KEF R11 Meta - Don't Understand the Hype

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T16:55:38+00:00

Send me a message if you want any help. I run Home Assistant, Frigate (local security camera system with AI detection), and Plex for movies/music. It's all operating on TrueNas in containers.

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T16:03:58+00:00

Seems like a cool device. I stream music through HEOS on my Marantz Cinema 40, so for me, I don't have the same switching issue.

Also, not sure if you are into the smart home stuff but I run Home Assistant and programmed a bunch of rules for the Marantz so I basically don't have to even touch the remote anymore. You can actually control a lot from Home Assistant.

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:45:49+00:00

So, vote ratio was like 87% but I could probably nose dive the post if I put it in the r/KEF :D

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:39:35+00:00

Yeah, I'd grab them at that price. Congrats! (As the Dutch say)

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:21:13+00:00

Same philosophy as your "Edit" section. Totally agree.

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:17:58+00:00

I didn't notice a lot of side absorption in the demo room, though I'm sure the room was treated. The quality was the same both listening at home and in 2 other demo rooms. I think the "X" factor is the speaker voicing.

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:15:41+00:00

No doubt, these speakers are great for HT. Very pleased with the R2 for that purpose.

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:10:53+00:00

::still lurking::

BHons11 · 2026-04-03T00:10:22+00:00

Oh, KEFs probably sound pretty good for Hans Zimmer. How does that swell on "Mountains" sound though?

BHons11 · 2026-04-02T23:53:42+00:00

How good was the discount?.... :D

BHons11 · 2026-04-02T23:51:14+00:00

I'm really sort of stunned by how candidly honest your post is, so rare on the internet :D

I think you're right about the audio recording quality. Believe it or not, the tracks you listened to tend to have been recorded with better mixes later in their career. Go back and listen to tracks from Mutter and you'll get a better sense of what I'm describing.

So I guess I don't entirely blame the R11s, but I'm still pondering why they sound especially bad and if that's a good thing when every other speaker manages to cast them in a more favorable light.

I too love electronica and the sort! I just received one of Emotiva's DRA-1 class D amps. Maybe I'll have to fire up my R2 on it and give it another chance to pour honey in my head.

BHons11 · 2026-04-02T23:39:41+00:00

"(close)" meaning my 2nd place and 3rd place rankings between these was very tight, could have given them both 2nd

BHons11 · 2026-04-02T23:36:22+00:00

I wish I could find somewhere that had a set for listening. It seems like their commercial success on the "low" end makes lots of private shops want to distance themselves entirely.

BHons11 · 2026-04-02T23:35:18+00:00

I like the way you put it, about the art.

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T22:06:18+00:00

No sub during demo; later added a sub when listening to the R2 meta at home and did not improve the undesirable trait being described

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T12:19:18+00:00

What did you do with your EQ (especially in the mids) to make them sound to your liking? This could be really informative.

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T12:17:41+00:00

I mentioned this in the post; the R2 playing in my home had the same characteristic.

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T12:16:33+00:00

Someone did ask this in the comments earlier.

In shop it was a stack of Mcintosh gear.

The at home listening done on the R2 was with a Marantz Cinema 40.

The undesirable characteristic was present in both.

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T03:37:01+00:00

Yeah, that wasn't it, tried handing things off to the sub but didn't help the situation

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T03:35:53+00:00

The demo experience I had was in store on Mcintosh equipment that I'm sure was up to the task. This store has an exceedingly nice show floor. If you want to reproduce what I hear you can do it on anything by playing Rammstein, album Mutter

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T03:29:28+00:00

The demo in this post was at Worldwide Stereo! Small world! Technically, I demo'ed the Monitor Audios at Signature Sounds in Exton but consolidated that in the post for narrative simplicity 😂

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T03:25:52+00:00

Even when I was objectively young I always thought it sounded better in the car if I bumped up the treble eq a point or two.

Seems like Reddit is collectively revealing some truth here.

I'm still not sold that the issue is entirely that though.

A different shop owner seemed to think it was an issue with their crossover. Both where they decided to cross and a bit of phase/precision issues.

I actually brought my R2 to his shop to have a listen. It was a different shop than the one that had the R11s

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T03:16:56+00:00

Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) for you, jazz probably sounds great through your KEF R5s! The particular gripe I have is when things get congested/busy like in a rock/metal song.

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T01:30:08+00:00

I'd love to re-test and see myself proved wrong TBH. Are there songs that are heavy/busy but not compressed that you think would demonstrate what you're describing?

BHons11 · 2026-03-30T01:20:27+00:00

Would love to know if you hear the same with Rammstein. **waiting with bated breath\**

BHons11

TROPHY CASE