Sean what are your thoughts on the Alchemy DPA2 amplifier? It’s an Elac product and retails about 1900, but no reviews online anywhere! I think reviewers mentioned that it was a completely unrealistic mismatch to a UB5, but sounded good
Sean, I own a pair of KEF R3 bought them about eight months ago and have been waiting since then for your review and opinion. I truly love these speakers which work in my room and connected to a Peachtree Nova 65. Thank you for you honest and and expertises evaluation. I am 62 years old and have recently gotten back to hi fidelity from my younger years. I appreciate what you do to help people like myself to get back into this wonderful age of music and finding great and affordable equipment.....
Joe - I’m curious how you’re enjoying your R3s now? Are they still doing for you? I’m 58 and with COVID I’ve built an office in our detached garage and I find myself LISTENING to music again. I currently have a pair of ProAc Studio 1 MK II speakers that bought 25 years ago - I love them but I also have fond memories of a pair of KEF Q90s that I had before them...
@@graydonbardwell4637 Not just trying to say but I still really like these speakers. They are pretty detailed as Sean has said in his video. My last speakers were a smaller pair of Bower & Wilkins CM1 S2 which I say were great and a little more forgiving to most music but they lacked the “ump” when I wanted to turn them up and listen at a higher level when in a jamming mood which can be quite often around our house. My room acoustics and peach tree amp seem to work for these speakers. They will definitely jam at higher levels. My opinion when feeding a good recording to these speakers is when they shine for me. When the recording is not so good they do ok. I have a Rel Sub-Woofer which helps also but these R3 do a pretty good in my room also on the lower end. I went to a BestBuy magnolia room and listened to these KEF R3 and and my B&W’s side by side and made the decision to buy them. I am not a Sean by no means having the audio ear but so happy this set up worked for me. Best of luck and truly hope you find what works for you...
you are the best reviewer to teach us, inspire us. Refreshing, honest reviews noting the good and bad of an item, based on your skills & opinions developed over years of exposure. At age 71, Ive been into music and audio since my 20's. Sadly, never met anyone else with a stereo system here in NJ. so you, steve and stereo, jay, darko, zeos, steve guttenberg, and Hans Beekhuyzen each make learning so much easier than reading the stereo rags. Please keep your foot in the door even if you feel the urge to try other hobbies and interests. Steve and jay are still honing their skills. You and the others shares the mantel of leadership serving a real need.
When it comes to reviewing HiFi AV Gears, Zero Fidelity in my top pick. No dragging, no unwanted information and never repeating the specification provided by the manufacturer. You come the point directly. Keep up your good work.
That actually happens. I've forgotten which manufacturer it was (Wharfedale?), but in the 80'ies they tested identical speakers in blue and red finishes, and unanimously, the red ones sounded warmer to the test audience.... we are easily fooled :-)
Swapped out my P3ESR's for R3's a year and a half ago and never looked back. Made my quads come alive. Was like flicking a lightswitch. Admittedly, probably wasn't getting the best out of the Harbeths but 100% no regrets. Quads and Harbeths have gone but the R3's are still here. Love them.
Excellent and neutral review! I realized as an audiophile I can never be satisfied with one set or type of speakers! I love the Buchards, KEFs, Klipschs, Lintons etc., at different times & so I decided to have them all. Now I hear them at different times based on my mood swings!
Thanks for your review! I think you nailed the sound and attributes of the R3. I have the R3 paired with McIntosh 252. The warmth of the tube preamp pairs very well with the R3. I have a difficult listening room and the point source you mentioned is spot on.
Really like the guitar analogy here. I think it’s such a great way to translate sound for people who might not understand the impact of frequency response type descriptions. Super cool. Love these reviews!
EXCELLENT guitar analogy for explaining the sound experience. There are so many different terms that are used to describe characteristics of Hi-Fi and it quickly gets confusing.
