Hello,
I just went from R3 to R11meta’s. I listened to R3 Meta and also R5 Meta. The store did not have R7 Meta but from what I heard and what I know from owning R3 for several years, I went with the fulled soundstage the R11 produces as they have 4 bass drivers vs. 2. It seemed to me to spend the extra to go all in and the difference was very noticeable even to my kid who is not an audiophile but still has good ears. I use a Parasound Hint-6 integrated amp to drive mine at up to 160W. The R11’s states amps up to 300W.
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we are a Kef dealer the meta series rs are excellent loudspeakers
we use naim nad and unison research
Daveand Troy
audio intellect NJ
kef,nad,naim, unison research dealers
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The R7 Meta is a 88.3dB@2.83V/1m sensitive speaker so moderately easy when it comes to voltage swings. It however is a 3.2 Ohm Minimum impedance speaker so you need a 4 ohm stable if possible 2 ohm stable amp to give the speaker the current it demands so a high current amp is very much what to get. Do you have a Preamp?
@howardlee
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They're being driven with a Pass Labs INT-60 integrated, which is supposed to be 120 watts into 4 ohms. My experience is that this works well, I can get near 100 db in my room, which is more than enough for me, but that would be pretty much all cranked up. Were I to do this again I might go with the INT-250 but I'd have to say I'm happy where I am. The sensitivity is fine for most applications but you're correct about the impedance. Most of my speakers in the past have been dipoles or open baffle and I wouldn't mind doing that again (with way fewer watts and tubes, likely), but I'd have to say what I have now is probably the best overall the cleanest sound I''ve had so far.
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@howardlee I'd say use the Pass labs as Preamp and get two of this Monoblock that is stable down to 2 Ohm. With incredible current drive and stable at all loads so are not load dependent.
Have tons of voltage swing to make sure the speaker movement of cone is aligned.
Get two of this - https://www.buckeyeamp.com/shop/amplifiers/hypex/ncx500/monoblock
Power delivery: 700 watts @ 2 ohm, 700 watts @ 4 ohm, 380 watts @ 8 ohm
You have so much headroom with this that you'd never lack for power delivery.
You'd connect them through the XLR Preamp Outs on the INT-60 and carry that signal via XLR interconnects to each monoblock XLR input.
Get two of this cable. Robust, does the job and doesn't get in the way of the signal - https://www.amazon.com/Units-Balanced-Microphone-Amphenol-Connectors/dp/B074XSDCG6
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We've got two systems, KEF R7Metas in the second system and Tidal Piano Ceras in the main one.. The R7s are in a 30' x25' room with 10' ceilings and well away from side walls and the rear of the speakers are about 32" from the wall.
We use them with a variety of tube and solid state preamps and amps. At present, they're driven by a Modwright ls99 preamp, Luxman M700u amp, and Auralic Altair G1.1 streamer. The 120 watt/8ohm Luxman drives them as effortlessly as a pair of PS Audio M1200 mono amps with 600 watts/8 ohm. A 25 watt/8ohm Decware ZenTorii tube amp sounds pleasant but doesn't really get them energized well. The Luxman M700u, PS Audio M1200 monos, and ModWright KW99 mono amps all sound excellent with the R7s but I slightly prefer the Luxman. The R7s need to be pushed a bit to get them sounding at their best IMO. At low volumes their ability to render instrumental timbre isn't as fully realized. They are very revealing of the quality of the equipment and cables downstream and need excellent partnering equipment to realize their potential. They sound better than most any speaker in their price range that I've heard at several audio shows, at least to my tastes. They don't perform at the level of the Tidal Pianos in the ability to render instrumental timbre and minute nuances of performance details but they have a wider sweet spot for more than one listener. I've yet to hear anything I'd want to replace them with at anything close to their price.
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One point needs further clarification regarding the KEF R7 Metas being driven by the Decware amp. After my 5.31.2025 post I removed the Decware amp from the un-regenerated high output outlet of the PS Audio Stellar P3 regenerator and the amp’s power output seemed to double. Inadequate power was no longer an issue and the Decware became the most wonderful partnering amp I could imagine. At present, I’m using the Decware with a Modwright LS36.5 preamp and it’s a fantastic combo for the R7s. I never had an issue with the Stellar P3 un-regenerated outlets seeming to limit output with any of my other amps however.
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i auditioned the r7 metas with a hegel 390 and my impressions were similar to @photon4--very wide sweet spot and big soundstage, good overall clarity and very sensitive to cabling and pairing. esp. to my ears they were a bit polite (comparable audio physics and proac had a little more oomph), and given their sorta plain appearance, i thought they were a tad overpriced for what they are--they didn't overawe me, but certainly a quality product.
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My pair has the titanium-painted finish with the red coax drivers and look pretty sharp. I had the LS50's in a townhouse earlier and brought them with me when I moved into a bigger space. The LS50's (not Metas) sounded good here and threw a remarkable wide image inn the big room but lacked depth and presence in the bigger space. I followed reviews and the R7 Metas seemed a reasonable upgrade. After a while I added a pair of KEF KC-62 subs and they've been absolutely seamless. What @loomisjohnson said about integration is spot-on, as I replaced essentially all my components, each time the upgrades were analytically positive, especially the Pass INT-60. I biwired the speakers with my old Clear Day silver cables and Blue Jeans ones on the lower frequencies. The overall presentation is clear and very musical, the soundstage being comparable to the smaller bookshelf ones although with more height on a good recording. I didn't consider the R11's as I thought they might be too large for the 24x18x9 space. Maybe the subs achieve about the same thing. BTW, I saw the white ones at an outlet here north of Houston and thought they looked cheap. Mine don't. Also, I still would like to have a set of planar speakers to play with. I built a set of open-baffle Lowther/bass reflex hybrids a few years back and still miss my original CLS's. Would be fun to play with, although my amp likely is insufficient. Just for fun, though, playing with flawed devices! Present setup is pretty nice.
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I neglected to add: they come alive when reasonably cranked up. I would say at least 80 Db, maybe more. Quiet listening not their forte, but with minimal neighbors, not an issue here.
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Good responses all! This is one of those rare threads with solid responses top to bottom, no BS.
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There’s one BS response with an amp recommendation. No one’s perfect. Anyway, I checked and I’ve got those Db ratings way to high. 65-70 is just fine. Didn’t know what I was about there.
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I've found the R7 Metas to be a bit surprising in their ability to reveal subtle nuances of all their partnering equipment, more so than I realized or expected at first. They have have sounded very pleasant and competent with Lumxan M700 and PS Audio M1200 amps but the Decware is the one that, at least for now, has stopped the "I wonder if those other speakers would sound better" mental chatter. My wife almost always is listening with me and their wide sweet spot is appreciated. She's a big fan of the titanium grey/red driver color scheme, LOL. I agree with howardlee that they need be delivering 80db minimum volume to come alive, not at their best with background level music. That's also true of the Tidal Piano Ceras in our main system as well though. The R7s integrate very easily with a JL Audio F112 sub I had rebuilt with a number of v2 parts at JL Audio a couple years ago.
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