Loudspeakers

It's a presentation the R11 Metas carry through to the slow build of the march from Steven Spielberg's movie 1941, performed by the Dallas Winds under Jerry Junkin [John Williams At The Movies; Reference Recordings RR-142SACD]. Here they play the opening woodwind with an impressive lightness of touch before upping the ante with crisp, clean brass and tight snare drums, before unleashing real 'jump in your seat' power from the bass drum and the full force of the whole band.

And that's what these speakers do – they've got all the fundamentals covered, leaving them free to get on with having fun making music. With 'Two Tribes', from Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Rage Hard – The Sonic Collection [ZTT ZTT177SACD], it was impossible to ignore the speed of the music cannoning along, despite the room-shaking bass. These speakers are definitely not dull – so much so that I flicked back to the 'The World Is My Oyster'/'Welcome To The Pleasuredome' sequence, all 15-plus minutes of it, cranked the volume a little more, and revelled in all that clean slam. As I said, with the hi-fi niceties covered, the rest is sheer enjoyment.

By Jupiter!
Whatever the music, the R11 Metas deliver maximum appeal, from the way the little tambourine flourishes surface out of the full, rich picture of the orchestra in Holst's 'Jupiter' [The Planets, Hallé/Elder; Hyperion SACDA67270] to the simple purity of 'Perrine Était Servante' from Kate & Anna McGarrigle's Dancer With Bruised Knees [Warner Bros 7599-25958-2]. On this piece, the harmonies, backing vocals and stripped-back instrumentation arrived in an entirely natural fashion.

Just a couple of weeks before listening to KEF's speakers, I'd found myself in a coastal pub, hearing a group of local musicians having their regular monthly session of trading songs and tunes. I hadn't gone for the music, just walked into it, and what had been planned as a quick drink turned into a whole evening of enjoyment, finding myself singing along with unfamiliar but catchy tunes, so involved had I become.

I was reminded of this by the R11 Metas, as they deliver that direct communication of the music, whether it's the goodtime guitar rock of Little Feat's 'Trip Face Boogie' [Sailin' Shoes; Warner Records 603497837434] or the chilling vocals and deep electronic bass of Lanterns On The Lake's 'Don't Have Nightmares' [Versions Of Us; Bella Union BELLA1478].

Light And Shade
These are speakers to draw you into the music and not let go. They capture the scale of the organ on Masaaki Suzuki's second volume of his ...Plays Bach Organ Works recitals [BIS BIS-2241 SACD], the Prelude and Fugue in G major showing not just the sheer size of the sound but also Suzuki's dexterity and ability to bring out the piece's light and shade. Similarly, they revel in the reinvention of Yes's 'Yours Is No Disgrace', which opens the new remaster of 1971's The Yes Album [Atlantic 603497831715], shifting from pounding prog to finely etched jazz with total ease.

And given Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique,' on the Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic The Last Concert [Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings BPHR 160081], it's hard not to be swept along by the musicianship, turning a quick sampling into enjoyment of the entire piece. That's what the R11 Metas do – unfailingly but always surprisingly – and that's what makes them an absolute must-listen.

Hi-Fi News Verdict
The R11 Meta speakers carry off their bluff styling with some flair, being neither as large nor as unmanageable as they may at first appear. Yes, the balance here is very commercial, flattering relatively modest systems but responding well to an uplift in partnering electronics, but what's wrong with that? These are impressive speakers, solidly built and designed to please – which they indubitably do.