Assistance in selecting new speakers…


Welcome advice on selecting a new set of speakers for our “great room” home theater set-up.  We have KEF Reference Model Two (FL, FR) Monitor audio silver (C), and KEF 103.2’s (SL,SR), and Emotiva s12 powered  subwoofer.  Emotiva Xmc2 processor, Rotel RB-985 multi-channel amp.  The room dimensions are 17’ x 25’ with vaulted ceilings (~12’ at the peak).   I will likely need to upgrade my amp and possibly my Sub. Priority is  listening to music (except heavy metal and rap) and I have a family who likes to watch movies, so I have to consider this as a close second.  I’ve purchased KEF for the last 25+ years, so that is a factor.  I’m looking at two options for the types of speakers, architectural and free standing, with the trade off being the architectural set-up is a cleaner look, which for a multi-purpose room is desirable, but not at a considerable loss of fidelity. Since I lean toward KEF, I am looking at Ci3160RLM (FL,C,FR), Ci200Rs-THX (SL, SR) for the architectural option, and R7 or R5 (FL, FR), R2 (C), R3 (SL, SR).   I’m not sure about what subwoofer to choose.  My budget is ~ $15K-$20K (including a new Sub and power amp). 

Would appreciate if you could provide advice on what I’m not  considering, what assumptions I’m making which may not be accurate etc.  For example,  in the proposed new set-up could there be a noticeable difference in the fidelity between the architectural speakers and the free standing speakers?   What are alternatives to KEF, whether new/used, e.g., Focal,  which you would recommend I consider?   Any thoughts on a multi-channel amp and subwoofer upgrade?
 

Thanks for your time and consideration. 

 

 

johnmcnaughton

As far as multichannel amps go, some good speakers are going to eat up most of your 15k to 20k budget and you may be hitting the budget limit.

Hence, you could go with the meaty monolith amps (manufacturer direct), especially since this series was designed by ATI and sound quite good for the affordable price tag.

5 channel

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15593

9 channel

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33306

As you go higher up the price tag, this fat Rotel sounds quite good.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_440B15852S/Rotel-RMB-1585-MKII-Silver.html

and so on....

If the budget is expanded, there are some kickass multichannel amps out there.

I would like to see the list. I’ll admit, I’ve been a “KEF” guy, and I need to explore other options. In this context, architectural is Built in wall and/or ceiling speakers.

@johnmcnaughton . "Architectural" speakers get compromised because the drivers, crossover, etc need to be compromised to fit inside a shallow in-wall box (lack of sheer physical space for good components).

If you want to also put some "architectural" speakers in your room to boost WAF and not compromise on sonics, you should go with a combination of Perlisten floorstanding and architectural speakers or go full architectural. They have very innovative/advanced speaker designs, makes KEF look less enginerdy.

If you can overcome some of the negatives of "architectural" speakers, as is the case with Perlisten, such speakers can also offer some advantages over conventional boxes.

Scroll down to the in-walls on this page. These are all THX dominus rated as well and obliterate the KEFs with explosive dynamics, etc.

https://www.audioadvice.com/shop-by-brand?brand=7236

 

Room.  Plan to spend 1/3 of your speaker budget on room treatment, at least.

My theater room is 15 X 23 with cathedral ceiling.  It has the full Cinematech sound treatment.  Speakers are Focal 1000 series architectural, I think you have to get them through an "installer" because of Be tweeter.  The space features 4 - JL Audio eSub 112's.  The sound is stunning, in order of importance I'd rank multiple subs first, sound treatment second and speakers third.  For the kind of money your talking I think the space deserves consideration of all three "elements".  I did not have enough experience or knowledge to do this on my own, at the time I couldn't figure out why I had to have 4 subs!

For HT I recently replaced KEF Reference 1s and LS50s driven by Ayre gear and a Bryston SP3 processor with Sony HT A9 & SW5.  For music I'm using KEF LS60 and a pair of KC62s.  I think the sound of both setups is superb in their own ways, and so convenient I use them dailey.  

My previous favorite was KEF Reference 107/s and 204/2C driven by 3 JC-1s monoblocks, a setup worth repeating.

Thanks to all of you who responded to my post.  Looks like my 2024 will be spent exploring a lot of other options - including KEF.  
 

best regards,

JRM

We are a Kef dealer for 20 years we also design and build movie theaters

 

check out the kef thx theater r we designed for rev run

 

rev runs renovation season 2 secret cinema

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

kef dealer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nj

 

I love KEF. I like companies that have a big research budget and make their own drivers. Not just buy drivers and put it in a box.

I wanted to buy the KEF Blade 2 Meta. But did not due to concerns that they would not be safe in my Livingroom (no grills and easy to knock over). A great choice in hindsight seeing as what goes on in that room.

I had the following 2nd choices that I was considers for my Livingroom:

  • KEF Reference 3 Meta
  • Vivid Kaya 90
  • Magico A5
  • Magnepan
  • Yamaha NS5000

I went with the NS5000 since it was the most coherent sounding speaker of the bunch. The Magnepan’s are similar. The NS5000 has a 12 inch woofer made of the same material as used in the tweeter and mid-range. The material named Zylon is supposed to be lighter and faster than BE. Now that is called research. Good luck getting box fillers to do research like that. KEF and a few others do research like that.

