KEF R500 Floorstanding Speakers - Product Review

Well, this has been a long time coming.

My evolution into floorstanding speakers has been a long and arduous one.

When first I moved to Melbourne, I had to come to terms with the fact that I didn't have the space for large speakers in my shoebox sized apartment and ended up settling on a large sub/sat 5.1 speaker system to satisfy my audio needs.

It wasn't long however before the limitations of the satellites became abundantly clear, music playback.


My journey into audio started on the home theatre side of things and has over the years progressively shifted towards Hi-Fi. Given the capabilities of the home theatre receiver I was then using, I decided to buy a pair of better quality, larger bookshelf speakers. These provided somewhat of a revelation for me as I didn't expect the kind of detail or full sound that they were able to produce.

Finally, my craving was satiated, or at least I thought it was.

As is always the way for a maturing audiophile, I started longing for the sort of scale that only a floorstanding speaker could offer.

I listened to a number of contenders and with a somewhat restricted budget, value for money was what I was after.

Instinctively, like many who are interested in a new purchase, I read reviews from other publications to at least gauge the market and get an idea of what was available at or around my budget, and it was an article written by Doug Schneider from SoundStage HiFi that caught my eye, one he had written on the KEF R500s.

The amount of praise he had for these speakers was enough for me to seek them out and give them a listen and needless to say subsequently purchase.

So before me, in my current listening room (I say that as a move is on the cards soon) sit the KEF R500 speakers. I have had the pleasure of listening to them for a number of months now and feel as though I can comfortably gauge their performance. 

The R500s offer a full-range design, and can dip down as low as 37Hz (in room -6db). They use an excellent version of KEF's popular Uni-Q driver, which is more commonly referred to as a dual concentric driver, responsible for both high and mid frequencies. According to KEF's own Johan Coorg, the Uni-Q featured in the R500s is a cut above the unit found in the renowned LS50 speakers. 

It really hasn't mattered what type of music I've thrown at the R500s, they have handled it confidently and comfortably. Whether it's pop like Lorde, rock like Hendrix, modern contemporary like The Piano Guys, these speakers really sing.

I have found they give as good as they get however, and are improved as source components are.

Some examples over the course of my use with them have been of course the usage of a Pro-Ject external preamp for my turntable compared to the unit built-in to my integrated amplifier.


Another more recent improvement came as I swapped out my Audiolab 8200CD for the NAD M51 DAC. While the Audiolab was excellent, the sound has been taken up to another level with the introduction of the NAD.

The R500s are supplied with foam bungs in the instance that they can't be located in the most ideal position. The R500s have two reflex ports, both located on the rear and while I do prefer the scale they are able to achieve with the ports unplugged, due to my current living arrangements I have chosen to use the half-bungs i.e. with the centre removed. This still allows for some airflow through the ports, but it is restricted and better controlled.

The detail that these speakers are capable of producing is excellent, audiophile classic tracks such as Nils Lofgren's 'Keith Don't Go', Angus & Julia Stone's 'Yellow Brick Road' and Dire Straits' 'Money for Nothing' all sound incredibly clear and give you an appreciation for why so many use these as demo tracks. More importantly though, how do they sound though with not as high fidelity content?

Well, I can tell you that I've never heard NOFX sound so good. Unwritten Law showing dynamics I'd never realised were there. These speakers do not discriminate the style of the music, but play everything you throw at them to the best of their ability.

Even iTunes downloads sound larger than they should, Lana Del Rey's 'Young & Beautiful' from the Great Gatsby Soundtrack hits with a powerful slam and authority.

In case you haven't caught on, these really are some great speakers, and in the grand scale of all things audio, they aren't really going to break the bank.


My ultimate test though came about when my father came over to visit.

He was the one that got me into music listening at a young age and he himself went through his own period of spending large amounts on his audio system.

Now, dad has always been great at keeping his feelings hidden, a great poker face if you will.

I can tell you now though, when I played him Mumford & Sons cover of 'The Boxer', I had to pull out the shovel to scoop his jaw from off of the floor. I don't think he ever thought such a sound was possible from any speaker, let alone from a speaker at its respective price point.

Do yourself a favour, if you're in the market for floorstanding speakers in the $4K - $5K range, hell even if you're not but you're curious, go down to your local dealer and have a listen to these guys.

The only likeliness you'll be disappointed you did is probably going to be when you're checking your bank balance after having grabbed yourself a pair!

Brand: KEF

Model: R500

Local Distributor:

Advance Audio Australia

www.advanceaudio.com.au

Associated Equipment:

Marantz TT-15s1

Audiolab 8200CD

NAD M51

Roksan Kandy K2 Integrated Amplifier

Chord Chameleon Vee3 Interconnects

Chord Odyssey 2 Speaker Cable