@@ThujanK Thujan you are somebody with competence in this hobby and your under 1G best speakers post with Jay has been very informative. Greetings from Milan,Italy
they haven't been using the woofer as a waveguide since 2007 when their patent expired. the last of their classic Uni Q was the XQ series and the IQXX series. These added the little rim which prevented the widest dispersion from hitting the woofer allowing the woofer to play that range instead without any phase issues between them, but there was still a range between 2 and 3k where you can see a squiggle. the XQxx and the IQXX were both really good and the best of their classic Uni Q arrays that still DID use the woofer as a waveguide which gave the tweeter and the woofer a more unified sound. after they finished perfecting the tangerine waveguide which equalized the air pressure across the dome they no longer needed to profile the woofer as a waveguide and their patent had expired anyway so they went ahead and inverted the design. the tweeter now plays really broad with really even dispersion with only the waveguide doing its job, they were then able to lower the crossover point a lot, allowing the tweeter to shine brightest, the woofer was flattened as was the surround allowing the tweeter to fire clear of the woofer and surround. then the woofer was re profiled to match the directivity of the tweeter which allowed the woofer to punch much lower.
I have had the R3 for over a year now…paired with the Rega Aethos, Rega P6, and Aria MK3 phono stage. These speakers handle this setup with ease. Don’t be afraid to throw 125 watts of high current application at these bad boys….I understand now how folks at audio shows say these are married up with the Hegel H390 for demos…they can devour that power. It’s a speaker where amplification will cost a lot more than the speakers themselves to get the most out of them…but you will not be disappointed. I have a REL sub to round out the low end. Fantastic.
Bought my first Kef speakers Q150. The 3D spacial sound is great on a lot of music. I found a few Cd's it was so much separation it was like listening to the Hall EQ setting on a receiver.
Hey Sean those are some gorgeous speakers. Love that veneer finish. I have always got some great sound from the KEF speakers. Using my pair of Q100's as elevations over my T1+'s. Always love seeing dual binding posts. I have my Emotiva T1+'s bi-amped with a pair of Adcom GFA-5400's. Thanks for another great review, have a great day man!
Excellent review, thank you for giving an accurate and expert opinion about the speakers. I have a pair of R 3 about three years from now, they are excellent speakers as you say very real with a balanced and crisp sound, but not a tiring or harsh sound with an over expression of highs.... Reasonable bass, in other words very pleasant and easy listening speakers. Very recommended for anyone looking for a high-quality reasonably sized speakers. I also have a pair of reference 5 KEF speakers, although that’s another lineage of speakers, they are fabulous and superb sounding out-of-this-world speakers.
Wow, I was literally thinking just this week if you would eventually review the R3, and you did! Thank you very much for the comparison to the Buchardt, I tend to prefer a warmer sound with less forwardness, so maybe the R3's are not for me. I'm going to try out the Elac Debut Reference first, and then maybe the S400 if budget allows.
@@ralex3697 you'd have to call in and negotiate. They are quite easy to lower the price. I have friends who picked up the floor standers for 50% of the msrp.
As always, an excellent review. It's interesting that you and Zeos came to almost the same conclusion about this speaker and how it compares to the Buchardt's. I'd love to audition both. Very happy to see you say you're planning on reviewing some more higher end gear. Yay!! If I see any more SVS or Emotiva reviews I may have to do something mean. Grrr! Anyway, thanks Sean. You rock!
Good point regarding difficult rooms. I've started with Elac UB5s, which i loved, but then i moved to another apartment and i stopped enjoying these speakers, as they were impossible to drive in the new room. Echo all over the place, bass simply non existent. It's a rental, so i didn't do much in regards of room treatment (aside from bringing more stuff here, with hope that it will help with echoing), but i've tried every single placement position that i could come up with... Nothing helped. So i have bought R300s. They only needed one minute to blow me away. My subwoofers were not even connected, but i had to double (well, triple) check that, because i couldn't believe how good & tight the bass sounded. I don't understand how that makes sense, but the echo problem has gotten much smaller. I only face it if i put them in a really wrong position. Overall, i can't express enough how happy i am about these, especially knowing that i've bought them for 700€ second handed from some crazy guy. My best purchase ever.
I own the R5. awesome speakers. I have one tip about placement: Point the right speaker to your left ear and the left speaker to the right ear. If you do this you will get a much wider sweetspot and two persons will be able to get advantage of almost perfect sound (atleast if you look at measurments)
Tell me more about your R5's....how much power do you have @ 8ohms? What specific amp are you using? I am guessing the R5's are like the R3's (with more bass) and not like the forward LS50, which I enjoy. Different voicing is not an issue for me. The R5's are also gorgeous looking speakers. What color do you have? Thanks much!