KEF is a great value, good design, components, R&D, subs, resale value, etc. I am not a big fan of their sound but it's all personal.

@johnmcnaughton

Hi, This is the list of manufacturers who make speakers in a range that includes 15K

name price_low price_high since Country url
Boenicke 6450 15240 1998 Switzerland https://boenicke-audio.ch/
Volti 6500 16500 2009 USA https://voltiaudio.com/
Canton 1500 17000 1972 Germany https://www.canton.de/en
Devore Fidelity 6000 17000 2000 USA https://devorefidelity.com/
Qln 4800 17500 1977 Sweden https://qln.se/
Monitor Audio 725 17900 1972 UK https://www.monitoraudio.com/
Perlisten  3900 18000 2020 USA https://www.perlistenaudio.com/
Paradigm 399 18500 1982 Canada https://www.paradigm.com/en/
Triangle 500 20000 1980 France https://www.trianglehifi.com/en/
Salk 1700 20000 2002 USA https://www.salksound.com/
Usher 475 22000 1972 Taiwan https://www.usheraudio.com.tw/
ProAc 2000 23000 1970 UK https://www.proac-loudspeakers.com/
Harbeth 3500 23000 1977 UK https://harbeth.co.uk/
Dali 600 24000 1983 Denmark https://www.dali-speakers.com/en-us/
Revel 1000 24000 1996 USA https://www.revelspeakers.com/
Amphion 1200 24000 1998 Finland https://amphion.fi/
Reference 3a 3290 25000 1959 Canada https://reference3a.com/
Soundkaos 10000 25000 2010 Switzerland https://www.soundkaos.com/
Spendor 2300 28300 1968 UK https://spendoraudio.com/
ATC 1350 33000 1974 UK http://www.silverlineaudio.com/main/index.php
Audio Physic 1600 33000 1985 Germany https://www.audiophysic.com/en/
KEF 600 35000 1961 UK https://us.kef.com/
B&W 800 38000 1966 UK https://www.bowerswilkins.com/en-us/
Joseph Audio 3700 44000 1994 USA https://www.josephaudio.com/
Dynaudio 1700 50000 1977 Denmark https://www.dynaudio.com/
Vimberg 15000 50000 2018 Germany https://vimberg.de/
Fyne 300 52000 2017 UK https://www.fyneaudio.com/
Tannoy 300 54000 1926 UK https://www.tannoy.com/
Diapason 8000 66000 1987 Italy http://www.diapason-italia.com/en/index.html
Vandersteen 1815 84000 1977 USA https://www.vandersteen.com/
Charney Audio 2900 90000 2015 USA http://charneyaudio.com/
Avantgarde  15000 91000 1981 Germany https://www.avantgarde-acoustic.de/en/products.html
Marten 12000 100000 1998 Sweden https://www.marten.se/products/
Martin Logan 1200 120000 1979 USA https://www.martinlogan.com/
Rosso Fiorentino Audio 4900 135000 2006 Italy https://rossofiorentino.com/
Sonus Faber 1000 140000 1983 Italy https://www.sonusfaber.com/en/
Raidho 6500 160000 2003 Denmark https://www.raidho.dk/
Trenner Friedl 3000 175000 1994 Austria https://www.trenner-friedl.com/
Alta Audio  5000 240000 1993 USA https://altaspeakers.com/
Focal 1760 280000 1977 France https://www.focal.com/en
Vonschveickert 11000 365000 1978 USA https://www.vonschweikert.com/
MBL 10000 400000 1982 Germany https://www.mbl-northamerica.com/en/loudspeakers
YG 8500 450000 2002 USA https://www.yg-acoustics.com/
Nola 3500 630000 2004 USA http://www.nolaspeakers.com/
Magico 9400 750000 2004 USA https://www.magicoaudio.com/
Wilson 11000 850000 1974 USA https://www.wilsonaudio.com/

Grislybutter,

thanks for your response.  I would like to see the list. I’ll admit, I’ve been a “KEF” guy, and I need to explore other options.  In this context, architectural is Built in wall and/or ceiling speakers. 
 

best regards,

 

JRM

 

there are about 50 great manufacturers that sell speakers over 10K. (I can send you the list if you are interested)
KEF is giant ($wise) brand in the audiophile world with nearly a 100 million in revenue. 

What is architectural in this context?

The Joseph Audio Perspective 2s are worth a serious look, or if you’re open to used these Pearl 3s could be your end-game speakers and no sub really required.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650017479-joseph-audio-pearl-3-speakers/

My suggestion is to discover the whole world of speakers outside of KEF.... not slamming KEF, but they’re one speaker manufacturer amongst dozens and dozens. It’s ironic, but there are no loyalty obligations in the world of high "fidelity" . 😂

Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, Focal, Fyne, Salk, Revel, etc