This is a review written by Chris Baillie August 2024.

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Kerr Acoustic

I have been looking at many different types of DAC and amplifier designs recently, some of which vary wildly from each other and, and indeed, differ in their sonic presentations. By nature, the possibilities, as far as differing speaker designs go, take things to another level. Each designer has their theory as to which is the best, and you will often hear them wax lyrical about why theirs is. One of the things which impressed me about Jes Kerr, the man behind the Kerr K320 Mk3 speakers that I am looking at here, is how he respects each designer’s viewpoint and is open to what is good and bad about every design.

Despite his impressive resume as a drummer, producer and studio installer, he is so modest, open-minded and relaxed about what he does, which in his case reflects an inner confidence that, as you will read in this piece, is backed up in the results of his products. I chose to review these following an afternoon spent listening to this Cambridge brand’s top-of-the-range speakers, the K100. I had heard these speakers at shows a few times, with varying results, which says more about the well known difficult show conditions than the speakers themselves, as I discovered when I heard them set up in a first-class system and acoustically treated room.

Unfortunately, my listening room is shared with the family, so hosting the large K100 speakers was out of the question, hence choosing to review the K320 Mk3 we are looking at here. The company also offer a range of professional speakers for commercial studio applications, for which they have an impressive client list. The pro speakers are based on the same technology as the the domestic range speakers but are typically offered in black or grey finished to suit the studio setting. Kerr Acoustics have an arrangement with Chord Electronics, which provides the amplification, but such setups are in passive rather than active configurations, which both companies feel delivers superior results.

With one exception, the speakers I have had in my system over the years have mostly been rear-ported designs, which have all worked well in my room. I was a little concerned about the physical depth of the K320 Mk3 necessitating them to be placed close to my rear wall, but Jes was confident due to these speakers being of a front-ported transmission line design, that should not cause any issues. Each speaker in Kerr Acoustic’s four model range is similarly transmission line front-ported, which Jes believes gives several advantages if suitably implemented. As a drummer, accurate musical timing is crucial to him, and he feels that feeding the music down the same line helps achieve this. Additionally, the transmission line acts as an internal brace inside the cabinet, which is doubtless a contributory factor to why this Baltic Birch-Plywood cabinet feels so dead when given a wrap of the knuckles.

As a former owner of Shahinian Speakers, I have long been a fan of this type of cabinet material. Kerr Acoustics’cabinets were formerly made in Yorkshire, but unfortunately, the birch was sourced from Russia, which, due to recent events, became an issue for reasons well documented.  Therefore they are now produced in Poland, which possibly explains the recent price rises of the Kerr range of speakers, but they are far from alone here in having been forced to do so.

So the question is, does the current price, which starts at £8,795.00, represent good value?

Design, Build And Features

Readers can access all of the specifications via the weblink above, so rather than re-quoting them here, I will discuss the significant bits. One of my favourite small speakers is the Serhan Swift Mu2 MkII, which uses drivers from Scanspeak’s Revelator range.  I was comforted when I saw the 165mm bass/mid driver of the K320 Mk3 was a larger version of the unit used in that speaker. The Mu2 is one of the fastest and most dynamic speakers I have heard, so the prospect of a speaker that possessed those qualities but with the benefits of a larger cabinet whetted my appetite. The 60mm ribbon tweeter is a modified Fountek Neo unit, which was chosen for its smooth and extended frequency response (up to 45Khz), along with its speed; therefore should be an excellent match for the Scanspeak bass/mid.

The crossover includes many custom components, which are hand-soldered and hard-wired. The quoted sensitivity is 90dB (2.83v/1m). Impedance is quoted as 6 ohms, which requires a little more grip from the amplifier than with some speakers, but most natural partners for a speaker of this level should be able to cope. The transmission line design helps the low frequencies extend down to 24Hz, which is lower than many similar-sized speakers achieve.

My samples were finished in the standard Oak. If this finish does not suit your taste, then there are various alternatives, including 200 RAL custom options available, albeit for a price premium. I am a big fan of single-wired speaker inputs, as they avoid the additional cost and faff of bi-wire links. I get that it means you cannot bi-amp your speakers, but I suspect far more people curse having to purchase extra jumper leads than benefit from the secondary inputs. A pair of magnetic grills were provided with my review samples, which I left on to protect the drive units when not playing music. As is usually the case, the speakers sounded best without the grills, so I removed them for critical listening.

How Do They Play Music?

I was privileged to have my review samples delivered and set up by Jes Kerr himself. Jes brought along a pair of custom-made Townshend Podium bases, which, since they are offered to customers at the point of sale from Kerr Acoustics dealers, we agreed to install underneath the speakers. Whilst I have long been a fan of these bases, having witnessed demonstrations of their effectiveness, this was to be the first time that I have tried them at home.

Jes initially set them up with a small amount of toe-in, which I increased after he left to obtain the perfect soundstage from my listening position. Despite them being placed only 15cm from the rear wall, there was no bass boom or additional bloom. In fact, the sound was remarkably uncoloured and natural, no doubt helped by the podiums.

