KEF R3 Meta Standmount Speakers – Gloss Black

Here we have a pair of the well regarded R3 Meta standmount loudspeakers from British specialists KEF. They are in very good condition with a couple of minor blemishes on one driver which dont affect performance – please see photographs. They will come in original packaging along with grilles and our regular 3 month warranty.
KEF Say….
R3 Meta redefines bookshelf speakers’ performance. Sharing the same drivers as the range-topping R11 Meta, the R3 Meta is a true three-way design. It has a 12th generation Uni-Q® driver array with MAT™ and a powerful 6.5” hybrid aluminium bass driver that pushes performance to new extremes.
Since 1961, KEF’s quest to reproduce immaculate sound has led to many acoustic innovations. The Reference is a case in point. Distilling decades of experience into an acoustic performance that is nothing short of exceptional it is a design that continually sets the benchmark for loudspeakers and sound reproduction. Now the latest technological innovations have also made their way into the R Series.
Combined with bespoke technologies, the R Series makes high performance audio more versatile and accessible than ever – whether in stereo for music or in a home theatre set up. Now with the award winning Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), the range includes seven loudspeaker models, each designed and engineered to produce sound with exquisite detail and incredible insight.
KEF has developed the R Series for those who share our obsession with music perfection – pure and natural sound as it is meant to be heard.
Metamaterial Absorption Technology is a highly complex maze-like structure, where each of the intricate channels efficiently absorbs a specific frequency. When combined, the channels act as an acoustic black hole, absorbing 99% of the unwanted sound that comes from the rear of the tweeter, eliminating distortion and providing a more natural acoustic performance.
Metamaterials are specially developed structures that use existing materials in such a way that they exhibit new, desirable properties that are simply not found in naturally occurring substances.
A result of joint development with the Acoustic Metamaterials Group, using MAT breaks completely new ground in loudspeaker design, and demonstrates KEF’s unrelenting passion for innovation and dedication to improving the listening experience for everyone.
The building block of KEF signature sound, Uni-Q technology disperses sound more evenly throughout the room. By placing the tweeter precisely at the acoustic centre of the bass/midrange cone, both act together as a single point source, eliminating the limited ‘sweet spot’ and instead allowing everybody, no matter where in the room they are sitting, to experience and enjoy the same natural, detailed sound.
The latest 12th generation Uni-Q with MAT driver array is found in all seven R Series models. The bespoke driver array is the result of decades of acoustic experience and incorporates the very latest advances in acoustic simulation and analysis. The result is a performance of breath-taking realism and accuracy.
Derived directly from The Reference, the R Series incorporates Shadow Flare, a precision designed surface that extends the waveguide effect of the Uni-Q driver array and allows it to work to its highest potential.
Reducing harmful cabinet diffraction, the tweeter no longer has line of sight of the cabinet edges, creating a ‘shadow region’ at the points where the potential for diffraction is highest, minimising the acoustic impact to negligible levels. The result is extraordinary clarity – with a noticeable difference especially in the fine details: the subtle nuances of plucked strings, other percussive sounds.
When listening to music, the quality of the bass can define the whole experience. The low-frequency drivers of the R Series have been duly engineered with acute care and precision.
Built using a two-part structure, a shallow concave aluminium skin sits atop a paper cone. The metal’s stiffness combined with the cone’s unique geometry reduces additional resonances and delivers pure piston like movement that is timed with perfect accuracy.
The drivers’ magnet system creates a broad, uniform magnetic field, while the suspension reduces harmonic distortion for an exceptionally agile, soulful bass and a deeper level of feeling.
When it comes to listening to music through a speaker, it should only be the drivers we hear, not the resonances or turbulence created by a bass port.
The innovative flexible walls of the R Series ports prevent longitudinal resonances from colouring the midrange. Meanwhile, using computational fluid dynamics, the flare and profile of each port is calculated to delay the onset of turbulence.
The advantages of this approach are twofold: better bass, and cleaner sound in the vital lower midrange frequency area too.
Powerful drivers can easily cause the cabinet walls to make a noise of their own – noise that was never in the recording in the first place. For this reason, a solid platform is imperative.
Working alongside the bespoke internal bracing layout, KEF’s Constrained Layer Damping is a sophisticated bracing system that ensures the cabinet stays inert by connecting the bracing to the drivers and cabinet by a lossy material.
This material converts vibration into heat, ensuring that the cabinet makes the only sound it needs to: the sound of silence.
When we immerse ourselves in music, we don’t just listen to it but feel it. Then it has the power to alter our moods, to move our souls, and can be one of the greatest pleasures in life. This feeling is the driving force behind KEF’s quest to develop the ultimate loudspeaker – a goal that we have spent more than six decades in pursuit of.
You may have listened to your favourite music a thousand times or more, but through the R Series you will discover a depth and level of detail in any recording that will likely make you love it more – from the scrape of plectrum on guitar string, the changes of vibrato in a voice, to the sense of emotion and atmosphere in a live performance.
Delivering sound that is natural and accurate – the performance as intended by the artist – the R Series consists of a trio of floorstanding speakers and a bookshelf speaker. Each reproduces high-fidelity stereo sound irrespective of the dimensions of the listening space.
A compact speaker, the size of the R3 Meta belies its power. Defying all expectations, this true three-way speaker redefines stand-mount performance. The R3 Meta share the same drivers as the range-topping R11 Meta. The 165mm (6.5 in) bass driver pushes bass performance to new extremes while the 125mm midrange driver and 25mm aluminium dome tweeter creates the 12th generation Uni-Q array, now with MAT for a cleaner and highly accurate performance. The R3 Meta also features threaded inserts, allowing the speaker to lock onto the S3 Floor Stands. Especially designed with a mounting system that rigidly secures the speakers, the S3’s dimensions have been dictated by KEF’s engineers to ensure the ideal height for driver positioning. With integrated cable management to ensure all cables are elegantly concealed and organised, a pillar that can be loaded with inert filler to further improve stability and spike discs to protect wooden floors, everything is considered. It’s the smallest details that make all the difference.
Specifications:
Design: Three-way bass reflex
Drive Units: Uni-Q Driver Array: HF: 25 mm vented aluminium dome with MAT; MF: 125 mm aluminium cone; Bass Unit: LF: 165 mm hybrid aluminium cone
Crossover Frequency: 420 Hz, 2.3 kHz
Frequency range (-6 dB): 38 Hz – 50 kHz
Typical in-room bass response (-6 dB): 30 Hz
Frequency response (±3 dB): 58 Hz – 28 kHz
Harmonic distortion (90 dB, 1 m): <1% 73 Hz and above; <0.5% 90 Hz – 20 kHz
Maximum output: 110 dB
Amplifier requirements: 15 – 180 W
Nominal impedance: 4 Ω (min. 3.2 Ω)
Sensitivity: (2.83 V/1 m) 87 dB
Dimensions: 422 (H) x 200 (W) x 336 (D) mm
Weight: 12.4 kg (Each)

To read a review from Hi-Fi News please click here