R3 Meta

The Diablos are amazing... Yet Steve Huff, who uses them as his reference speakers, out right said - while testing the KEF R3 Meta:"Did I miss my Focal Diablos while the R3 Meta were in? Well, maybe on a couple of nights but in reality I did not."AND"These speakers sound AMAZING with vinyl, at least

I have pretty extensive experience with both the R3 and R5, and despite their minor differences on the spec sheet, I've concluded that for real world use, they are effectively the same speaker in different form factors. The R3 is a beefy bookshelf speaker and the R5 is a small, skinny tower. Just pi

Quick short list (models I’d start with for “wide sweet spot”) If you want a tight, practical shortlist across price tiers: • Genelec 8351B / 8361A (active, reference-level coverage) • Revel M126Be or F226Be (passive, broad and consistent off-axis) • JBL HDI-1600 / HDI-3600 (waveguide + dynamic, wid

This hobby is pretty diabolical, as taste, your room, your listening skill, supporting gear in your audio chain and knowledge on setup will dramatically affect your perceived performance of a piece of gear. That's a lot of factors outside of the gear itself. Recently there was a poster who said the

Yep, while the towers take up more visual space than a bookshelf on stands, physically they have the same footprint. Main drawback positioning wise, is that they're a little too high and it's harder to tilt it - but thanks to KEF's Uni-Q drivers, it's not an issue sound wise. Also the bass output an

SMSL SU-1 was the go-to cheap option to try out AKM or finish a cheap secondary system, but I think they may have gone up in price. I have seen used Geshelli Labs J2's go for less than $200 also, and those are almost always well recieved. If you find the AKM DACs in the price range you want, you can

I have a similar setup to you minus the shelves at the sides. They definitely need 18”+ breathing room laterally. Remove the side cabinets if you can, but being bolted onto heavy spiked stands (S3’s?) stood a little out into the room would be better. I would also go slightly against ‘tweeter exactly

"Bookshelf" speakers can surprise you. I upgraded from Q750 floor standers to R3 Meta bookshelves, the R3s threw a much bigger soundstage and went a hell of a lot deeper in bass. That being said, the R5s do make sense, as if you include KEF stands, the savings between R3 and R5 are not that big. The

I’m primarily metal guy too, so I absolutely needed proper clarity without being harsh. Big soundstage without smearing. Big fan of KEF r for this stuff. R3 meta would be hard to beat imo. Sounds natural. It won’t hide anything though.

Having owned or tested every R Meta from the R3-11, as well as the LSX II, LSX, LS50 Meta, here is my assessment. The smaller LSX speakers are amazing for their size and can be had at great prices when KEF discounts them. However, they cannot be played much above 85db without eventual damage (I know