KEF Reference3 vs b&w 804 D3

[Happygodavid]

The R7's put out bass that clearly rivals the KEF Kube 10b in my office LS50 setup. Deep and very clean. The R7's shook the floors!!

Very impressive!

Hi Ken, I'm new-ish here. I've only recently gotten back into the HT game after upgrading to 4K and getting a new receiver. Went to Magnolia a few weeks ago and heard the R11s on my way out. "Transcendent" was the word that came to mind. Of course, they were playing in stereo, hooked up to a McIntosh setup. At any rate, I'm leaning heavily toward upgrading my ancient speakers within the next year or so, and I'm leaning toward something from the new R series (R7s, maaaybe R11s), based solely on that experience. I do wonder, though... would they be good for a home theater setup in a living room where seating is... living room-ish? When I heard the R11s, I was sitting in a perfectly erected sweet spot, and I wonder how well these guys would disperse sound... Sorry for the noob question. Just trying to get back in the groove after being out of it for years (and never really diving in very deep). Anyhoo, I've got this dream setup in mind: R7s for L/R, R2c for center, R3s for rears, surround rears, R8as for Atmos, some pair of giant subs...

 

[KenM10759]

Hi Ken, I'm new-ish here. I've only recently gotten back into the HT game after upgrading to 4K and getting a new receiver. Went to Magnolia a few weeks ago and heard the R11s on my way out. "Transcendent" was the word that came to mind. Of course, they were playing in stereo, hooked up to a McIntosh setup. At any rate, I'm leaning heavily toward upgrading my ancient speakers within the next year or so, and I'm leaning toward something from the new R series (R7s, maaaybe R11s), based solely on that experience. I do wonder, though... would they be good for a home theater setup in a living room where seating is... living room-ish? When I heard the R11s, I was sitting in a perfectly erected sweet spot, and I wonder how well these guys would disperse sound... Sorry for the noob question. Just trying to get back in the groove after being out of it for years (and never really diving in very deep). Anyhoo, I've got this dream setup in mind: R7s for L/R, R2c for center, R3s for rears, surround rears, R8as for Atmos, some pair of giant subs...

That would be an incredible good system! The KEF Uni-Q midrange & tweeter coincident driver lends itself well to home theater applications because the off-axis please is so good and that works well when you have multiple seating positions, some of which are unavoidably not in the "sweet spot."

I have that very situation in my living room with my previous generation R series, and guests are invariably super-impressed.

 

[Happygodavid]

That would be an incredible good system! The KEF Uni-Q midrange & tweeter coincident driver lends itself well to home theater applications because the off-axis please is so good and that works well when you have multiple seating positions, some of which are unavoidably not in the "sweet spot."

I have that very situation in my living room with my previous generation R series, and guests are invariably super-impressed.

Exactly the kind of response I was needing. Thanks a ton!

Out of curiosity, what’s your full setup? Speakers/amps and such?

 

[KenM10759]

Guess you can't see my signature.

R500 L-R mains, R200c center, R100 surrounds, and within a week, I'll be able to hear the R50 Atmos speakers I've been sitting on since I bought them in March. (My NAD T758 gets the final upgrade to be full "v3" status.)

I have an SVS SB2000 sub, really could do well to get a 2nd one. My system is currently calibrated using a low-level version of Audyssey, by the end of the month I expect to have full Dirac Live enabled with the receiver upgrade. That should really improve things that already sound pretty amazing for a system that still looks good in my living room and works even better for 2.1 music. That's what I mainly do with my system because the Bluesound "BluOS kit" had long ago been added for streaming and playing my library of music.

 

[Happygodavid]

Guess you can't see my signature.

R500 L-R mains, R200c center, R100 surrounds, and within a week, I'll be able to hear the R50 Atmos speakers I've been sitting on since I bought them in March. (My NAD T758 gets the final upgrade to be full "v3" status.)

I have an SVS SB2000 sub, really could do well to get a 2nd one. My system is currently calibrated using a low-level version of Audyssey, by the end of the month I expect to have full Dirac Live enabled with the receiver upgrade. That should really improve things that already sound pretty amazing for a system that still looks good in my living room and works even better for 2.1 music. That's what I mainly do with my system because the Bluesound "BluOS kit" had long ago been added for streaming and playing my library of music.

Sorry, couldn’t see your setup on the phone.

Sounds like exactly what I’m going for! When you get your R50/Atmos running, let us know how they sound!

 

[KenM10759]

Sorry, couldn’t see your setup on the phone.

Sounds like exactly what I’m going for! When you get your R50/Atmos running, let us know how they sound!

The bouncy Atmos speakers don't get much respect, but it's all I can do. My living room ceiling is under 8 feet tall, and the angles of where the R50's will project to where I sit should be about as good as that type of Atmos speaker can get. I'm very optimistic!

 

[PENG]

The bouncy Atmos speakers don't get much respect, but it's all I can do. My living room ceiling is under 8 feet tall, and the angles of where the R50's will project to where I sit should be about as good as that type of Atmos speaker can get. I'm very optimistic!

I have a similar situation, i.e. 8 ft ceiling, and am too lazy to run wires up to the ceiling and hide them. Please report back on your experience with the bouncy Atmos speakers, thank you in advance. I really hope they work well, as they are not cheap at all.

 

[KenM10759]

I have a similar situation, i.e. 8 ft ceiling, and am too lazy to run wires up to the ceiling and hide them. Please report back on your experience with the bouncy Atmos speakers, thank you in advance. I really hope they work well, as they are not cheap at all.

Will do! I bought the R50's as used, still quite pricey at $800 a pair.

 

[PENG]

Will do! I bought the R50's as used, still quite pricey at $800 a pair.

If the feedback from you is positive, I have to find ways to get two pairs without being noticed by the boss.

 

[Happygodavid]

The bouncy Atmos speakers don't get much respect, but it's all I can do. My living room ceiling is under 8 feet tall, and the angles of where the R50's will project to where I sit should be about as good as that type of Atmos speaker can get. I'm very optimistic!

Same here, for now. I don’t own my place but hope to buy a house in a few years. For now, the bouncy kind should work well. And aren’t the new R8a’s designed to be bouncy or wall mount? I’m thinking eventually they could be mounted, but I may be wrong.

 

[KenM10759]

Yes, the new R8a have dual mounting options built-in!