Great review, Sean. I own two pairs of KEFs as well as a pair of the big floorstanding Elac Adantes. I find the integrated tweeter (Andrew Jones from Elac was formerly with KEF) on both the Elacs and KEFs create a holographic depth to the music that simply can't be reproduced with any convention setup. The sound stage is always just a little beyond your reach if you close your eyes and listen and try to "touch" the instrument. I also find that both the KEFs and the Elac are very unforgiving of recordings that are not the highest quality. Nonetheless, time for me to get a pair of the R3s in white for my den system.
My experiences with the KEF R3. I adored them when I got them but after a while and I started to push them a bit I had serious problems with harshness with the treble and after trying 3-4 amps I wanted to get rid of them as I started to think it was the speakers. The amp matching is super important with these. Definately do not try to pair them with 50-60w amps and such as they really like their power and they sometimes dip down to 3.2ohms. Some people say Rega Elex-r to be a good match with these and I say its not, its too colored/exciting for these speakers and also not enough power. After this I made the mistake of trying 2 other sidegrades in the same wattage range that didnt fix my problem either. What ended up fixing all my problems is my current chain: Chord Qutest -> Quad Artera Pre - > Audiolab 8300XP -> Kef R3. I could have sworn I heard a difference with bi-wire which im currently running, try it if you have treble issues. The Audiolab is not as exciting as the rythmic drive and timing of the Rega Elex-r, but to me it sounds more in the neutral side. The clarity/treble in these speakers is IMO such that they need to be paired up with amps not also having these characteristics or too low wattage. I was running with the RME ADI-2 and I felt at that point it was almost too polite again so I decided to get the Qutest which adds just the right hint of edge/excitement back again. Fabolous speakers, just very picky in system matching or my ears are :) Going to 140w@8ohm ( 230w@4ohm) just made it sound big and also fixed my problems. The manual also states up to 180w recommended amplifier which I overlooked for the longest time. What made a huge change in tightness of the sound for me was sandfilling B&W stands and placing each speaker on 5 isoacoustics pucks on the stand, before that with my Elex-r tests I didnt get it, I thought the bass was supposed to be that bloated. Im running them 1/3 room away from the back wall as I got no other options in this room. Note: in no way im I getting rid of the RME, which is amazing, the Chord is just adding ever so sligthly another flavour, of which you pay a premium for in this case. I would not object of putting the RME back in instead of the Chord if I had to..Anyway I hope someone else can avoid making the same mistakes I did, and if you plan to get a 60w amp, get speakers that are even easier to drive instead unless you plan to play super low, because once you hear the R3 you will want to crank it. LOL: These speakers are actualy pretty "dead" and it takes a lot of power for them to come to life and control bass etc, neither are they simple to match. If your not prepared to get decent electronics 2x, 3x or more of the price of the KEF R3 its pointless. If you underpower them you can end up down a rabbithole like me for a long time before you get it right.
I run them with a 60w amp, Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 and they sound wonderful. I even tried a 200w amp but the Lyngdorf sounded even better. It’s not about watt, it’s about current and quality of the amp.
Great review. I stuck with my LS50’s and SVS SB1000 sub after hearing the R3’s. I was prepared to upgrade, but there wasn’t a big enough difference in the sound to warrant the extra money. I actually prefer the treble on the LS50’s over the R3 as well.
That was my opinion as well. I listened to the R3 and in any setting I've heard them they weren't that much better than the LS50's to justify their price. The subdued treble also made them even more of a snooze for me to listen to. Their bass extension is good for a bookshelf, but I already have a good sub in the REL T9i.
I was going to ask about this - how does the R3 compare with the LS50. I have the LS50 and really like them. I was considering that the R3 with its separate woofer might offer just that much better bass performance. I really like the KEF aesthetic. (I like many other manufacturers' design work, too; I'm attentive to design, but it tends to be quite a distant consideration for me compare with performance). I like the way the KEF R3s look. I also like the way the KEF LS50s look.
Sean isn't a lover of Ls50s but I own a pair and love them myself and will never get rid of them. Mine are also pair with dual sb1000s running off a Hegel which matches them well.
R3 is nearly twice the price of LS50 here in Japan I think. I love the look of the R3. LS50 meta + rc62 sub or just R3. One day I’ll dump my crypto and splurge on speakers. Running KEF iq30 now and I’m a fan. Was born in Kent, birthplace of KEF so we’re soulmates lol
I own these speakers and love them with my Arcam SA20. Perfect for me as they're very revealing and as Sean mentioned really capture micro dynamics. I also own a pair of Totem Hawks which are equally fantastic in their own way.
