Kef R300 vs MA GX50 or GX100 ? Which is best

[Aled Clayton]

Hi All,

Currently I have damaged AE Evo3, bi-amped via Marantz SR5007 and Arcam alpha-9.

By damaged, i mean the bass drivers (both sides) got dented during house move. Am looking to replace in next year or so.

I am a big fan of the bi-amping, its tranfromatory so am not considering the Kef LS50.

I use the setup for 60% movies and 35% music and 8 % for maths lessons. :shifty:

SO, considering the amp setup which I cant change, which of these speakers is going to give me better steroe performance without compromising bass too much, or losing the dynamics needed for movies.

TOugh one this.............. any suggestions.

 

[CnoEvil]

My choice would be the R300s, but that doesn't mean it would be yours.

 

[Aled Clayton]

thanks for reply.

I read that the bass of r300 is comperable to modest floorstander.

but i have a normal sitting room, 4m by 10m with fireplace in the middle.

is this true then, and will it fill my room with explosions, gun fire and general mayhem,as well as elevate the musicality as I hope ?

 

[Aled Clayton]

Just seen the promo video by kef for the R series.

http://www.kef.com/html/en/showroom/hi-fi_series/r_series/images/index.html

Loads of people in slow-mo jumping and getting hosed down.

What the heck !

COme-on Kef thats just daft, and tells us nothing about the product- other than suggesting that the speakers are waterproof, or great if you have roofing issues.

 

[ellisdj]

You def need to demo the speakers on the Maranztz receiver or another Marantz Receiver if not your model
The GX50 are slightly different sounding to the GX100 but you will get an idea demoing either of what they are like

However the GX are capable of far more sound quality than you will get from a £400 Amplifier - they are reviewed with ££££ of Bryston kit - that gives you an idea of their quality At Bristol they were demo'd off Moon kit again big bucks good quality kit and one one of the best sounds there I heard
With the Ribbon Tweeter they are very good at imaging and give you a full rich sound. Definitely best off class A or similar amplification - not sure what the amp is you have, might be class a.

Are you planning to upgrade the amplifier at all in the future? If not some one else might concur on this - are these speakers best?
You might be better off with something of a lesser model that will hide the flaws better

 

[Aled Clayton]

the arcam alpha9 is driving the bass and marants the tweters- so its not as bad as reying on the av reciver alone.

i have tried various combos, and this biamp mode is certainy miles better than either amp alone.

sounds like the arcam and marantz amps work sweet together- better than i hoped,

yes- i could upgrade the amplificaion later on, but it will be a few years.

thanks for reply- the gx do seem special for sure.

 

[CnoEvil]

thanks for reply. I read that the bass of r300 is comperable to modest floorstander. but i have a normal sitting room, 4m by 10m with fireplace in the middle. is this true then, and will it fill my room with explosions, gun fire and general mayhem,as well as elevate the musicality as I hope ?

The R300s have big bass for their size, and need an amp that can control them, or the bass can become over-blown.....though the two part bung system greatly helps with this.

For AV, they will be fine with a sub to handle the LFE, and I suspect that they will be fine in an area of that size for 2 channel......but a demo is preferable.

 

[ellisdj]

The GX100 are also very bassy - consider your driving a 6" cone - thats a big driver. I think they are best with a bit of space but the Kef's will be the same

Your biamping method is certainly not conventional but if your happy it works for you then great.
I would consider though if you set the receiver to biamp but only pull power from one set of binding posts you might be altering the ohms impedance load on the amp - I dont know for definite just thought of it
- while is probably ok if the amp can handle it
If its getting very hot I would stop doing it

 

[alienmango]

The GX100 are also very bassy - consider your driving a 6" cone - thats a big driver.

what happened to the world.... :shame:

http://www.kineticsoundservices.com/images/jbl4350.JPG :cheers:

 

[davedotco]

The GX100 are also very bassy - consider your driving a 6" cone - thats a big driver.

what happened to the world.... :shame:

http://www.kineticsoundservices.com/images/jbl4350.JPG :cheers:

Aha, the old "Texas Bookshelf", love 'em.

I came very close to owning a pair back in about 76-77. Trident studios (If memory serves) were doing a refit and a pair of roughly 2 year old 4350s were being traded in for a new pair and several smaller monitors, amps and the rest.

I did a deal that effectively 'lost' the 4350's, ie the trade in was buried deep in the paperwork and were supposedly of only nominal value to the supplier and I made arrangements to buy them at this 'nominal' cost. Still a few hundred pounds was a lot of money back then and I had nowhere to put them, so I had to let them go.......

 

[minio]

I have the GX50 and don't find them bright as some people suggest. Their ribbon tweeters give them sophistication if anything. I do however use a sub woofer which shifts the balance of the system somewhat. They are not a particularly difficult speaker and so they seem at home with some of the better budget electronics like a Yam A-S500. Speakers are always the slave at the end of your system and a good pair will always improve in performance with more upmarket amp and source. I do wonder though why you would want to go too far up the power scale with amplification when the GX50 is a mini monitor well suited to smaller listening areas and lower powered (recommended 25 - 100 watts) amps.