B&W 705s3 vs Kef Meta R3


I was at Magnolia the other day and out of curiosity, I asked the salesman to play these 2 speakers back to back.  I really couldn't believe how muffled the Metas were compared to the Bowers.  I then compared other bigger models of each and heard the same sound signature.  What was the problem here?  I've owned a ton of different speakers and never heard quite a contrast.  I should add that I am biased towards Kef.

 

Has anyone else out there compared these 2 lines in a real world setting? 

128x128b_limo

Showing 1 response by seb_audio

Just chiming in to add that the magnolia setups cannot be trusted. I honestly can’t believe that many high end brands even sell their stuff through Best Buy. 
 

Maybe occasionally you have one that’s setup properly and the employee is passionate about audio. More likely you’ll get a guy who’s working in the microwave section from 9-4 and then finishing up his shift at the magnolia. 
 

last time I went, the employee hooked up their low budget phone via an aux cable to the headphone jack to play music for me off regular YouTube. I’m also not sure what hardware they use to switch between dozens of Amps and speakers, but that has to have a negative impact on the signal chain. Best Buy is honestly best avoided to audition anything with intent to buy.