Please help me upgrade my speakers from kef r3?

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bladest

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Hello i bought kef r3 and nad m33

can you please advice me what next speakers i can get in order to upgrade my current kef r3 please .
my current consideration are
kef reference 1 meta ,

focal utopia diablo,
focal sopra 1, kanta 1 ,

or bowers and wilkinsons 805 d4 these i can order in my country i dont care about brands which i cant order, these are not available for try or test or demo them please advice i want something much better compared to kef r3 please i hope you will reply i want some dramatic improvement over kef r3.
 
None of the speakers you mentioned will be a "dramatic improvement" over the Kef Ref 3's. The B&W's will certainly present differently though. You might want to go in a different direction with the NAD M33, which would yield your most significant improvement. The KEF R 3's are no slouch!
 
Remi said:
None of the speakers you mentioned will be a "dramatic improvement" over the Kef Ref 3's. The B&W's will certainly present differently though. You might want to go in a different direction with the NAD M33, which would yield your most significant improvement. The KEF R 3's are no slouch!
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kef reference 1 meta is brand new speaker, have you ever heard it,
bower and wilkinsons 805 d4 is also new speaker, have you ever heard it?

focal sopra 1,kanta 1, and diablo utopia are older speakers have you ever heard them, so you want to claim that all of these speakers are same quality as kef r3 and there is no point to upgrade?
 
I have a pair of Kef R1 Metas on order. I purchased these without an audition because I was so impressed with the sound when I auditioned a pair of KEF LS 50 Metas. As crazy as this sounds, the KEF LS 50s (in the room that I auditioned - small) were more engaging than my B&W 802 D3s in my home (which I have since sold- both home and B&Ws - I had a very voluminous space). Room acoustics does play a significant role, as I learned. I still love the sound of B&W, though!
As far as Focal, they are very bright to my ears. I have heard the Sopra 1 and all Kantas. Depending on your room size, a pair of LS 50s with dual subs would sound crazy good! I think the KEF R1 Metas with subs would be hard to beat. There is something magical that happens with the introduction of subs, albeit, I do love my bass.

You are in a difficult position because the KEF 3's are pricier than most of the speakers you mentioned. The only "dramatic improvement" would be an introduction of subs into the existing system, or to the speakers you mentioned. A dramatic improvement means spending a lot more $$$.
 
Remi said:
I have a pair of Kef R1 Metas on order. I purchased these without an audition because I was so impressed with the sound when I auditioned a pair of KEF LS 50 Metas. As crazy as this sounds, the KEF LS 50s (in the room that I auditioned - small) were more engaging than my B&W 802 D3s in my home (which I have since sold- both home and B&Ws - I had a very voluminous space). Room acoustics does play a significant role, as I learned. I still love the sound of B&W, though!
As far as Focal, they are very bright to my ears. I have heard the Sopra 1 and all Kantas. Depending on your room size, a pair of LS 50s with dual subs would sound crazy good! I think the KEF R1 Metas with subs would be hard to beat. There is something magical that happens with the introduction of subs, albeit, I do love my bass.

You are in a difficult position because the KEF 3's are pricier than most of the speakers you mentioned. The only "dramatic improvement" would be an introduction of subs into the existing system, or to the speakers you mentioned. A dramatic improvement means spending a lot more $$$.
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hi i already have nad m33
for which i payed 6000$ its purifi streaming amp, 200w per channel at 8ohm, i dont need/want wireless or speakers with integrated amps like ls ii, i want speakers which i can power from my amp like kef r3- i currently power kef r3 from the nad m33.
i also have dirac and many other things from nad...
i never heard from my entire life bowers and wilkinsons but 805 d4 is much very improved with diamond tweeter technology,

focal is with berylium tweeters etcs...
i also think bowers and wilkinsons hold great value ?
which is not true for kef and focal.
802 d3 is at least 1 generation behind 805 d4 series.


how about FOCAL UTOPIA DIABLO?
thats flagship speaker which you can compare with bowers and wilkinsons 800 series and focal reference series?
kanta and sopra are low end speakers...
i dont use currently sub but i have old jvc sub.

my kef r3 is non meta so not sure how much better is this meta,
also i think 805 d4 is much better speaker compared to r3 ,

all of these speakers are pricy 805 d4
focal diablo utopia kanta,sopra etcs..
 
Magico A1?

But the point that others helping you make is at this range and all being standmount, their performance differences won’t be “dramatic improvement” from each other that much. Adding a pair of subs (REL maybe) or changing your amps might yield “dramatic improvement” you’re looking for.
 
kzhtoo said:
Magico A1?

But the point that others helping you make is at this range and all being standmount, their performance differences won’t be “dramatic improvement” from each other that much. Adding a pair of subs (REL maybe) or changing your amps might yield “dramatic improvement” you’re looking for.
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I preffer brands which have local dealers, in case of repair or something is needed not brands which are non existing where i am....
 
I really think the paradigm persona b is the best stand mount available with the caveat that they need a few feet of free space around them. A monitor between them will have to be recessed to prevent glare.
 
steve59 said:
I really think the paradigm persona b is the best stand mount available with the caveat that they need a few feet of free space around them. A monitor between them will have to be recessed to prevent glare.
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Even if i like them a lot,
i cant buy them no dealership... available.
 
