Moving from KEF R5 Meta to Ascilab F6B/C6B with subwoofer use

[Max_fl]

Sorry I have so many questions, it’s just my curiosity. When you say 2 feet from the back wall, the front face of mine are roughly 23.5” off the back wall. I had a lot of cancellations in the same area you do when I tried my R7 out from the wall a similar distance as you if I’m understanding correctly. Is your back wall 2 feet away from the rear of the cabinet? The R5 is consistent with what I see in room, done at 40Hz. It looks like the 11 is begging for some back wall gain, I can see the extra extension.

No worries. I just measured, the front of my speakers is 34" from the back wall and the rear is 19.5" from the wall. The room is begging for the acoustic treatment and it's on my list.

 

[Mr. Reeee]

this ignores that the subwoofer will be built for excursion and power handling, whereas the KEFs woofers will be optimized for distortion and linearity.

in practice the SPL increase will be lower, approaching zero towards subbass

melomane13 said:
Eight 6.5″ woofers ( R11) provide approximately 4.5× the effective radiating area of a single 8″ ( your subwoofer).

Looking at the specs of the OP’s NuSub subwoofer it’s rated down to 34hz. It is very compact
Why not either add a second subwoofer or replace it with something that’s rated lower.

The NuSub is extremely compact, so a typical 15” cube subwoofer probably wouldn’t cut it.
Maybe a KEF KC62. They’re small, sound great, are fairly easy to place and are rated lower.

Dual subs are definitely better.

 

[MickeyBoy]

Hello everyone,

I currently have KEF R5 Meta speakers and a Nubert XW-800 subwoofer.
They are connected to an Onkyo P-80 and an Audiophonics AP300-S250NC power amplifier (for the R5 Meta).

I keep toying with the idea of trying out a KEF R11 (META or non-META).

Perhaps one of you can contribute something to the following questions:

1.: Are there any experiences or measurements at the listening position where you can see whether the four bass drivers of the KEF R11 possibly generate less powerful room modes than the two bass drivers of the R5 or R7?
I often wonder whether the four bass drivers of the R11 could possibly lead to better bass reproduction, so that I could possibly do without the subwoofer altogether.
If anyone has already compared this and taken measurements, I would be very interested to see them.

2.: Has anyone been able to compare the R11 Non-Meta and R11 Meta (possibly in their own listening room)?
The KEF R5 Meta is still affordable (after negotiating with the dealer), but the R11 META is very expensive (in my opinion, much more expensive than the non-Meta version) and I am wondering whether it really has to be an R11 META or whether a good used R11 non-META would also suffice. Perhaps someone here can contribute their opinion.

My setup currently measures as follows, measured at the listening position with Dirac Live Bass Control activated.
A fairly flat target curve with +1dB in the bass and treble is used in each case:

Dirac active, single measurement at the listening position:
View attachment 503546

Dirac active, single measurement at the listening position RT60:
View attachment 503547

Dirac active, MMM measurement at the listening position:
View attachment 503548

Dirac active, MMM measurement at the listening position, No Smoothing:
View attachment 503595

Many thanks in advance!

Two months ago I added a pair of KEF R5 metas to a pair of Rythmik L12s subs. Previously I had a pair of original Goldenear Tritons with built-in amplified bass. I never got decent bass response because good positioning for stereo and for bass were never close to coincident. (And what to do when the electronics fails?) The L12s in opposite corners and R5s in good position for stereo and multichannel work really well. KEF engineering and attention to detail are really terrific, and not just because I have bought their products since the 1970s. I only use Dirac for the bass up to 400Hz, where the KEF mid-tweeter takes over. One sub just is not enough horsepower and positioning is likely not optimal. By the by, discounted R5 metas and a pair of L12s cost less than the $5,000 for the Tritons before the great inflation of a few years ago. Best wishes for a successful new system.

 

[Acapella]

In the meantime, a few things have changed for me.
Up until now, I’ve been very satisfied with the sound quality and soundstage of my KEF coaxial speakers (R5 Meta).
Here and there, though, I’ve noticed that the sweet spot does indeed disappear when I move my head slightly.
Perhaps this could have been adjusted with a different setup (by toe in or out), or maybe it’s just a characteristic of coaxial speakers.

But I’d also read a lot about Ascilab speakers (F6B / C6B) and, for testing purposes (due to lack of availability), I ordered the F6B, even though I actually preferred the C6B.

The sound of the F6B was very good, in my opinion—something I hadn’t expected.
This led me to reconfigure the system once again.

The F6Bs were mounted on brackets on the wall, where they’re fairly securely installed.
If kids ever come over, you can secure the speakers a bit with a strap so no one can rip them off.

I then calibrated them with Dirac Live Bass Control, and I have to say the sound is very good in my opinion—it really speaks to me much better than the KEF R5 Meta did.
They’ve been sitting in the next room ever since, out of commission

Ascilab did a very good job here.
The Nubert XW800 Subwoofer is still in use and on the same place, cause the place is very good.

I’m just wondering now whether it makes sense to switch to the C6B or if, in terms of sound quality, it won’t necessarily make much of a difference.
Looking at the Spinorama data, the F6B and C6B are actually quite similar in terms of measurements and directivity.

Has anyone compared the F6B and C6B in the same room and can help me decide?
I'm currently undecided about whether the extra cost for the C6B is worth it, since the only differences between the F6B and C6B are the drivers and a slightly different crossover, as far as I know.

Here are a few screenshots of measurements with Dirac Live Bass Control enabled.
The Crossover is set to 80Hz in DLBC.

Linear flat target curve measured at the listening position:

Here are the RT60 data for this measurement as well:

And then, using MMM measurements, I was able to get close enough that by adjusting the Dirac target curve, I achieved a reasonably balanced curve at my listening position.
Here is the MMM measurement of my current favorite target curve: