A Mixed Bag

Absolutely, and I'm not criticising that at all but merely making the point that every space will affect the sound made by a system and sometimes (more often than not, actually) systems have to perform in some very sub-optimal conditions.  Therefore, whether you listen in a dealer demo room, a hotel room, or a specially designed testing room, each  space is going to tell you something different about the equipment.

You should have gone in the Sonus faber room then surely? 

I never heard the REL demo at Bristol this year, I just wandered round the room next door saying "that's a nice coffee table", "that's a subwoofer, sir.", "....oh.".

Yes, I would have done if there was one.  Just saying I would have been interested to hear the SFs without the sub, not that I would expect REL to do so, although it might make sense to do a with and without comparison.

Indeed: our rooms are designed to tell the testers as much as possible about the performance of components – after that the testers' experience kicks in to inform the reviews regarding how the components will perform in a wide range of rooms.

I do have to say to some earlier comments in the thread, that the Naim Ovator speakers, bot the S400 and S600, do sound much better in a normal environment. I've heard both models in our store and they sounded much better than they did at the Manchester show. Not sticking up for them, just saying

Thought that was you at the show today David....

I didn't stop to chat, as you had company with you.....

You should've butted in Pete! Would've been nice to say hello - it would only have been a rep anyway, they could've waited

It was a female.....you were walking down on corridor on second floor....assumed it was your girlfriend, so thought I'd leave you to your day off (busman's one of course!!)

..

Yes, it was the girlfriend You should've said hello anyway - she had to put up with me talking to all the reps all day! Although, she did want to come, and she came last year as well. She spent most of the show picking out TV's and turntables that she liked - the TV was £4k, and none of the turntables were under £1k! She mainly wanted to hear the Blades, so she could decide if I'm completely loony or not for buying some. Good job she likes them

You got some Blades at home???? OMG!!!!

Or did you sell the home to pay for them....

Those Blades are incredible, although I can't say I've heard any other £20k speakers to compare them to.

Yes they were......

What did you think of the R series?

I was very impressed.  I think they suffered slightly from being played after the Blades, as you would expect.  It might have been better for the R-series to be demonstrated first, followed by the Blades.  After the Blades I could definitely hear the extra cabinet colouration of the R-series, but this is by no means a criticism.  For their price and, when you think how expensive the Blades are, the R-series sounding so impressive is testament to what KEF has achieved with them.

Although I am normally a stand-mount lover, I actually thought the floorstanders (R500?) sounded substantially better than the R300.

Only thing I would say is that they were some way from boundaries and still produced huge bass.  These speakers might be a bit too much in a lot of modern rooms.

What did you think?

I thought it was a very bold move to play the Blades then some of the R series....

If I won the lottery, I know which one's I'd buy!!!

I agree that they were quite bass heavy, and as you've mentioned they were no where near a room boundary. I'd imagine dance music lovers with love them (maroon 5 track sounds good on the R500's around 4pm-I had my feet tapping away.)but in a small room they would be too much, unlike the Q500's.

But this colouration might not be to everyone's tastes. The Blades were much more natural and realistic in terms of sound presentation. And so they should be at £20k!!

Would have loved to hear the Q500 next to the R500's......obviously the Q500's have ABR's so not all cones are active(3 cones and 1 uni-Q cone. 2 active, and 2 passive) This gives a good amount of bass in smaller rooms.....yet they still have the HF detail.