KEF R7 META

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.