Demo Days: KEF R3, ELAC Carina, B&W 705 S2 speakers - hear the difference

[@bowtiebonanza]

This is like, way cool. I wouldn't have imagined that you could make a video that actually shows some of the differences in speakers. Nice job guys. Hope you get more views. This deserves it.

[@vinny1577]

I just listened to the Kef R3 and B&W 705 S2 at a store today. The different between them in real life is night and day. I feel that maybe 50% of that comes through youtube and nice headphones. For anyone serious about these speakers, go listen to them side by side. My preference is for the B&Ws, but your preference may be the KEFs.

[@jerrygeorgopolis8015]

Dave D. Thanks for this very interesting "Demo" demonstration. I like the fact your employees can discover things for themselves. I could hear the difference between speakers, the Kef R3 sounded slightly brighter.

[@crutchfield]

We are glad to know this helped!

[@ganck1147]

Being a B&W owner, i an partial to the 705S2 followed by KEF & finally Elac. The Elac sounded like its being covered by a thick blanket immediately after B&W & even on my hp speakers, the difference is Huge!

[@PeterMacPL]

Elac are flat like studio monitors, 705S2 have big colorization in sound boosted trebles.

[@ganck1147]

@@PeterMacPL well some people like flat response while others prefer to be wowed by their speakers. I prefer to be wowed rather than hear what’s exactly on my source. Anyway, all speakers are coloured in one way or the other. So choose your favourite colour.

[@alexeym.1175]

Elac ist the best for me but not in this video. Elac is very sensitive in Position. And I have testet elac mit defferent AMPs and they also very defferent. And the Sound depends also from the bottum, where they are standing.

[@CarvalhoCaldeira]

I wish the demo was longer and with more songs.

[@crutchfield]

We will pass this along out our video team! Thanks for the feedback

[@themastroiannis]

excellent speakers ! thanks for the demo. carinas are lovely, quite punchy, but maybe a bit too recessed on the top for my taste. they work best for pop and rock. kef r3 are right in the middle with a neutral sound that is engaging. the B&W's maybe have a bump around 8k, but they sound so airy and detailed that i'm afraid i liked them the best. with more uncompressed audio files (classical or a jazz trio, they will totally shine!). i wish you guys can keep your "compare and listen" option on new speakers on your website! it's really a lot of help!!

[@stuartkennedy4202]

Excellent demo. I was surprised at what I heard . B&W was better as in clearer, KEF was slightly behind that and the Elac was flat more so than the other two. Although this was a quick test the Elac’s did disappoint me as I was led to believe they we’re airy.

[@Thevinylhead]

Great comparison. As an owner of Klipsch Heresy iv I still get impressed by these small speakers. They deliver on a level that is sometimes way better then my Heresy. Sad face.

[@bootneylee9802]

A microphone is not an ear, but the B&W's win in this test for me. I like the brightness. KEF's are way too flat, no life. Ironically I just purchased the Carina's and haven't tested them yet, but they seem to be in the middle, which is good because a PEQ can fix everything. Thanks for the comparison!

[@crutchfield]

We are stoked you enjoyed it! Keep us updated on what you think of the Carina's once you have them broken in and have given them a good critical listen. I know I liked them. Pretty much anything with the folded ribbon tweeter sounds sweet to my ears!

[@Mark-ix8rz]

I've found that B&W and Kef speakers have a very similar sound/voicing. The Q950's and the B&W 704's I had where like twins but after living with them each for over a year I found I didn't like either. I found that your demo showed that the B&W and the Kef's have very similar sound, not quite the same but close. I like them better than the Elac as the vocals were to pulled back.

[@Michael-xz1nk]

I'd pick the KEF R3's (in white) hands down, from both a looks and sound perspective (as limited as it is over KZbin).

[@crutchfield]

They are definitely fantastic speakers! 🙂

[@TheSodFather09]

Kef R3 is the way to go not only is it a very good looking speaker but you get the detail without the fatigue. The b&w might seem to bright for my taste but hard to say.

[@crutchfield]

I really dug the B&W's, for sure. The KEF R3 were also at the top of the list for me, exactly as you mention surgical and precise, but I could literally listen all day. I did try to stay in there all day!🤣🤷‍♂️

[@louishamilton9648]

They all sound good. ELAC’s sound darker, warmer. B&W very bright, KEF less so.

[@frankieknuckles9610]

I think I'm partial to elac. I would be afraid I would knock that tweeter of b&w

[@cychen9528]

So good, thank you for the demo!!!!

[@crutchfield]

You're welcome, Cy. Are you considering new speakers in one of these brands?

[@korob20080]

Kefs are really good, bass is fenomenal for the shelfs- deep and well controlled. Mids are pretty good. the only thing i dont like is slightly recessed highs-good for the long term listening indeed, still a lot of details but i often feel that i miss some sparkle of BWs or ls50s. Hopefully they will slightly correct the highs with the upcoming r3 metas

[@saaron6]

Is it official? R3 meta?

[@canadianwildlifeservice8883]

I heard the comparisons of these and other speakers on crutchfield. Call me crazy but i much prefer the "live" and foreward sound of the klipsch RP speakers even though they are so much more affordable. The b&w have a brittle sound, and the kefs sounded harsher in the upper midrange than the smoother flatter elacs which were the most pleasant of the three.