@@stephengriffie8143 Thanks for sharing! Have an SA20 as well and I'm about to pull the trigger on a pair of R3s, R5s, or R7s (can't decide yet) for lower volume, small rom listening. What stands do you use for the R3s? Thanks!
There is a website to purchase reports with little money on certain things like badminton racquets review and to full details about . Same way you should do it With full documentation. It’s that much valuable. I had kef r 300 , Ls50, la50 w .100% accurately you explained sound signature of these . I do prefer kef Ls50 over r3 .
KVR Listening Room I too like the LS50 with a sub better than the R3’s. I was prepared to upgrade my LS50’s and changed my mind after hearing the R3’s. There wasn’t a big enough difference in the sound, and I actually preferred the top end of the LS50.
Thanks for the review. I had the KEF Q300 and then moved to the R300 since I got a deal on them as they were end of line discounted. I’m now using the Magnepan LRS and couldn’t be happier. The KEF R300 are great speakers but I have a preference to the sound of the LRS. So the R300 are in my home theatre system along with the R200 centre channel
Great revew! Thanks. The comparison of the R3 vs. the S400 was something that I’m sure a lot of people would be very interested. I wonder if there’s a speaker that combines the R3’s forward presentation and the S400’s warmth and tone focus.
@@BrianGarside MrEvhel83 I own the KEF R300 & the Dynaudio S40. The S40 I think are somewhat better overall. To me the S40 come across as very balanced, natural, neutral with open & airy sounding highs & clean & tight sounding basslines. The drivers basically seem to integrate really well. Ive paired them with a Primare i35 class D amp. The KEF 300 on the other hand are slightly warmer sounding & though the highs do have a sparkle to them, they're not as open, airy & natural sounding like the S40. They have that slight metallic tinge to them which is the one thing that makes me say that the Dyns are more natural sounding & pleasing overall. The slight metallic tinge to music (isnt apparent all the time so dont let this turn you off just yet) was somewhat tamed when I paired it with a Hegel H80 amp. The bass & the overall sound from the R300 has a good amount of heft or weight to it but the basslines are not as clean & tight as on the S40. What I do like about the KEFs is that they sound a lil more meaty - full bodied, kinda like muscular sounding boxes which is probably why they are said to sound like a floorstander. I think the slightly warmer sound signature makes the R300 sound a little more meatier & they're damn heavy boxes unlike the S40 though not by a huge margin - 3 to 4 kgs heavier. Well, my choice of words might come across as silly but its difficult to explain sound characteristics but I just thought id give it a shot - hope it helps folks who wanna know how these compare to some extent at least.
That Sean has been warped back to the past and frozen in time...didn't you see the photo of that young Sean, Jay?! I swear I was looking into the past!
Congrats for ditching the infamous cap! The look is laid back enough. The reviews are spot on, complete, structured, clear, informed. Maybe the best around. No need to go around looking like a gamer. (Ducking. Apologies, gamers, no offense ;-)
Medium listening room 25 m2 : Have the KEFs R3 with their Stands (all white) + Mytek BROOKLYN DAC+ DAC / PREAMP + ROKSAN K3 POWER AMP, and they are biwired (ECOSSE Cables) ... WOAW ! Love the sound 🙏🏻 They HIT and Imaging is FANTASTIC ! Source : NUPRIME CDT-10 CD Transport, or MacBook Air + Audirvana + SYNOLOGY NAS 2 x 4TB for "Hi-Res" Files. Couldn't be happier at this time 😋
Great review Sean! I love your videos. I was actually thinking about buying the Kef R3 or the Buchardt S400 and this video gives me more information to make my purchase decision. However, I still don't know which ones to pick and if I would be impressed if I compare them with my Edifier S3000 Pro. I know it is a different set up, but that is the idea. If I'm paying 2.000 euros (which is almost thrice the price of the Edifiers) for a passive speakers, I really want to feel the difference, a huge improvement. Thanks for the great work Sean
I just received the KEF R3 yesterday and been listening for over 8 hours with multiple position adjustments. Then this review showed up and you’re spot on. My first impression is exactly how you described.
