Multi-channel SACD
Now to the multichannel, where the R300 took the surround part. A subwoofer is indispensable for movies, even with these potent floorstanders. The sub has been optimized to also work, in addition to “normal” bass, in the almost subsonic range, where sound is rather felt than heard. Here are many movie effects situated. While floorstanders usually reach their bottom between 40 and 30 Hz, subwoofers reach through to 25 or even 20 Hz. A few ´big boys´ even lower.
In a first listening session they used multichannel SACD. On “Reconstructed” by Art of Noise are some real ´beauties´ from the 80’s in full surround. “Moments in Love” is for example a song which, when I use good speakers like these, gives me goosebumps. Certainly at this mainly artificial music, the level of details from the KEF´s played a major role, without harshness. The sub was not really necessary, the big R700´s could stand the pressure. The Latino charm of the English Matt Bianco on the SACD “Matt’s Mood”, and more specifically in the song “Ordinary Day” was effortless and broadloom showcased by the KEF ensemble. Here I might wanted to hear a little more of the ´deep´, but obviously that can be electronically compensated.
Movie
On to the big screen then. Quentin Tarantino not only provides visual highlights, he clearly also put a lot of attention and work into building great soundtracks with many references to the 70´s. “Death Proof” on BluRay is another movie that, even in terms of assembly errors, refers to the B-movies from that period. The film is part of a diptych titled “Grindhouse”, the name for movie theaters where they showed exploitation films. The other part, “Planet Terror” by Tarantino’s soulmate Robert Rodriguez, think about “Sin City”, is also really nice. The KEF ´society´ supported the action in a dramatical way. The center speaker made the dialogues bright and clear, without losing sharpness. The Uni-Q driver in this system led to a perfect three-dimensionality. It is quite a large version, so it´s adviced to check if placement underneath the screen wouldn´t cause any problems. The R400B sub is easy to connect at line- or speaker level (the last by using a special, enclosed plug). The extension in ´the low´ is in theory not huge and the physical effects stay rather limited, but the closed design makes the sub able to deliver a good performance. For music even better than for movies.
The R300´s may be somehow underutilized in a role only as a surround speaker. KEF also happens to have specific surrounds in their range, like the R800ds, which were not offered for review. The bookshelf speaker fulfilled his role with verve and positioned me in the middle of the movie. The R700 finally, which had to fulfill the main part of the soundtrack, also showed his qualities in this situation. Dynamics are very important in movies and the R700 is very well able to handle this. The overall experience is great, the action is happening in your living room instead of -on and off- the screen. You become completely dragged away into the story. This way, the speakers maximally support the image component.
