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This holds true up to a certain but clearly elevated volume. If you overdo the clockwise turn, cleanness and soundstage sorting which remain exemplary until then suffer. Finally the box does seem to talk a bit but KEF ought to keep some trump cards in reserve for its Reference models. Make no mistake, this applies to SPL well above typical home speakers. It’s simply that big party duty should be left to speakers specialized in such occasions.
Conclusion. Progress over the last few years has favored loudspeakers the most. We have better mathematical insight into bass tuning. There are driver design and production advances not least due to the widely embraced Klippel measuring system. There’s the lure of cost-effective offshore production where China today offers true hi-tech kitted factories. This can add up to manufacturing tolerances and precision which until recently involved costly extravagances and rare engineering savvy. As a result the category of speakers has reached an impressively high state.
If you asked me, I’d rather buy a new KEF speaker at full price than a similarly priced 10-year old top model from a reputable firm. I really was tempted to negotiate with KEF for a non return. Alas I’ll move house in the near future where a rather smaller room imposed restraint. The R900 is a premium example of the very high standards this price class has to offer. There are a fantastically finished enclosure, hi-tech drivers and very clever tuning which make for speakers which perhaps don’t excel at particular disciplines as brilliantly as specially ‘bred’ constructions but which all around perform at such a high niveau as to become definitive final speakers. There’s no musical genre which the KEF wouldn’t reproduce truly well.
Psych profile:
Extends low to do justice to orchestral classics with due weight. This weight isn’t bought with softness. Bass is taut and differentiated.
The upper bass includes a shot of warmth but the larger vocal band is highly neutral and uncoloured. It sounds ‘right’ and makes listening over many hours non-fatiguing without having to mentally avoid anything.
In the best meaning the treble is non-exciting – clean, undistorted, without sharpness and seamlessly transitioned.
Doesn’t impose a narrow sweet spot since off-axis radiation is very linear to allow sitting outside the traditional stereo triangle and still enjoy undistorted music.
A special forté are the generous dimensions of the virtual stage and its image localization. Even height perspective is clear on the right recordings. In this price class that's highly unusual.
Affords nearfield listening at one meter but powerful low and upper bass favor larger than smaller rooms.
Maintains its cool during ‘difficult’ passages. Resolution top to bottom remains excellent unless one goes extreme on SPL.
Exhibits very good timing albeit mated to a certain relaxedness.
Is impeccably finished.
Facts:
Concept: passive bass reflex three-way
Dimensions and weight: 1130x240x365mm (HxWxD), 29.5kg/ea.