Cool review Sean! I've owned a pair of these Kefs! For a few months. Didn't really enjoy them, i thought they were too revealing, for my ears & they sounded bright on alot of music that I listen too. I enjoyed the low end quality! Because I don't live in a large room! So it was good. So I replaced them with a pair of Dali Rubicon 2s! & WOW!! These Rubicons are perfect for my ears, & work excellent with my Yamaha A-S2100. Maybe I don't like Metal Dome Tweaters or Driver's. Anyways Sean, keep smiling my friend! 👍✌
Jamie Slater Agree, I’m not a fan myself of this new line of KEF, of course the older models made in the UK were excellent Still would rather buy Harbeth, Spendor, PMC, ATC, Neat, ProAc. All have excellent midrange which for me is the defining aspect. I also don’t like rear ports, produces very unnatural sounding bass.
@@ralex3697. I wanted to buy a pair if PROAC DT8s, but I didn't have the money for them. I Love the REAL WOOD they use on there Proac ranges, Especially in luxury Rosewood! & the Ebony range! I don't mind rear ported speaker's. These Dali Rubicons are excellent speaker's my friend! I'm guessing you probably wouldn't like them because of the "Rear port" anyways, each to there own i guess. Have a good weekend! Stay safe. 👍
People think that reviews are all gushing and positive nowadays but if you listen closely you can tell that Sean wasn't super crazy about these speakers.
Another excellent review, Sean...man, you really pack your reviews to the brim with insights and comments! Much appreciated! I own a pair of KEF Reference 2's from the mid '90's, designed and built in the UK, and I really enjoy the sound...it's probably more laid back and not as bright as some of these recent KEF models, as the Ref 2's uses a fabric dome tweeter and a polypropylene midrange driver in a Uni-Q array. I noticed over the years, KEF has shrunk their rubber surrounds...there's barely any in these R3's...and I'm wondering what their main reason is for doing this...I really hope it's not simply to make them look better for home decor at the sacrifice of some other virtues that comes with bigger rubber surrounds. I could see that a smaller surround increases the radiating surface of the cone, and perhaps reduce unwanted air turbulence around big and protruding rubber surrounds...but then they would of had to stiffen the suspension of the drivers to minimize the amplitude of the cone movement due to a lack of support from a beefier rubber surround, which could change their sound and dynamics. I need to stop watching these videos...not good for the itch and the wallet...lol.
the woofer hasn't been used as a waveguide ever since 2007 when their patent expired. that's why they flattened their surrounds. you can even see the tweeter from the widest angle even with the woofer extended out. the whole reason why they added he tangerine waveguide was so that they would no longer need to use the woofer as a waveguide which caused phase issues at the crossover whenever they played the same thing. they added the horn to block the least stable
Kef R3 in my opinion are not a speakers for someone who have sub 1000$ amp and is looking for ~2000$ speakers. They are for someone who have really good system, I mean amplifier, source, cables, power, antivibration setup and are looking for a 5000$ speakers. R3 really shine in very sophisticated company. I heard Bouchardt s400 and they are nothing like R3. Differences are dramatic, not small.
Exactly my experience. Require good electronics to shine, if your not prepared to get 2-3x or more in electronics than the price of R3 its pointless. Another speaker is the better choice because you wont feel like your system clicks. A system that had started with less demanding speakers had a better chance of clicking out of the box.
I made some point source speakers with hotted up full range drivers and 10" woofers (and also some bass coming from the FR driver). Balancing the woofer with that is crazy. The wave response between the two drivers affects the sound a lot. And just by changing the resistance of the woofer (by a half an ohm) you get a completely different sound. That much difference in resistance hardly effects bass output, but the wave response between the FR driver and the woofer does (with really small changes in woofer resistance).
What I really like about your videos is... it's about the product, not the reviewer. Sometimes I think that many reviewers like to feel that they are a ROCKSTAR of some kind. Nothing's wrong, everybody need some form of self-esteem validation. However, that skews the quality of their review, the clip is BLOATED with their "wealth of experience" their "wealth of HI FI gears" their "Humble Opinions." Sure, the reviewer has to be likeable, but for Hi-Fi reviews, people want to know THE PRODUCT, period. Take that out of the equation, no one watches it. So how much of the review is ABOUT THE PRODUCT, when the reviewer is "Me, me, me, me, me, me..."? Thanks for doing what you do Sean.
