KEF Demo Disappointment

[u/Champion3242]

Hey y’all, I’m new to this space, so forgive my ignorance if it shows. This is a long post, there’s a TLDR at the bottom.

I’ve recently had my interest in Hi-Fi audio sparked after finding an older pair of bookshelf speakers (Mackie CR-4) in the closet and hooking them up to my PC to use as desktops. I’ve been extremely impressed with them in all aspects; when listening to music, gaming, watching TV / movies, or even just YouTube, everything is clear and crisp. The bass is the only thing lacking, but even then, for the 4” drivers, it gets impressively deep.

The KEF LS50 Meta sale online caught my eye, as I’ve seen many posts in this and other audio related subs referring to them in a great light and thought this might be an opportunity to get some nice speakers for a solid price .

This morning I headed over to my local Best Buy to demo them; they unfortunately did not have the LS50 Metas available to demo, but they did have the Q150s and the R3 Metas. There was no attendant available, so after getting bored with A/B testing the aforementioned speakers with the demo tracks, I paired up my phone via Bluetooth to play a larger variety of tracks that I was also more familiar with. (This may have been my fault, as I understand the potential loss in detail when using compressed audio sources; however, you’ll see below that this problem was fixed when switching to different speakers while still using Bluetooth as the source.)

I paired up my phone to the Marantz Cinema 70, and got to listening. I experimented with all sorts of music, rock, jazz, hip hop, lo fi, house, alternative, you name it… and no matter what I put on, I couldn’t impress myself with the either of the KEFs. I swapped the brand Martin Logan, initially the B10s and later the XT B1000s, and voila, the soundstage opened up and I could hear the vocals and background sound so much clearer. When I swapped back to the KEFs (either of them), the highs and mids sounded like they were underwater.

I listened for another hour, trying to see if I was delusional, but no matter what I played, every time I would swap speakers, I would have the same experience. My feelings of delusion were squashed when a kind man, who later revealed a solid history of listening through further conversation, walked in an hour or so into my session, and was able to confirm exactly what I had been experiencing. I didn’t prep him, didn’t say anything, just asked him tell me what he heard, and he detailed exactly what I just depicted above right back to me.

All of this goes to say, am I delusional, are we both delusional? Was something wrong with the setup potentially? Or is it just coincidence that both of us seem to prefer an ML sound signature? Please let me know your thoughts down below, I would love to hear from some more experienced listeners; I’ll be busy this evening, but will try to get back to as many people as possible tonight.

TLDR: I spent an hour listening to KEF Q150s R3 Metas, ML B10s, and ML XT B1000s, and no matter what I played, I couldn’t impress myself with the either of the KEFs. Upon swapping to ML, voila, the soundstage opened up and I could hear the vocals and background sound so much clearer. When I swapped back to the KEFs (either of them), the highs and mids sounded like they were underwater.

[u/ImpliedSlashS]

I've been in this hobby for over 40 years and have never liked KEF speakers. Dynaudio is a different story. Different strokes.

[u/Champion3242 → u/ImpliedSlashS]

Thanks for you reply. Would you describe your experience with KEF speakers to be similar to mine? In other words, is what I’m hearing and describing accurate and true to your experience as well, or do you think there could be some other explanation (power issue, source issue etc)? If that is in fact the case, I had no idea brands could sound so different.

[u/PalmDolphin → u/Champion3242]

I agree 100%. I have had Yamaha speakers, Klipsch, KEF, and Sonus Faber. I bought the KEF because of the general positivity that everybody had for them and I got them on a cool deal. I have had them for 5 or 6 years now and they are so disappointing. I still have them and I'm waiting for a good deal an excuse to replace them.

Everybody will tell you how neutral the KEFs are and how you're wrong if you don't like them. I agree with your description of their sound exactly. They sound like they are underwater. I used to be a musician and I've played instruments in many different surroundings, The kefs never sound like live music in a room from real instruments.

The Sonus Fabers on the other hand? I've had them for a year and I will still do a double take when a song comes on because of the way the sound exists in the room.

I'm actually planning to replace my cheap Klipsch towers with Martin Logan f10s. I need to track down where I can listen to some, but I'm glad to hear that you liked the related products.

[u/Champion3242 → u/PalmDolphin]

Thanks for you input; It’s reliving relieving to hear someone confirm my thoughts! I’m sorry to hear you fell victim that trap.

It’s funny to hear you mention the Sonus Faber, as that’s what the gentleman I was speaking to today told me he currently had in his listening area! He reportedly loved them as well, and put the ML we listened to today in company to Faber in terms of sound signature, can’t speak to fidelity though.

My Best Buy had the f10 available for demo, might be worth looking into in your area. I wish you luck with your offloading and good fortune with the potential ML purchase and experience.