£999

38

KEF R3

Confidence is key to the CXA81’S performance; it hammers out staccato rhythmic patterns with assured conviction, snapping in time and allowing its expert handling of alternately loud and soft beats to lock in a groove. Above it, a full-bodied and expressive midrange deals out melodies that are given space to soar, yet still sound definitively part of a musical whole.

The CXA81 perhaps sounds a little forward, but its level of expression is such that it is sympathetic to more minimal, sombre recordings as well. Feed it a solo piano work or chamber quartet and it is only too pleased to show you its more caring, gentle side.

The final piece of our system puzzle is a pair of speakers that allow the Cambridge amp and Technics combo to really sing. And we couldn’t look any further than KEF’S fine R3 standmounters.

The R3s are a three-way design, with a dedicated bass driver. Such a configuration means that each driver – tweeter, midrange and bass – can be optimised to work in its specific frequency band and tuned with less compromise than a two-way alternative would demand. The trade-off tends to be the greater cost and complexity of trying to combine three drive units to work as a cohesive whole. That’s why most rival companies don’t bother at this level.

A neat design with sonic benefits

We like the speaker’s clean appearance. But even here the decisions have been made on performance grounds. The shaped trim around the Uni-q driver doesn’t just make the front panel look balanced by echoing the size of the larger bass driver; it also helps to reduce diffraction effects at the cabinet edges. That slim front looks smart and offers advantages in rigidity and dispersion.

The KEFS reveal a level of insight and detail resolution way beyond most rivals. Despite all the analysis they remain musical performers, focusing the listener’s attention on the message rather than the mechanics of replay.

Something larger scale in the form of Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator OST, say, shows the KEFS’ ability to generate plenty of sonic scale and authority. The R3s sound much bigger than they are, delivering a precise, well organised stereo soundstage.

These speakers work well across a range of systems, but give them a top-class feed such as they have here, and they will deliver a sound good enough to worry most standmounters below the two grand mark.