Audiophilepure

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/kef-reference-1-meta

We switch musical genres to Major Lazer’s Pon The Floor and the KEFs shift gear effortlessly. With music such as this, they sound agile and punchy, delivering the song’s rhythmic drive with verve. Bass notes kick hard and lows are delivered in a taut and tuneful way. Move up the frequency range and you’ll find that voices come through with clarity; every nuance is delivered in a clear and proportional way.

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There is plenty of bite at the top end too, but never to the extent where the speakers make a meal of a less-than-perfect recording. While there is no denying the Reference 1 Meta’s high level of transparency, they never sound like the flaws in the recording are being highlighted. If those flaws are there you’ll hear them but there won’t be a spotlight on them.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/mofi-sourcepoint-10-loudspeaker

With modern dance tracks that care little about stereo imaging, these speakers get on with sounding full-range and subjectively uniform. Trance anthem ‘Carte Blache’, by Veracoche [Pure Trance Classics; New State Music NEWCD9068], thundered along with a punchy kick drum and synth notes that ebbed and flowed through the midband, while DJ Brockie and Ed Solo’s drum ‘n’ bass piece ‘Represent’ [Undiluted 44.1kHz/

16-bit download] was less musical, more visceral. Both proved MoFi’s woofer isn’t slow, particularly with the deliberately jerky bass on the Brockie track, and with the McIntosh amp as back up the SourcePoint 10s smashed out these nightclub staples. Unsurprisingly, given their proven spec. and sheer size, they can be cajoled into sounding far larger than a staple standmount.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/monitor-audio-hyphn-loudspeaker

The same is true of The Who’s much more recently recorded With Orchestra Live At Wembley set [Polydor 4883160]. Here the Hyphns show Pete Townshend’s guitar can still slam and Roger Daltrey’s vocals snarl, but also make the most of the added warmth of the 57-piece ‘big band’ backing, whether on the opening ‘Who Are You’ or classics such as ‘Baba O’Riley’, the latter also notable for the contribution of the ‘audience choir’.

With this and the classic Floyd set, the Hyphn shows it can let down its hair and rock hard when required, but then the next moment it can go back to lush and intimate. For example with Joyce DiDonato’s radiant Eden recital [Erato 0190296465154] every word of ‘As With Rosy Steps The Morn’, from Handel’s Theodora, is crystal clear, thanks to the speakers’ focused, insightful view of the singer’s remarkable voice, with every timbral nuance laid out for inspection. Or then again you could just enjoy the magic of the performance – these loudspeakers work on both levels.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1187-pmc-twenty5-26i-loudspeaker

A somewhat surprising loudspeaker, then—having experienced earlier transmission-line designs from IMF Electronics and TDL Electronics, I was expecting to hear incredibly extended but potentially boomy bass. But PMC has refined its transmission-line designs to the point where they sound extremely controlled and tight. The Twenty5.26i goes low but with zero overhang; bass is very clean, all the way down.

Despite its size, this loudspeaker was extremely flexible in terms of placement. It wasn’t sensitive to room boundaries, and never boomed. On the contrary, it had an extremely articulate and controlled bass response. My only gripe was that the low end was somewhat dry. Just occasionally, I found myself wishing for a little more upper- or mid-bass fullness so that tom drums hit a little harder and pianos sounded a little more sonorous.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-705-s3-loudspeaker

 Considering my well-established predilection for large speakers with extended bass, I didn’t expect that much from these small standmounts. I should have expected more. Even though my listening room was not as favorable to the 705s as a smaller, more damped room would be, their performance was rewarding and enjoyable—no apology need be made on account of their size. Their midrange and treble resolution is outstanding, and their bass is musically satisfying. When properly set up, they will readily pull off that little trick and disappear into their own soundstage.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/tad-ce1tx-loudspeaker

My definition of the word “best,” as applied to audiophile speakers, would include expressions like “extremely well-sorted” and “exposes everything” and “flawless tone.” This thought struck me now because exactly these words passed through my head over and over during the hundreds of hours I spent listening with the TAD CE1TX’s. These luxuriously appointed standmounts specialize in converting tiny signal currents into moving air with atomic-clock precision—all by itself, a captivating phenomenon to witness. But what elevated these new TADs to a level of performance I’ve rarely experienced from any speakers, anywhere, at any price is the coexistence of that atomic-clock precision with an innate ability to present instruments and voices in a most agreeable, seductive manner.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/ps-audio-aspen-fr20-loudspeaker

The industrial design is by Canadian-based Studio 63, which also penned the FR30. In this case the main enclosure is a one-piece design, with none of the adjustability of the two-piece FR30, and is built from heavily-braced MDF finished with 20 coats of hand-rubbed piano-grade lacquer. There’s a choice of Pearl White or Sable Black finishes, incidentally. The planar magnetic tweeter is attached to the rear of the thermoset resin front baffle, the latter with a shaped waveguide to control the dispersion of the midrange driver mounted, like the woofers, to the main structure.

Separate magnetically-attached grilles are provided for the top and bottom portions of the cabinet, as illustrated in our pictures, while the substantial alloy base comes with a set of adjustable milled brass feet. These include detachable spike tips and plastic inserts for use on hard surfaces, plus a set of sliders for ease of movement while the speakers are being set up. PS Audio provides a set of nifty Allen keys for adjustment in addition to a set of jumpers for single-wiring the bi-wire terminals on the rear of the speakers.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/kef-r3-meta

That the new R3 Meta allow us to park our analytical observations after a while and simply enjoy listening to our music collection really says it all. To confirm: these are hugely enticing speakers in design and in performance. 

We haven’t come across many stereo speakers at this price point in recent years that are so accomplished in all the ‘hi-fi’ ways and fun to listen to in the same breath. If your system and budget allow it, the new KEF R3 Metas are worth the plunge. We promise you’ll be entertained.