New KEF R11 META : The Real Giant Killers !

I am also kind of luke-warm on Kef. They don’t do anything wrong they just don’t do anything exceptional either. I need to give them another try sometime. My local Best Buy has both the blades on the floor but the setup is questionable, though they claim a Kef rep set them up… 

Nothing from this salesy "reviewer" makes sense. Everything is amazing. 

Meta 11 are ok for large rooms where gigantic speakers are OK. Even there, I'd recommend Reference 1 Meta at that price range. Or just go Dynaudio Focus 50. 

Concept-wise, I like Kef for some good design decisions; concentric tweet/mid (Uni-Q), force-cancelling woofer arrangement (Uni-Core), and non-flat cabinets (Muon, Blade, Meta). While these attributes set the stage for good performance, downsides are; metal tweeters (don't sound good to me), low perfomance/$ (questionable value), and my impression is that being a mass-market producer - cabinets/crossovers/drivers/materials are the product of them spending more on finding ways to improve profit margin as they do finding ways to improve performance. I put Kef in the category of Bose - excellent engineering capability mis-focused on profit and an even better marketing department. Can't fault Kef for this, they exist to make & sell speakers for profit - just like any other speaker company. I'd say they're doing a fantastic job bringing these products to market. Specifically, their active speakers are a very attractive 'lifestyle' option for most people.

I listened to these side by side to B&W 702 s3 as well as the ML x100 mentioned in this review. Between these 3 the KEFs had the most neutral cleanest sound. The bass was not as strong as the B&W or the ML which had the strongest bass but it was the cleanest, just as described in the review . The ML bass sounded like resonance and standing wave pressure in some particular songs. They seemed to also amplify HF like vocals a bit. KEFs were just neutral as the instruments were playing right there in the room. I like them better than the 702 s3 which had more bass and also clean bass but the HF was too bright for me. I’d say these speakers are priced fairly. Their finish also tops the other two. I certainly have the same impression as the reviewer that the KEFs had the cleanest most neutral sound to my ear with no coloring whatsoever so if that’s what you like these are your speakers  

Seriously, why post a freakin video by Andrew Robinson as proof of anything?  There are tons of folks who love the KEF sound and nearly as many who don't.  There are a s$%^ ton of speakers at $6K, the R11s are hardly a giant killer.