The somewhat cheaper Serafino deliver the music nicely wrapped in a warm envelope that’s very addictive. But they don’t have quite the same depth of bass as the KEF speakers. The sleek R6 Arreté cost more and sound extremely weightless and transparent. Here they face stiff competition from the likes of Audiovector R6 Arreté, Sonus faber Serafino Tradition and Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4. Reference 5 Metas’ price hike has moved them up a division on the price scale. The length of the two bass ports can be changed to adapt the bass to the room. There’s detail in spades here and a silky smooth, extremely resolved midrange and treble that surpasses anything I’ve previously heard from KEF. They play bass with an authority that I usually associate with large subwoofers, and at the same time the warm and open sound is hugely appealing whatever the style of music. The KEF speakers deliver an open soundstage with depth and finesse. As we all know, everything is relative, but even though they cost quite a bit, I had a hard time coming up with a more complete speaker in the same price range. When I tested the predecessor in 2015, I hinted that they had the potential to be a bestseller in their class. Dual cable terminals with knobs for bi-wiring/bi-amping. The 70 watt Octave V 70 SE also had no problems driving the speakers, but it was with the Rotel Michi X3 at 2 x 350 watts that things really got going. I could almost play as loud as I wanted without the amp’s claimed 60 watts of power being experienced as too little. The excellent, but not overwhelmingly powerful Technics SU-G700 M2 thus had no problems driving the large speakers. Sensitivity is rated at 88 decibels, which must be said to be acceptable for such a complex design. The Reference 5 Meta has become easier to drive, even though the nominal impedance is 4 ohms. The speakers come with adjustable spikes and matching parquet protectors, and can be ordered with round textile grilles for each unit. They actually come in two different lengths, so you can attenuate the bass by replacing the tubes at the back if you think you’re getting just too much bass. On the back you’ll find two large bass reflex ports. The units have a slightly curved aluminium diaphragm cast in one piece, as well as the already mentioned Uni-Q unit in the middle. The flagship Reference 5 Meta, which we test here, is built with four 16.5cm woofers in each speaker, just like its predecessor. The Reference range is the first to get the full META treatment, and the same upgrades have also been made to the smaller Reference 3 Meta, the Reference 1 Meta compact speaker and the two centre speakers in the Reference range. ![]() MAT definitely gave sound quality a significant boost on the LS50 Meta – especially in the midrange and treble – and since then we’ve really just been waiting for MAT to find its way onto all the other KEF speakers with Uni-Q units. White Reference 5 Meta with champagne-coloured Uni-Q unit. Among other things, it dampened the distortion that can occur at higher frequencies, and with MAT behind the unit, it also achieved a 40 percent more linear frequency response over a wider frequency range. They had also made a new voice coil system and new damping in the space between the tweeter and the midrange diaphragm, which made room for the special plate behind the unit with what they call Metamaterial Absorption Technology – MAT. Among other things, they had created a new diaphragm suspension based on analyses of various simulations. When KEF launched the 12th generation of Uni-Q, they readily explained what they had changed and tried to improve. Together with the new Uni-Q unit and a special acoustic solution called MAT, this has made the Reference 5 Meta a completely different speaker. This should dampen vibrations further compared to the old cabinet. KEF say they’ve used finite element analysis to optimise the damping of resonances, especially at low frequencies. They look just like their predecessor, but inside the geometry of the reinforcements in the cabinet has changed. In the Meta version of the Reference 5, the crossover has been modified and upgraded, and KEF believe they have succeeded in making the sound even more transparent, while improving the cabinet construction.
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