Hear Deeper Into Your Music and Movies: KEF R7 Meta Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Plays with Thrilling Detail, Insight, Resolution, and Responsiveness

The KEF R7 Meta floor-standing loudspeaker recognizes the needs (and wants) of music and movie lovers who crave the robust performance only floorstanders can deliver, but who also have practical limitations when it comes to space and size. Differing from the R Meta Series flagship only in that it harbors two fewer woofers and stands shorter, the 43.7 x 12.2 x 15.1-inch (HWD, with terminal with plinth) R7 Meta occupies a pleasing footprint while simultaneously playing with involving finesse, smoothness, detail, clarity, and purity.

Whether employed in a two-channel or home-theater arrangement, K7 Meta proves unfailingly entertaining – and looks exquisite while doing so. Chalk it up to six major innovations, mostly drawn from KEF's Reference Series, involved with K7's perfectionist-minded build – and the inclusion of Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), a signature development that eliminates 99% of the unwanted sound from the rear of the speaker's 12th-generation Uni-Q driver array.

That very Uni-Q driver – bundling a one-inch vented aluminum-dome tweeter with a five-inch aluminum-cone midrange – boasts a redesigned midrange motor system devised on KEF's in-house simulation and analysis tools. Featuring a shaped and undercut pole as well as symmetrical aluminum demodulation rings that combine to significantly reduce the inductance in the lower midrange, the Uni-Q assembly lessens distortion and enhances imaging.

On similarly active duty, R7 Meta's Shadow Flare – a method of diminishing cabinet diffraction – visually functions a trim ring while functionally serving as a surface that extends the Uni-Q waveguide effect. In R7 Meta, the tweeter no longer has line of sight of the cabinet edges, thereby creating a shadow region at the points where the potential for diffraction remains highest, and minimizing the acoustic impact to negligible levels. In sum: Shadow Flare greatly assists the reproduction of subtle cues and nuances in your favorite recordings.

Want bass? R7 Meta transmits deep, taut, punchy, and soulful low frequencies by way of a pair of dedicated, 6.5-inch drivers with a redesigned magnet system. Each is built using a two-part structure, whereby a shallow concave aluminum skin sits atop a paper cone. The stiffness – combined with the cone's unique geometry – reduces additional resonances and delivers the pistonic movement that account for superb timing. Credit also goes to the flexible ports. Molded via computational fluid dynamics, the flare and profile of each port is calculated to delay the onset of turbulence all the while the walls prevent longitudinal resonances from coloring the midrange.

While the look of R7 Meta's cabinet is bound to turn heads, it also abides by acoustic principles that put the spotlight on sonics. Constrained Layer Damping bracing (in which the internal braces are joined to the panels by a lossy interface) helps dissipate unwanted vibrations. In addition, a revised bracing layout furthers the creation of an inert platform that allows the drivers to operate at an optimal level. Color tone-matched aesthetics, optional microfiber magnetic grilles, and supplied spikes round out a 64.6-pound speaker backed by a five-year manufacturer warranty.

Want to know more about R7 Meta? Feel free to reach out to a Music Direct audio consultant at 312-433-0200. We'd love to talk with you.

MAT: Breakthrough Sound Absorption
Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), a revolutionary innovation that takes the performance of the 12th generation Uni-Q driver array to another level in terms of accuracy and clarity, is a hallmark of the R Meta Series. MAT is a highly complex maze-like structure, where each of the intricate channels efficiently absorbs a specific frequency. When combined, the channels act as an acoustic black hole, absorbing 99% of the unwanted sound that comes from the rear of the tweeter, eliminating the resulting distortion and providing a purer, more natural acoustic performance.