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KEF Reference 4C Review (Center Speaker)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 1.5%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 6 1.7%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 78 22.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 254 74.1%

  • Total voters
    343

F1308

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You won a trophy! Not that it was a language issue, it was a typo.
I know....

I was doing my homework: find at least five typos in your five most visited forums and ask your teacher to verify them.
 
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testp

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Certainly looks impressive, but the longer I look at the room situation (which is clearly for ad purposes), it would be a waste of good speakers to place them in such a "dry aquarium" ;) I know similar situations from some (terrible IMHO) designer houses of glass and concrete, where even a normal conversation can give you a migraine...
the key is to lay some painkillers around the room.. :)
 

F1308

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I am using a pair of JL Audio fathom f113v2 subs with them. The pairing with them has been, frankly, delightful in 2-channel listening, and I fully expect the center to make the HT experience absolute dynamite once it's back in with its brethren. This is how things are now, although the second Fathom is out of frame, the L/R speakers are still in the bottom packing material until my stands get here, and you can feel free to point and laugh at my prior GoldenEar soundbar looking out of place covering the center channel duty in the interim. Also, most all of the electronics over on the right are getting swapped out as part of this project.View attachment 179946
That TV set is placed too high.
You risk cervical compression...
Any screen should be placed below the line of sight, so that your chin aproaches your chest when viewing.
 

JD_Spoon

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That TV set is placed too high.
You risk cervical compression...
Any screen should be placed below the line of sight.
Oh good, the r/TVTooHigh crowd is here, too! The TV cannot be mounted lower, the best I can do is put it on a mantel mount to swing it down. The mantel's existence is not negotiable with the other half of the household, deleting it is the same as having monoblocks in front of the fireplace. It's just not going to happen. Additionally, what is not evident from the picture is that all the seating in the room is capable of reclining, so the angle issue is far less of a problem than it appears.
 
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F1308

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Oh good, the r/TVTooHigh crowd is here, too! The TV cannot be mounted lower, the best I can do is put it on a mantel mount to swing it down. The existing mantel placement is not negotiable with the other half of the household, the same as having monoblocks in front of the fireplace. It's just not going to happen. Additionally, what is not evident from the picture is that all the seating in the room is capable of reclining, so the angle issue is far less of a problem than it appears.
Good to know that seating arrangement...
Remember: chin away from chest: viewer take warning; chin approaches chest: viewer's delight.
 

Spkrdctr

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That TV set is placed too high.
You risk cervical compression...
Any screen should be placed below the line of sight, so that your chin approaches your chest when viewing.
That also helps when you fall asleep watching tv. Your chin can rest on your chest easier!
 

Aperiodic

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A key question here is what offerings KEF has that would be appropriate pairings with this, since it is important that the front speakers be as simpatico with each other as possible (in other words it would likely be used with other KEF). I assume their generally-well-regarded-if somewhat-controversial LS50 would be a good match.

I am starting to be more and more curious about coaxial drivers. They seem to offer a lot of advantages. I guess the reason they are't used more widely is that the driver designs are quite complex.
 

JD_Spoon

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A key question here is what offerings KEF has that would be appropriate pairings with this, since it is important that the front speakers be as simpatico with each other as possible (in other words it would likely be used with other KEF). I assume their generally-well-regarded-if somewhat-controversial LS50 would be a good match.

I am starting to be more and more curious about coaxial drivers. They seem to offer a lot of advantages. I guess the reason they are't used more widely is that the driver designs are quite complex.
Based on discussions with my dealer, the 4c is specifically designed/intended to be paired with the Reference 5 towers. The Reference 1 and Reference 3 are intended to pair with the smaller Reference 2c center. The idea of the Reference 4c as an L/C/R trio, at least with the non-centers in a vertical orientation, was a relatively novel approach. KEF's documentation outlines placement considerations for a trio of 4c speakers, but only with all of them in a horizontal orientation.
 

F1308

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My mom's flans were ruler flat ... you could bust your teeth.
Mine made them some seven inches deep...tall I mean, so that everyone kept their teeth...not using any as a tweeter....
 

Juhazi

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I have always thought that the C speaker is for vocal/speech. Isn't anyone here worried about that?



Speech-range-profiles-displaying-values-derived-for-the-individual-periods-of-the-vocal.png


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beagleman

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The updated version with the 12tb generation driver and meta material will make it outstanding

Wow I am not even sure what to say.
Outstanding...maybe close, but in my world, if this was $1,000 THAT would be outstanding.

As it is, to me, loses most of its outstanding due ONLY to price.

Does each driver cost $1,500?? Or is the enclosure $5,000??
 

Spkrdctr

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I have to say for the last 20 years I have never even looked at KEF as a decent speaker brand. They have really ramped up their game in the last few decades. I'm now very interested in looking at them as possible new speakers. The #1 complaint has always been that the concentric drivers didn't do high Spls very well at all. Well, now that Amir gives us hard test data, I see that for my purposes (85db) they do very well. So, they have moved to front and center in possible purchases. I'd look at Revel too but I think they are too expensive. But I have not really looked at them yet. All this testing is giving us some interesting information on what speaker brands really do have good engineering vs stuff just thrown out there that is really not good at all but is marketed as high end or very good. ASR just keeps getting better and better!
 

sarumbear

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A key question here is what offerings KEF has that would be appropriate pairings with this, since it is important that the front speakers be as simpatico with each other as possible (in other words it would likely be used with other KEF).
Use the same speaker on its side.
 

Hydrav

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Great performance and looks, finally something worthy of the name "center speaker". But the price is just insane, this will remain nothing but a dream for most people.

The search continues for that holy grail of affordable center speaker with great measurements...
 

fun

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Nice review and excellent measurements for a center. The 4C is too big for me, but the 2C is perfect in terms of size. If the 2C performs similarly, I would seriously consider upgrading to the Ref 1 and 2C as my LCR, and later getting R3 or LS (regular or Meta) as surrounds. That say, R3 and R2C as LCR might be the more rational choice from performance & value perspectives, but the Black/Copper Ref looks stunning :p
 

Hydrav

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Nice review and excellent measurements for a center. The 4C is too big for me, but the 2C is perfect in terms of size. If the 2C performs similarly, I would seriously consider upgrading to the Ref 1 and 2C as my LCR, and later getting R3 or LS (regular or Meta) as surrounds. That say, R3 and R2C as LCR might be the more rational choice from performance & value perspectives, but the Black/Copper Ref looks stunning :p

My friend the KEF R2c was already measured and reviewed by Erin:
 

Robbo99999

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Coaxials are really the future of home audio. Too bad that it will take decades before other companies catch up. This is the 11th generation after all.
For centre channels or generally? It really does seem to have solved the "centre channel problem", but in terms of lefts & rights (and I guess surrounds) there are a number of good 2-way normal speakers that can fit the bill. It seems like coaxial is super-good for centres.
 

BoredErica

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Imo if you don't need your speakers to play as loud, R3 series are close enough and you can save a ton of money. But then I wonder how the Q series do since they are cheaper still. My guess those will not be as good even at lower volumes.
 
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