Speaker upgrade- but is it?


I have pair of B&W 801 mk III that I bought new over 20 yrs ago. They have served well but I am thinking about a change. I have the KEF L50 Metas with KC62 sub in another house and even though they are set up poorly (sub optimal placement and no room treatments) I am impressed by the sound.

I am considering the R11 Metas.

Thoughts?

ritter06

KEF L50 Metas with KC62 = excellent sound. I had that in my office, and I loved it. I gave away the LS50 Meta to family and got the even cheaper Magnepan LSR+. In almost every measure I like the LRS+ more. It needs a lot more power than the LS50. I use the KC62 sub with the LRS+.

AS good as the LRS+ setup is, my Livingroom setup is a lot better with the Yamaha NS5000 speaker. I rotate a Benchmark AHB2 amp and a CODA #16 amp on it. Huge price deltas between the 2 amps, but they both sound excellent. Do not let the Yamaha name make you think this is not top of the line gear. It is one of the best I ever heard and at a not so audiophile price. We are talking KEF Reference, Magico, TAD, Vivid, level of sound. All of which I have heard.

Since you like the KEF so much (me too), the other speaker I would consider at 1/2 the price is the KEF LS60. It won't be as good as the NS5000, but it is bleeding edge audio tech.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I’m a bit worried about losing the “athleticism” of the 801s but I will keep the VMPS Larger sub (2x 15” and 1 x 15 )passive I have to run with the R11’s for bottom end coverage. So should get the positive arbitrage of cleaner, clearer sound while not losing bottom octaves.

The R11’s will have plenty of current with Krell and Crown amps