Why don't you share your room size and general budget so we can dial in the search for you. I love the raidho D1.2 at $27,000, but cannot justify.
 
Room size is 20 m2 , i preffer bookshelves due to their compact size in my country i can get FOCAL
,KEF,
bowers and wilkinsons i cannot go with brands with no dealership due to lack of warranty support and not possible shipping custom fees and other issues so i preffer, some model from kef,focal or bowers and wilkinsons.

Maximum budget for bookshelves 15.000$ thats the price of utopia evo.

Also my room is rented so i really dont need full floor speakers.
i understand they are better deal.
 
I would place an order from music direct for the Yamaha NS5000 with the 30 day home audition policy. I have the Blades and still get excited about those NS5000's. IDK if the stands are integral and they would be too big to put on the computer table.
 
steve59 said:
I would place an order from music direct for the Yamaha NS5000 with the 30 day home audition policy. I have the Blades and still get excited about those NS5000's. IDK if the stands are integral and they would be too big to put on the computer table.
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Bulgaria is small country
we dont have any single dealership
most doesnt keep any stock you cant test try or return its not like the USA.
here our minimal salary is 250$ so i cant do that ,not even such options i can blindly buy any of the listed things.

that model yamaha is not sold or even available to me thats why i suggested several other models from other companies :)
 
WOW, Do they sell motorcycles? Seriously, If I liked the R3 (i do) and wanted more the Ref 1 meta would no doubt be the first one. I've heard the Kanta 1 and it was a downgrade from the R3, maybe it was the associated components, IDK. haven't heard the sopra or diablo 1 but really liked the presentation from the mids of the sopra 2 compared to just about anything...I just didn't find the bass very balanced, maybe the 1 is better in that regard?
 
Honda sales motorcycles here...
thats most often ,
i am looking clearly for end game speaker and i want to be able to hear details and everything i can pair diablo utopia with some svs sub or something...
i dont care about bass i will have dedicated sub, do you think price difference between sopra 1 and diablo is worth it - price is almost double and if we add stands its way more..

i personally doesnt like kef r3
i have in my car focal utopia tweeters
arc rs 6.0 speakers
and audison thesis sax ii speakers
and i more like them,
i also have mark levinson in my other car. and i preffer it over kef r3
 
bladest said:
Room size is 20 m2 , i preffer bookshelves due to their compact size in my country i can get FOCAL
,KEF,
bowers and wilkinsons i cannot go with brands with no dealership due to lack of warranty support and not possible shipping custom fees and other issues so i preffer, some model from kef,focal or bowers and wilkinsons.

Maximum budget for bookshelves 15.000$ thats the price of utopia evo.

I would just get the Utopia Evo. I owned the Utopia Be bookshelf in the mid 2000s, it was a terrific speaker. The EVO has to be even better.
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FastEddy said:
bladest said:
Room size is 20 m2 , i preffer bookshelves due to their compact size in my country i can get FOCAL
,KEF,
bowers and wilkinsons i cannot go with brands with no dealership due to lack of warranty support and not possible shipping custom fees and other issues so i preffer, some model from kef,focal or bowers and wilkinsons.

Maximum budget for bookshelves 15.000$ thats the price of utopia evo.

I would just get the Utopia Evo. I owned the Utopia Be bookshelf in the mid 2000s, it was a terrific speaker. The EVO has to be even better.
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Before Utopia evo colour - there was diablo utopia, not sure how much big difference is diablo utopia is from year 2012...
utopia diablo evo colour is from 3 years old maximum....
Do you consider utopia evo end game speaker :) did you listen to focal sopra 1 or kef reference 1 or , bowers and wilkinsons 805 d4 ?
what do you like or dont like about them, since i never listened to utopia be , what do you like about the speaker :)?
with what speakers do you upgraded your utopia be?
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I liked KEF's older models from the early 1990's. All of their new designs, not so much. Too dry and lacking for my taste.

B&W have a tendency to be a bit hard or brash in the upper midrange, which for me gets rather fatiguing.

If I were in your situation, I would get the Focal Sopra No. 1 and a single B&W DB3D subwoofer, preferably two of them if you can stretch your budget a little.
 
Welcome to AS.

KEF has an R-Series and a Reference Series, which are you talking about R3 or Reference 3?

If R-Series those you are looking at would be an upgrade. If Reference 3 and you aren't happy there must be another issue. Maybe with the Durak

Thrax is made in your country, I'd take a Lyra over anything you mentioned by a long shot.
 
Mr Peabody said:
Welcome to AS.

KEF has an R-Series and a Reference Series, which are you talking about R3 or Reference 3?

If R-Series those you are looking at would be an upgrade. If Reference 3 and you aren't happy there must be another issue. Maybe with the Durak

Thrax is made in your country, I'd take a Lyra over anything you mentioned by a long shot.
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i am currently owning KEF R - series kef r3 , i never owned reference series

i am planning to upgrade kef r3 with either kef reference 1 meta,

or focal utopia diablo evo colour,
or focal sopra 1, or kanta 1, or

bowers and wilkinsons 805 d4 because i have dealerships in these brands.

nad m33 have dirac .

I cant hear how kef reference 1 meta sounds or any of the other speakers.
in my country no these Thrax ,Lyra brands i live in small country in Europe Called BG.

So i am sticking with kef,focal or bowers...
 
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