The thing that pisses me off with speaker manufacturers is that most small stand mount speakers will be bought to be used in a small room. So what do manufacturers do?, they put a huge port in the back so that the speaker can’t be used close to a back wall. Yes, you can use a foam bung but that kills the bass. Design the speaker to have a port in the front you numpties, they can then be used nearer to a rear wall in a small room that so many people now have. REAR PORTS! How hard can it be..?
This is one of the more misunderstood elements of loudspeaker design. The overall tuning of the speaker far outweighs the location of the port (in terms of front or back). The major advantage of rear-ported designs is that you have the flexibility of placing the port exactly where it's most efficient at doing its job. A luxury that most front-ported speakers do not enjoy. The list can go on, but the bottom line is that it's not worth getting hung up over whether the port is on the front or the back of the speaker.
I have to say that I kind of agree with Ron... Not about the placement of the port but of the concept of the tiny "bookshelf" speaker that has to be placed (and I exaggerate) at least 10 feet from room boundaries and on triple decoupled unicorn horn transduced stands before you can hear them properly! This seems to be the case so often. If I had space I would just buy floorstanders to start off with. Obviously, some people prefer bookshelves for a whole lot of other reasons like imaging but you get my drift...
Zero Fidelity Thank you for the courtesy of your response but I don’t agree out of personal experience. I had terrible boom problems with a speaker with two rear ports, if I moved them away from the wall it helped but not much. I replaced them with front ported speakers and the problem was solved. I can use these inches from the rear wall without any problem. But hey, I’m no expert and what you say about port placement is interesting and I’m not qualified to dispute. I can only tell you of my experience.
@@ZeroFidelity Hi Sean, great video...thanks! I'm no expert but there seems to be a significant body of opinion that front-ported vs rear-ported monitors work better in small listening rooms, particularly with regard to placement (near side/back walls). Moreover, the foam plug don't seem to work that well in most cases.
I hope you review kef q350 too. It's available for good price in EU
4 года назад
Using these as I do for professional work in a mixing and mastering context, I do understand why home listeners may not like them. Frequency Response wise they’re really really flat, and though people think they want this, they usually don’t and find it uninspiring. Working with unfinished music means I need a lot more wattage to deal with spikes and peaks that aren’t there in mastered music, and I agree about not using a bright amp. Either something flat designed for pro use, or something warmer.
Using R3's with the NuPrime IDA-16 streaming Tidal, Audiosource transport and a Rega P3 turntable, subs are SVS SB3000. I alternate between the R3's and my Magnepan .7's. Different presentation and both are a lot of fun to listen. Before the R3's I had the Revel 126BE, which cost twice as much. I actually enjoy the R3's more. The Revel's high tech tweeter was far from friendly regardless of the amps I tried and there were something up in the mid-bass that could make them sound boxy and slightly boomy on some material. The R3's seem to like whatever I throw at them, though they don't image nearly as well as speakers like my old Merlin TSM's.
I have the R900’s and don’t need a sub woofer. I would only change them now for the Kef Reference 3 but they are too expensive. So I’m happy to stick with R900’s. They will sound too bright on certain amplification, but used with Hegel, they are sublime.
Looking at a pair of R5 mini towers and the R2C center for my new main living room system. The beautiful box/driver/grill is likely to carry the day with the wife in my public space. I just have to find a way to hide the big sub. Maybe I missed it in the review, but the grills on these are lovely and really set em off.
I own a Pioneer Elite VSX-33. It is about 10 years old. The standard setup is 8 ohm and can be adjusted to 6 ohm. 110 Watts x 7 Advanced Direct Energy Amplification (20Hz - 20kHz, 8 ohms, 0.08% THD - FTC) Placement in a large 20x18 room with 20 foot ceilings. I would need to port the rear because they will be situated only 12 inches from the wall. My concern is the 4 ohm speaker specs with my Pioneer Elite. Will my amp be a good match in your opinion?
Great review Sean:) Since you brought up a 2k bookshelf speaker. I cant help myself. Canton Reference 9.2...4k MSRP are at accessories4less for $1499. Incredible value. Sparkling highs with tons of detail...yet not metal sound..they are ceramic. A sweet sound. Strong bass, rich midrange. 25lbs each. Gorgeous piano black finish. Canton has over 45 years of hifi experience. Crazy value at $1499.....yes I own them:)
Ryan Schipp I'm curious about the Cantons. What is your frame of reference? I like a nice sparkly top end. I've owned Paradigm S2, Dynaudio X12, Monitor Audio RX2, B&W 805D, DALI Rubicon 2, Revel M16 and Joseph Audio Prism. I currently still own the last 3. I was considering the R3 but after Sean's review, not so much. As I mentioned, I enjoy a sparkly treble. I own a pair of Revel F208 and F228be driven by Parasound amps. Wonderful speakers. My next set for my 'man cave' will likely be something from Focal but you piqued my interest with your mention of the Cantons. They get no 'love' here in the U.S.
