New KEF R Series

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by DyersEve726, Sep 6, 2018.

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  1. LivLif

    LivLif Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Did you have the previous R3s? I’d love to know what you think of the new ones in comparison.
     
  2. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    Had them burning in some Friday, yesterday and today. Probably have 20 or so hours on them so far. I think KEF has a winner here....I loved the old R series, but these for sure seem to be an overall upgrade.
     
    Ivand and DyersEve726 like this.
  3. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    can you describe how the R5 or R7 is voiced compared to the previous R-series? The old R series sounds recessed in the midrange and boosted in the midbass to my ears. Thanks.
     
    Ivand likes this.
  4. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    Nudge nudge...
     
  5. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    Sorry...only heard the R3 so far. Even though I'm a long way from having the R3's broken in, I do not consider the mid's to be recessed.
     
  6. musicman1806

    musicman1806 Member

    I currently have the R300 and do not think the mids are recessed. I will say I heard a difference in the mids when experimenting with different speaker stands and using rubber vs sorbothane to mount them. I have wooden floors so how the stands were utilized had a big impact on the coloration overall.

    Anyway I wish I could also hear the new R3.
     
  7. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    Any updates to share on the sound of the R3? Have you compared them to the LS50? Gotten the R5 yet? Any real life pictures to share? :whistle:
     
  8. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    Really impressed with them so far....guessing I have around 150 hours or so on them so far. I've not had a chance to do any back/back comparisons yet.

    I sold a pair of R11's, but have not had any R5's in (yet).
     
    Echoes Myron likes this.
  9. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    [​IMG]

    One quick pic of them setup......
     
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  10. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    Thanks!

    What kind of speaker cables are those?? :eek:
     
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  11. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    Kimber Monocle XL
     
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  12. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    I'm really digging the R3 and Parasound HINT6 combo.....it's really a great sounding setup.
     
  13. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    trust me, the midrange is recessed.
     
  14. DyersEve726

    DyersEve726 Schmo Diggy Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I don't hear that at all with the R500's. If anything, the mids sound pronounced to me.
     
  15. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    the 500s are the best of the bunch of the r series in terms of voicing. still not as transparent or refined as the LS50s though. just curious if the new r series is really an improvement or just marketing.
     
    Vinyl Archaeologist likes this.
  16. SirAngus

    SirAngus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    I have a Hint and am interested in the R3’s. Any further updates on the sound? Comparison to LS50’s would be interesting.
     
  17. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Here is one reviewer's opinion that the new R series has not fixed the metallic treble, which is what I was afraid of.

    look under the comments for his impressions.

    Too bad......

     
  18. LivLif

    LivLif Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Funny enough. I actually got the chance to listen to he new R3s and R5s in that room. Was a good experience, I dont think they were as metallic as the reviewer is stating. Opinions I guess. the sound better than the R300s but not enough to make me upgrade.
     
    BO_KNOWS likes this.
  19. LivLif

    LivLif Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    were you able to go to the CAP Audio fest? They were actually demoing the R3s with a Hint. In my opinion they were a little smoother than the LS 50 and have a lot more bass. Im not sure its worth the upgrade unless you really want a great deal more bass. Maybe it would be better to do a lateral move like try the R300s.
     
  20. mds

    mds Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Going by what you hear at an Audio show is questionable and trying to ascertain a speaker's sound by listening to a YouTube video is impossible in my opinion. The rooms they set up in at a show are far from ideal, the seating arrangement and crowds wandering in and out as you listen tends to interfere with the sound not to mention the auxiliary equipment that is paired together may not be what you would be using and even though you would think they want to show off everything working well together this is not always the case. I guess what I am saying is one really needs to audition speakers at home or in a dealers showroom matched as closely with equipment similar to what you would be using in your own system prior to drawing conclusions. I think the bottom line is KEF has a sound based on a flat, detailed response that is partially created by the use of metallic tweeters, which some people love and others are put off by. From my experience and listening to others the LS series has a bump towards the bottom of the lower frequency to push the bass a little deeper, this is not a flat sound so when people who love that speakers sound go to the Reference Series where there is no bump their ears need to adjust a little to the new sound and they may find they enjoy it more or they may miss this artificial warming of the sound. No speaker perfectly reproduces music they all bring some of the designers thoughts and character to the presentation.
     
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  21. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC

    Metallic treble would not be how I would classify the new R's at all.....
     
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  22. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    It is the reviewer's opinion that the sound was metallic. Possibly anecdotal evidence but combined with my own experiences it would leave me to believe that he is correct.
    I'm not saying this is a deal breaker necessarily- lots of factors could contribute to metallic tendencies- and there may be enough "positives" to still make the speakers an attractive buy.
     
  23. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    I heard the new R11s at a Magnolia store a couple weeks ago. It could be that the Pioneer Elite receiver they were paired with was a bottleneck, however, A/B'd against some Martin Logan Motion 60XTs, I preferred the MLs.
     
    Ivand likes this.
  24. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    I am planning to visit the Magnolia store this week. I basically like KEF speakers including the LS50s that I owned for a while- they sounded metallic but did so much well it was easy to overlook,

    Part of the term "metallic" could also mean unnatural. The KEFs are not natural sounding speakers but sometimes hyper reality is good for a change.

    I looked up those ML 60XTs. OMG what a horrible response curve (sound and vision).
     
  25. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    They didn't sound all that much different from the KEFs in my audition - why I think the Pioneer receiver was likely a bottleneck.
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
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