[@crutchfield]

Speakers are definitely very subjective. If you prefer a brighter, more "lively" sound, Klipsch speakers are tough to beat!

[@yongdol73]

I have Carina + Arcam SA20 set up in my home office. Have been very satisfied do far

[@crutchfield]

That sounds like a very nice home office setup! How long have you had it?

[@Demoaccount-i2k]

705 all day

[@crutchfield]

What do you like best about the B&W 705s?

[@Demoaccount-i2k]

@@crutchfield in your audio test at end of video they sounded best for my liking out of all 3 I took delivery of them today So far my initial impression highs bit bright and im missing richness in overall sound, bit lean Not sure if amplifier would make any difference, im running them with 125rms watts @8ohm so it’s plenty power, it would be best if i could have b&w 606 on one side and 705s2 on other at the same time connected to same amp. Would be good to actually see the difference in real time this would give me better ability to understand where they at as a speaker comparing to 606, as 606 is great sounding speaker good baseline for measuring how far apart they are from each other.

[@crutchfield]

We have these models as well as a few other B&W speakers in our virtual demo: www.crutchfield.com/I-rFBKc227/g_37900/Bookshelf-Speakers.html?tp=186&fa=1#&nvpair=FFBrand|Bowers%20%26%20Wilkins&nvpair=FFVirtual_Audio_Demo_Available|[rank1]Yes

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

This was fun!

[@MrFLORESBR]

Hello, between KEF R3 and B&W 706 S2, what is better for Home Theater to watch Movies? thanks

[@crutchfield]

They can both be used as part of a home theater system. This means you can choose based on which you thought sounds the best! The sound changes between the one in the video and the B&W 706 is a slight reduction in the clarity of the treble because of the change in the tweeter housings.

[@vincenzowl]

Great, which amp were they connected to?

[@crutchfield]

Hi. The amp used in the demo is the Anthem PVA 8. This is a discontinued model at this point, but you can still see the info on it here: www.crutchfield.com/I-rYALc123/p_973PVA8/Anthem-PVA-8.html

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

705 S2!

[@crutchfield]

I am also a huge fan as well, they just sound fantastic.

[@ferasalswayan5421]

Thanks to the r3 it’s delivered me to this channel and the awesome guy seated on the cow chair lol best regards from Saudi Arabia subscribe and share .

[@crutchfield]

Thank you! 😊

[@JustinDgr8]

I'm such an Elac Carina fan boy. B & W tend to be too sharp for my taste.

[@Vilmir]

If you have "normal" hears like me, I think that above 800/1000 €/$ with normal gear, you won't be able to actually rank the speakers. They will sound different, better or worse depending on the content. But what you get above 1000 that is easily measurable is a design and a better build quality. And those things matter quite a lot.

[@cpa889900]

I own the Kef R3s and the B&W 705 S2. In my home, the B&W 705s beat the Kef R3s hands down. I love my B&W. I would not recommend the Kefs

[@crutchfield]

Very cool! Sounds like you have your own in-house listening test! 🙂

[@fdude555]

Funny enough i have the 805 d3 in my home and is embarassed by the kef r3.

[@cpa889900]

@@fdude555 What are you using to power your R3s?

[@fdude555]

@@cpa889900 nad 298, hegel 190, wyred4sound sti 500. whichever suits my fancy.

[@nc3419]

How do you feel the b&w do piano, strings and human voice? I have Focal 807W and Triangle Zetas. I think the Triangle and B&W frequency curve is similar from mids to upper mids and the improvement would definitely be in resolution, detail and hopefully stage depth and separation. Really looking for a more 3D stage. Room is 26 ft by 14 ft and probably looking at 706 S2 as it is close enough to performance of 705 S2 and small. How far away from back wall do you think these may have to be for low to moderate volume? Also, do they play well at lower volumes for night listening? Thanks for any input. Also have a hegel h160 but a smaller keces e40 as well, its kind of like a Brio but smoother, having a similar SQ to the hegel imo.

[@mcm934ify]

B&W have a metallic sound. Kef too much medium and elac miss a little of medium. But Elac carina IS the better

[@scottvamp]

The ELAC’s sound small and flat. B&W’s sound bright and I’m not sure about long-term listening. KEF R3 Meta’s are that sweet spot for me. KEF all the way on the price point. Hating on KEF and then bragging about is Klipsch is hilarious. But to each their own.

[@crutchfield]

When we set up a demo like this at HQ, it's very interesting to hear the wide range of opinions from all the people that come through and listen. We have discussions like the one in your comment all the time! If you're into comparing speakers, try our online tool: www.crutchfield.com/speakercompare/

[@dayak1286]

Bowers wilkins for me . Kef is worst for me

[@lukabosnjak3829]

None of these are decent imo...

[@themastroiannis]

they are not decent. they are excellent!

[@lukabosnjak3829]

@@themastroiannis No, Vifa Stockholm 2.0 is excellent... B&w and Elac have too much treable while Kef lacks resolution.

[@karlmalone11]

@@lukabosnjak3829 You're saying a soundbar sounds better than these lol ok buddy

[@lukabosnjak3829]

@@karlmalone11 You just have to look at measurements...

[@cha7260]

@@lukabosnjak3829 Flat frequency response doesn't sound good to everyone. I feel most prefer rolled off treble and boosted bass.