Passing my 8th and last day with the KEF's.
I liked them so much I decided to return them and....buy a pair of KEF R3 Meta.
But let me give you insight.
The box opening was a disappointment and I knew from 1st minute I will return them to the dealer.
On both speakers the woofer trim ring, or the woofer itself, is misaligned. Literally the same issue our fellow forum member describes
here
On both speakers the shadow flare on the outer edge of the Uni Q array is not evenly inserted inside in the baffle, sitting above it in some parts. I tried to push it in the baffle but its impossible to insert it any further. Not so concerning I need to say, as it's no so evident or to a worrying extend.
There was also a little residue of a grassy substance on one woofer which was easily removed with a towel.
It seems this pair completely skipped the quality control. And with a some basic web search you will realize that It's not the first case of KEF failing in this regard. And there is no way I could tolerate these issues for speakers of this price range.
But I of course tested them.
No measurements so feel free to skip what will follow.
The speakers impressed me with their sound quality.
If I would need to describe this with one word I would say: holographic
They do everything better in respect of my Elac's debut dr62.
Not jaw droppingly better, so to give some praise to my modest Elac's, but you can clearly and undoubtedly tell that the KEF's belong to a different league.
Clarity, detail, sound stage, stereo imaging.
Stereo imaging is astonishing.
Lows, mids, highs, room filing, everything is better.
Bass is more thin I would dare to say in respect to the elac's which have a really strong bass for their calibre.
Still more enjoyable and detailed.
Punchy, crisp, rich, deep sound coming in layers.
In plus, speakers made a perfect aesthetic much with my space, stands, sound equipment.
These KEF's R3 simply tick all my boxes.
And I think these can be endgame speakers for my current living space.
Before trying them I was finding the price difference with the META's is not justified.
But how can I know now? There are no concrete reviews, measurements, comparisons etc
In plus, my confidence to the brand is severely hurt due to the two misaligned woofers(something you don't expect even from the cheapest speakers in the world). This is something unacceptable in my opinion.
But no matter the above, I already decided and ordered(found an excellent price btw) a pair of R3 Meta's.
And from that decision you can imagine how much I loved the sound of the speakers.
ps: worked a lot with positioning and best result is achieved with a toe in of 10-15 degrees and a distance of 45cm(or more) from back wall.
Distance from side wall is around 75-80cm.
Speakers are 2,15m away from each other and 2,15m from mlp.