Kef r11 vs Dutch 8c for living room (2024)

I’m seriously considering getting 8c but was wondering how does a tower like r11 (or even reference 5) sonically compare to Dutch 8? I’ll have trouble auditioning r11 and would only do it if you guys say it would compete well against 8c

Hifi part of my living room is 4x4m (13x13), behind my listening position everything opens up, back wall is 6m (20) behind me. Ceiling is 4m (13) high.
Rr11 is half the price of 8c. The fact that 8c can go against the wall is just a small advantage in my case.

Currently I have open baffle “3 way” and I love it for acoustic and vocals and hate it for complex music.

Thanks in advance!

https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/statistics.html

Well if these scores are correct the Kef Reference 5 spin scores a 7.6 olive score, better than the 7.3 of the Dutch & Dutch 8C. But it's a floorstander so it may have more bass tilting the score its way.

The ref 5 score is from kef measurements and very smoothed (and that improves the score). Since the delta between the scores is small, it is not significant.

The 8c has more bass (and likely less max output volume I am guessing) they look similar to me. The cardioid
effect will make a diff in room.

Hard to say. Some facts:
* The 8c will be flatter on-axis, not needing any EQ above the Schroeder frequency.
* The 8c already has phase correction builtin, but only coaxial units can really be time aligned, which Dirac will probably do.
* The 8c has a wider dispersion, your choice here.
* Look: the 8c looks good in the finish Erin had, but the Ref 3 in white and blue is just stunning and quite the rare color.
* No need for a subwoofer if you manage to stick the 8c to the wall.
* 8c's internal DSP allows for room correction together with REW and a cheap measurement mic without an expensive AVR.
* To compare the R7 or Ref 3 with the 8c, you need powerful amplification (Hypex), room correction (MiniDSP) and two small subwoofers.
* I expect distortion/headroom of the Kef+sub combo to be lower/higher, since it's a 4-way system with a bit more engineered drivers and way more total internal volume.
* Cardioid bass vs coaxial mids? Very hard to choose, your preference will matter a lot.

I'd also consider a Genelec 8351B + 2 7360A combo, here.

Personally I would pick Dutch any day of the week even if I haven't heard them. It's just more home-friendly in that it's a full-range, placement-friendly finished system.
I like Kef R11, but I didn't get wowed by them. I felt they needed subs and some EQ to bring the midrange more up to my liking.
Dutch has those things included in the package and has the trick of greatly diminishing front wall cancellation up its sleeve as well. Most people aren't likely to put a 4 inch absorbent behind the speakers in a living room.

Kef will likely have some vertical advantage due to multiple woofers placed in different heights, so it's possible that this would be enough of an advantage to tilt the preference the other way in the critical mid/upper bass range.

The KEF Reference 5 is a beast of a speaker and is effectively twice the size and weight of the 8C. It's also not an easy load IIRC so factor in powerful and expensive amplification.

It also has a very lovely (and fragile) finish. Slightest knock whilst moving it will chip that gorgeous lacquer. I'd personally still get the Reference 5 purely based on looks though - but then I am a KEF fanboi.