 1 Meta and R3 are indeed negligible.

 

[Daka]

From preference score perspective, the differences between Reference 1 Meta and R3 are indeed negligible.View attachment 189072

Reference 1 meta? The new one?

 

[Daka]

Good to hear. Which brand did you go with or did you DIY?

Audiophonics - French company - imported to UK. Comes with both XLR and rca plus trigger port.
Interestingly all this talk about taking control of borders and didn’t even pay tax no VAT nothing, it was just let through. Two mono blocks for £1070 not bad

 

[Ciobi69]

From preference score perspective, the differences between Reference 1 Meta and R3 are indeed negligible.View attachment 189072

Looks like that now they are even on sale, the r3 are a speaker to buy, glad i did it then!

 

[bo_knows]

Audiophonics - French company - imported to UK. Comes with both XLR and rca plus trigger port.
Interestingly all this talk about taking control of borders and didn’t even pay tax no VAT nothing, it was just let through. Two mono blocks for £1070 not bad

Hi Daka,

Thank you for sharing this info. One more question if you don't mind. Do you use RCA connections from your source?
I have AVR and thinking to add an external amplifier just need to figure out if 2V will drive Purifi to full power.

 

[Daka]

Hi Daka,

Thank you for sharing this info. One more question if you don't mind. Do you use RCA connections from your source?
I have AVR and thinking to add an external amplifier just need to figure out if 2V will drive Purifi to full power.

As far as I know you have 3 gain settings on my Purifi.
adjustable by jumper on the interface card:

• Gain of + 7.2dB, for a total of 20dB - Maximum power reached with a signal of ~ 4.2V RMS
• Gain of + 12.5dB, for a total of 25.3dB (default) - Maximum power reached with a signal of ~ 2.2V RMS
• Bypass: in this case the signal passes directly from the inputs to the modules, allowing the lowest possible gain of 12.8dB. This mode can be interesting when using a powerful preamplifier, capable of driving a load of 2 to 4kOhm and reaching a voltage of ~ 10V RMS

Also you can get one from Nad and you’ll have a knob in the back.
With that kind of power 2v will be sufficient.
Since my Arcam has gain 29db I had to adjust by +4.5db to match volume.

 

[fun]

Reference 1 meta? The new one?

Yes. Clicking on the link go to the data provided by Kef.

 

[Daka]

Yes. Clicking on the link go to the data provided by Kef.

Frequency response doesn’t give whole picture. There are excellent musical speakers that don’t measure that well. Flat response I guess is expected from analytical speakers.
I’m surprised that ref 5 meta doesn’t extend same as previous one? Or is there an errror

 

[aarons915]

What makes you say that?

Not speaking for him but the original Reference one measure amazingly already so there is simply less room for improvement. In contrast, the LS50 Meta was a huge leap over the LS50 objectively.

 

[Descartes]

Not speaking for him but the original Reference one measure amazingly already so there is simply less room for improvement. In contrast, the LS50 Meta was a huge leap over the LS50 objectively.

Please can you show the measurements and graphs difference on top of each other!

 

[envydd]

Anyone compared the KEFs to the B&W 805s D3/D4? I love my KEFs for music but I can't ignore how good the vocals sound on the B&Ws. I understand the KEFs are neutral etc - still waiting for my minidsp flex to simulate the B&W 800 series sound on my KEFs