My reference system consists of a Melco N1 server with the S100 switch, a Moon 780D DAC, a 600i amp, and resident Totem Forest Signature speakers. Analogue cables come from Townshend, and digital cables come from CAD and Network Acoustics. Before setting up the K320 Mk3s, we listened to the system via my Totem speakers, which Jes was very complimentary about. We agreed that the sound was balanced and lively, with a full-sounding, bouncy bass. It did not take Jes long to set up the K320s, after which we listened to the same tracks again. My initial notes were that the K320 Mk3s sounded cleaner, lighter and faster, with a more airy and extended top-end. There was a lot more detail, but nothing was forced; in fact, the sound was delicate and soft in balance, although, as was demonstrated when I put on a track from John Hopkins, these speakers could up the ante and hit hard when required.

Jes advised me that the speakers would take a day or so to settle down after being transported, with the damping material, in particular, having moved around. Therefore, I was not concerned that the soundstage was not quite as wide as it was via my Totems and there initially not being quite the same degree of bass punch. Thankfully, both of these aspects of the music had improved within the first week.

Having initially used them to provide the sound for the TV, a few days later, I had my first serious listening session with the K320 Mk3s; their performance enthralled me. Let’s first talk about the bass. In terms of control, phrasing, texture, speed, and dynamics, these speakers are truly impressive. The speakers remain coherent across the rest of the frequency range; only when sitting a little too close could I pick out which drive unit the music was emitting from. The soundstage was as holographic as I achieved with the Totem Element Fire v2s, which I hosted a couple of years back, and I had considered the best I’d achieved in my room at that point. As I hypothesised earlier, these speakers do indeed sound fast, and they do so across the frequency range, but naturally so. That speed and the speaker’s headroom allow them to produce stunning dynamics, which increases listener involvement.

I have been listening to David Sylvian’s Secrets Of The Beehive for decades, yet I have never heard it sound so full, expansive, and expressive as I have via the K320 MkIII speakers. Unfortunately, the final track, Forbidden Colours, which, despite being the perfect climax of this astonishing album, was omitted from the remastered version. Thankfully, I have the original CD, which also sounds better. The single drum strikes help demonstrate the speaker’s timing abilities, doubtless due to the dead cabinet and fast-responding drive units. Another album I particularly enjoyed via these Kerr’s was Beck’s Sea Change (24/192download). Most who have heard this album agree that it is a particularly fine recording. Here, I was treated to a vast soundstage and tremendous dynamics. The bass on both this
and the SACD version of this album can be overwhelming, which is something the MoFi CD version tames somewhat. Via the Kerr’s, although full and powerful, it was clean and entirely under control.

Any downsides? Not as such, but with any speaker as transparent as this, if there is anything wrong with the recording you’re listening to, you will be aware of it. Having said that, sympathetic system matching is key here. For example, I found the Moon 600i made this much less of an issue than, say, the more transparent and revealing Circle A200 amplifier that I had in the system, which I was reviewing for another publication. Similarly, I have heard these speakers sounding a little thin and ‘bright’ sounding at shows in certain rooms, yet perfectly balanced in others. This is due to both the absence of the ‘bloom’ and the added warmth that you often experience with lesser speakers, including my Totem Forest Signature’s, and the speaker’s highly transparent nature. Get the system right, and you will be rewarded with a perfectly balanced performance; indeed, the natural balance of the K320 Mk3 is softer and sweeter sounding than many others that I’ve had at home.

A good example here is the track Digital Bath from Deftones White Pony (24/96 download). Via the wrong system, the high-frequency energy can overwhelm, and the result is almost unlistenable. The combination of the Moon 600i and Kerr K320 Mk3 kept things in hand, and whilst the compression during the chorus is hard to ignore, there was sufficient sweetness, space, and air around the digital effects, cymbals, and drumkit to balance this and keep me engaged in the performance.

Conclusions

The Kerr K320 Mk3 speakers have worked exceptionally well in my room and setup. There is no such thing as a perfect speaker, but I feel these are as close to the ideal choice for my room and tastes as I am likely to find for anything like sensible money. There are speakers whose design and appearance are perhaps more individual and unique, although these are far from unattractive.

The Kerr K320 Mk3 give me the imaging qualities of a great stand-mount, such as the Serhan Swift Mu2 or Totem Element Fire v2, with a close to ideal low-frequency performance in my room. To answer the question posed earlier, as to whether these speakers offer good value for money, that would be a wholehearted affirmative. The K320 Mk3 considerably outperforms my Totem Forest Signature speakers in most respects, which admittedly retail for £2000 less, and I would sooner live with these than any mainstream speaker that I’ve heard in the £10-£12k bracket from better-known brands.

They provide listener involvement, create an engaging soundstage, produce fabulous dynamics and transient performance and are as transparent as I could wish for. They do not sound overly romantic or accentuate particular parts of the audiobook like others; instead, they remain true to their maker’s pro-audio heritage without that ‘warts and all’ sound you get from pure studio monitors.

The Kerr K320 Mk3 should be at the top of your shortlist if you are looking for this type of speaker. They won’t mask issues elsewhere in the chain but feed them with a quality signal, and they will really sing.

An Essential Audition Award is granted in recognition of a products high performance but with a certain uniqueness that makes auditioning even more essential.

For the full specification of the Kerr Acoustic K320 MK3 speakers please see their website linked here