Floorstanding loudspeakers — KEF Reference 5 Meta

The Reference 5 Meta is the largest floorstanding model in KEF's Reference series, designed, engineered and hand-built in Maidstone, Kent, where KEF has made loudspeakers since 1961. It carries the same 12th-generation Uni-Q array as the smaller Reference 3 Meta but has twice as many bass drivers, which aims it at larger rooms and higher output levels.

Key specs that matter

KEF uses a vented three-way layout with six drivers. The Uni-Q array combines a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter with MAT and a 125mm aluminium midrange cone, and four 165mm (6.5-inch) aluminium bass units work below it. Crossover points are 450Hz and 2.1kHz. Frequency response runs from 40Hz to 35kHz (+/-3dB). Free-field -6dB points are 35Hz with the short port and 32Hz with the long port, and typical in-room bass extension reaches 25Hz. Sensitivity is 88dB at 2.83V/1m, nominal impedance is 4 ohms with a 3.2-ohm minimum, and KEF lists 50 to 400W as the amplifier power to use. Maximum output is 116dB, and second and third harmonic distortion at 90dB stays below 0.1% from 2kHz to 20kHz. Without the plinth, each speaker measures 1,350 x 205 x 462mm, and it weighs 60.2kg.

Engineering and use context

All four bass units sit in a narrow cabinet, so the total cone area is large while the front baffle stays slim, which reduces diffraction. Since the four woofers share the work below 450Hz, each one moves less for a given level, and low-frequency distortion stays down at high volume. The Uni-Q array is mounted on a front baffle machined from solid aluminium, a rigid and non-resonant base for the coincident driver. MAT is a maze of tuned channels behind the tweeter that absorbs the rear wave before it can reflect inside the driver. The cabinet has constrained-layer damping and extensive internal bracing, and the crossover components are chosen to the same standard as those in KEF's Blade. With Flexible Port Technology the owner can swap between the short and long port, trading bass extension against placement close to a wall. Each pair is matched to within 0.5dB of a laboratory reference standard.

Pairing

As a low-impedance load, the Reference 5 Meta needs a powerful amplifier with real current capability. The four-woofer bass section suits large rooms where smaller towers run out of output.

Alternatives

The KEF Reference 3 Meta keeps the same Uni-Q array but has two bass drivers instead of four, for medium-sized rooms.