Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsGorgeous speakers and cabinet - sound not up to par
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2018
I recently bought a pair of R300 speakers. I purchased from Amazon since the nearest dealer is several hundred miles from my location.
Running stereo 125 watts .08% THD
I listened to various music for several weeks and really liked the lower midrange and lows, but the high end is just not there. I’ve owned JBL, Infinity, Polk, Definitive Technology, Golden Ear over the years and have never experienced such an absence of high-mid to treble as with the R300s. Some recordings when played had an instant – ‘that sounds wrong and dull’ sound. I mean on some recordings the instant they start playing the R300s make you turn your head and wonder “what is wrong with these speakers?”
After about three weeks of listening to music and watching surround sound movies I purchased an A/B switch and after an hour of careful listening it was very apparent (much to my disappointment) that my Klipsch RB 61 II speakers were overall clearly superior to the R300.
Now the R300s did produce a small amount more detail in the mid region, but were very lacking in other areas.
I then had my wife sit in the listening room (she had no idea which speakers were which, had no idea of the cost of the R300s and was not biased in any way)
I quickly switched input between the speakers and she always said speakers A (Klipsch) sounded better than speakers B (KEF). Again not knowing which speaker was playing she said the A (Klipsch) sounded like the musicians were more in the room, the soundstage was much greater and didn’t sound as dull as B (KEF). I asked her if one sounded more like a blanket was put in front of it and then removed – she said yes – speaker B sounded as if it had a blanket in front and when changed to speaker A the blanket was removed.
She did say speaker B sounded good, but A definitely had a much better sound.
Her thoughts were exactly in-line with mine – the Klipsch sounded SO MUCH BETTER. We listened to The Beatles, Dire Straits, Don Henley, Shivaree, The J Geils Band, Yes (Fragile) and more.
On Abbey Road, John Lennon's voice sounded more like McCartney than Lennon - that little edge to Lennon's voice was gone (returned with the Klipsh) The opening track on Don Henley's "End of the Innocence" was dull - so dull that it made you look at the speakers and wonder what was going on. "Whammer Jammmer" by J Geils (lots of harmonica) reminded me of listening to an old 8-track tape with a dirty head on the player (most of you will not have had that experience, but believe me it is low-fidelity)
I did (several times) check the bi-wire link connection to ascertain that I was not in bi-wire mode.
On some recordings you could hear more detail in mids and lows that weren't quite as evident with the Klipschs - but it was not enough to justify such an expensive item. Highs such as cymbals were less pronounced, less natural, and more in the background when compared with the Klipschs. Now, some will say the Klipschs have harsh highs - this is apparent at very high volumes, but normal to loud I don't find them harsh. At least the Klipschs don't turn your head and make you wonder why the heck the sound is so dull and missing.
Now in fairness for the KEFs, most jazz and acoustical music, Cat Steven's guitar and vocals sound really good - but not any better than the Klipschs. I believe that if that were the only type of music you listened to and didn't do an A/B comparison with another quality speaker, you would be happy with the sound.
Now, I only had about 50 hours on the speakers so some may argue that they were not broken in. I'll say this, With all the brands I've had in the last 40 years, not one pair sounded bad fresh out of the box like the R300s did.
I emailed KEF after I had returned the speakers - should have done so sooner. KEF responded quickly via email and wanted me to disconnect one speaker at a time to see if the dullness was with one or both speakers, but since I no longer had them I couldn't perform their test. I do know that both speakers lacked.
If the sound reproduction from these speakers was as gorgeous as the cabinet build and finish, they would be fantastic. The gloss white pair that I had was extremely well built and dare I say it "sexy". I really wanted to keep the R300s but even if they were only $400 for the pair, I would not be satisfied with them.