Great review! Thank you so much! If you had to choose between the R3 and the R5, which one would you choose? I’m not looking for loud auditions, but for something that would sound hifi at low volume as well. My open space living room is about 60sqm, but the distance from the couch to the speakers would be 3 meters. Thank you!
I had the Kef's for a month..returned them and settled with the S400. I prefered the laid back and warm sound they produce. For some top end shine I have introduced Schiit Loki tone control. A little tweak on mid to high range on the Loki gets me the some of the forward resolving detail. At the same time retaining the hefty warm signature. S400's surely any day for my ears.
exited speakers ... got them after LS50. There could be other alternatives on this level, that are better on one other other point or just different, but the R3 is defiantly in the top of this class. The only sad thing about R3 is that after R3 is nothing else till 4x pricier reference 1 (the new black one is soo badass)... and if you want or can afford just a little bit more, you have to look away from KEF.
The difference gets bigger the louder you go. When these crap out is where the big bros show who is boss. Heard them hooked up to a JC5 and playing judas priests cover of helter skelter... lets just say it was STUPEFYING. It was another demonstration of you get what you pay for in hifi.
Again, the comparison (very valuable segment), helps me to make up my mind, if this product is for me. With the distinctions made clear with the S400, I'm tempted. But at US$2000, the difference you've mentioned does not outweigh the price. That's obviously subjectively my value equation in my mind.
Very informative, detailed (pun intended!) and, above all, HONEST review, thank you. Your comments about metal drivers gives me food for thought. I wonder how these older R's compare with the R Metas. Any thoughts? And, by the way, you are so effin' CUTE 🙂
Well sir thank you for yet another video May I be a bit cheeky and and call you by your first name So hi Sean my reason for commenting is to thank you personally for all your informative and unbiased reviews over the years The hifi market is awash with product orientated coverage Yet you seem to navigate a path that benefits not only the potential buyer of these products But also the manufacturers If you feel their is room for improvement you say-so likewise if you think product A is only to be considered under certain situations you do not hesitate to bring your reservation to our attention So again a big thumbs up 👍. I think you may sometimes feel you have I been to hard or to forgiving of a certain product Rest a-shored this is definitely the case. The good people who watch your channel me included know what ever you say will be informed considered and respectful So well done you. Best wishes and kind regards from Mike in the U.K.
Thanks for the review! Sounds like they’re quite similar to the r300 that I have. They drag attention, against disappearing in the room, as you described. A bit dry but clear midrange. Interesting experience, pleasure to listen, but I guess I’m gonna try Rosso Fiorentino (or at least ProAc’s) in the future. Do you think Rel T7i can fix somewhat soft base from Ragnarok 2 with Kefs? I really like its refinement, tone and microdynamics in mids and highs.
Heyyy!!! So I am not crazy that KEF does not cut it with the tone! That's why I sold mines pretty much (Though the R700) and hearing the R3, found that they were still not that convincing really. All about detail, rather than tone.
1:33 And the vowels & consonants of the voice sound are coming from the same point instead of 8" apart. That is only one theory supporting point source. Also there a BUNCH of theories that make point source superior (just by making coaxial drivers). Like phasing, less wave cancellation (the list goes on). And point source drivers are not very complex and expensive compared to buying new amps and stuff. Especially if you DIY. And (I reckon) that makes more difference than records, tube amps, fancy DACs etc! I'm not a woked person, but I am woked about point source. It's sweet! The best way to explain it. Now for my best theory about point source: With regular 2-ways it forms a triangle from the source to the listener, so we (sublimely) use triangulation to know where the sound is coming from. But with point source it's just one line between the source and the listener. No triangulation here and it's harder to tell where the sound is coming from (and thereby increasing the imagery)! This is a big reason why headphones have such a good image. Point source. What intrigues me is that many reviewers seem to recognise that point source is superior (like this one just did) yet the next day they say that a particular regular speaker is about the best they heard (as though point source never existed).
