KEF R3 as first speakers, need room correction?

personpitch

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First system, thought of going active/all in one and now considering passive. I can find the R3 for £900, is it worth it to invest £1700 in something like the Arcam SA30 for Dirac Live or is it better to spend more on speakers? Possibly looking to add an SVS 3000 micro too. Total budget around £3000/3500
Use: Music, tv (Apple TV) and games (ps5, Xbox)
Thank you all!
 

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Friendly Ghost

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Questions:
- How high are the ceilings?
- How far would the speakers be from the corner of the room?
- Are you able/willing to mover the TV cabinet slightly away from the windows if you experience problems?
- Do you have soft furnishings (drapes, carpet,...)?

Overall if you are not flexible in layout, then Dirac might be necessary.
If you are flexible it might still give benefits, but other solutions are possible.
 

chris_bates1974

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I have a pair of R3 - they are around 30cm from side walls, and 50cm from back wall. They are around 2m apart. I don't even remotely feel the need for room correction, or a sub.

Within your budget, I would certainly recommend hearing them on the end of Primare amplification.
 

ROOG

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You could try running REW software, it has a room simulation mode you show where your speakers are positioned and your listening position in your room and will give you a good idea what room issues you have and whether Room correction might be able to help. Room correction systems can help to remove annoying peaks but it is difficult to correct for deep troughs, i.e. big drops in a particular frequency.
 

personpitch

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Mar 22, 2023
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Questions:
- How high are the ceilings?
- How far would the speakers be from the corner of the room?
- Are you able/willing to mover the TV cabinet slightly away from the windows if you experience problems?
- Do you have soft furnishings (drapes, carpet,...)?

Overall if you are not flexible in layout, then Dirac might be necessary.
If you are flexible it might still give benefits, but other solutions are possible.
Ceiling are about 3 m high
The right speaker would be about 50 cm away from the corner
I can move the tv cabinet a bit, but not much
No soft furnishings
 

CnoEvil

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All I can tell you, is that (imo) the Arcam/Kef pairing is excellent and Dirac Live is a Bonus. The R3s sound more like a small Floorstander.
 

personpitch

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I have a pair of R3 - they are around 30cm from side walls, and 50cm from back wall. They are around 2m apart. I don't even remotely feel the need for room correction, or a sub.

Within your budget, I would certainly recommend hearing them on the end of Primare amplification.
Can I ask you which amp you’re using? How much would I need to spend on an amp to make them sound good if I abandon the idea of room correction? Also, can the speakers be placed directly on the tv cabinet or better on stands?
 

chris_bates1974

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Can I ask you which amp you’re using? How much would I need to spend on an amp to make them sound good if I abandon the idea of room correction? Also, can the speakers be placed directly on the tv cabinet or better on stands?
I have a Primare I22 (with optional DAC module fitted) and to me it sounds fabulous. Sources are Spotify and Marantz TT15S1. I have speakers on stands, and would recommend to do so. As for prices, Primare stuff comes up 2nd hand from time to time, and is (in my opinion) very good value.
I am sure others will say the same, but demoing is massively important.
 

personpitch

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Also, am I doing the right thing to spend twice as much on the amp compared to the speakers or should it be the other way around?
 

bobovox

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At £900 the R3s are an absolute steal. When thinking how to split the budget, bear in mind that the new R3 Metas are £1900 list price and the SA30 has a good DAC, streamer and room correction built in.
 
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personpitch

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Between the R3 and the Elac Navis, what's your thoughts? I wouldn't have to buy an amp in that case
 

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