Audio thread- to KEF or not to KEF?

[Porter]

Looks to be a 90mm/3.5 inch or 100mm/4 inch midrange driver. For some reason I thought these were 5" or 6.5" in the doors. That's good info. The side/rear speakers are critical for the factory system to produce reasonable mid-bass, then.

@KJWEmira what do the factory rear speakers look like? Any indication on them of impedance?

 

[KJWEmira]

Hmmm, so a 4”. A bit silly for Cambridge Audio to call them 3”. They are well aware driver size is not expressed as the diaphragm diameter.

It’s not really 4”. I would say slightly smaller than 3.5”, there is a lot of plastic surrounding it.
Below is what that speaker sits in.
IMO, Cambridge did a great install! It’s very time consuming / labor intensive.

 

[Porter]

It’s not really 4”. I would say slightly smaller than 3.5”, there is a lot of plastic surrounding it.
Below is what that speaker sits in.
IMO, Cambridge did a great install! It’s very time consuming / labor intensive.


View attachment 37595

So likely a 90mm nominal, 3.5" equivalent. Interesting that it looks to be a sealed enclosure. Is it metal? Or resin?

 

[KJWEmira]

Looks to be a 90mm/3.5 inch or 100mm/4 inch midrange driver. For some reason I thought these were 5" or 6.5" in the doors. That's good info. The side/rear speakers are critical for the factory system to produce reasonable mid-bass, then.

@KJWEmira what do the factory rear speakers look like? Any indication on them of impedance?

Rears are 5”. I would refer to these as mid bass - no vocals produced or heard.
No KEF markings either…

 

[KJWEmira]

Would be great if you could get a signal wire that’s feeding the standard amp, rather than use the standard amp outputs. Shouldn’t be too difficult to determine those low level signals, they should be screened cables.

I’ve identified all wiring, yes, signal wire easy to identify.
I’m in the very early stages of deciding to keep or discard what’s originally installed. But, that’s the beauty of the Audison Amp though, fully computer programmable with integration, hence it’s eye watering price 😉

 

[Time2Fly]

Rears are 5”. I would refer to these as mid bass - no vocals produced or heard.
No KEF markings either…

The bottom line on the right looks like production date and time. The top yields nothing.

 

[KJWEmira]

So likely a 90mm nominal, 3.5" equivalent. Interesting that it looks to be a sealed enclosure. Is it metal? Or resin?

Its closer to 85mm 😉
The enclosure is a completely sealed resin box, with some rolled up sound proofing.

 

[Porter]

Rears are 5”. I would refer to these as mid bass - no vocals produced or heard.
No KEF markings either…

Fascinating. Integrated basket and mount, too. From the part number, likely a 4ohm.

I see the seal around the edge. Was this in an open mount? Or a sealed enclosure like the fronts?

Thanks for all the info! This is the best development in this thread in a very long time.

 

[KJWEmira]

Fascinating. Integrated basket and mount, too. From the part number, likely a 4ohm.

I see the seal around the edge. Was this in an open mount? Or a sealed enclosure like the fronts?

Thanks for all the info! This is the best development in this thread in a very long time.

this is the passenger side rear mount, completely open. Currently no sound deadening….(black box is the fuse box just incase anyone was wondering😉)
The rear trim just sits over the top.

 

[Porter]

Hmmm, so a 4”. A bit silly for Cambridge Audio to call them 3”. They are well aware driver size is not expressed as the diaphragm diameter.

This is very confusing. I'm actually not sure how this "Cambridge Car Audio" company is even allowed to call themselves that, considering there is a very long-established audio manufacturer in the UK called Cambridge Audio.

 

[Nova]

The piston diameter of the KEF driver looks to be about 85mm/3.35in. the entire frame looks to be about 100mm/4in. Many manufacturers do in fact use the frame size as the driver size, rather than piston diameter. The "6.5-in" Audison Voce driver, for example, has a 167mm/6.6in frame and 130mm/5.12in piston diameter. Of course they didn't call it a "five inch midbass" in the Cambridge videos. No doubt the KEF is a smaller driver and can't perform full duties as a midbass, so it's a midrange only. You can tell by the thin surround.

 

[Nova]

this is the passenger side rear mount, completely open. Currently no sound deadening….(black box is the fuse box just incase anyone was wondering😉)
The rear trim just sits over the top.

Looks like the design is that the foam gasket in front of the driver is supposed to seal against the trim panel, creating the baffle. In addition to deadening the metal panels behind the driver, I would stuff some Acousta Stuf behind the driver. To further absorb the sound.

 

[KJWEmira]

Looks like the design is that the foam gasket in front of the driver is supposed to seal against the trim panel, creating the baffle. In addition to deadening the metal panels behind the driver, I would stuff some Acousta Stuf behind the driver. To further absorb the sound.

Correct. I'm using Skinz to line the bodywork, then foam over the top. There is absolutely ZERO sound deadening material in this area / behind the speaker....

 

[Time2Fly]

Correct. I'm using Skinz to line the bodywork, then foam over the top. There is absolutely ZERO sound deadening material in this area / behind the speaker....

Possibly to let in more engine noise, but that can be too much.

 

[lynchy73]

It’s not really 4”. I would say slightly smaller than 3.5”, there is a lot of plastic surrounding it.
Below is what that speaker sits in.
IMO, Cambridge did a great install! It’s very time consuming / labor intensive.


View attachment 37595

Yes, but speaker size is always the size of the frame, not the cone or cone plus surround. I didn’t criticise their install, I only found it odd that they would understate the original size of the front drivers.

 

[lynchy73]

I’ve identified all wiring, yes, signal wire easy to identify.
I’m in the very early stages of deciding to keep or discard what’s originally installed. But, that’s the beauty of the Audison Amp though, fully computer programmable with integration, hence it’s eye watering price 😉

It’s amazing how these amps can work with an existing install and get something close to the full range stereo signal from numerous high level amplified band passed signals that would normally drive the speakers.

However, it’s still going to be better if you can get a full range low level signal and use that as the source to the new amp. If you can get such a signal, you then don’t need such a clever amp.

For those that don’t yet have their car. Be aware, the doors in an emira are flimsy/light. When you slam it, you don’t get a satisfying thunk. Crossing over at low mid frequencies for those door speakers was likely a design choice and seen as the best compromise, without having to add a whole lot of sound deadening.

 

[Time2Fly]

For those that don’t yet have their car. Be aware, the doors in an emira are flimsy/light. When you slam it, you don’t get a satisfying thunk. Crossing over at low mid frequencies for those door speakers was likely a design choice and seen as the best compromise, without having to add a whole lot of sound deadening.

I'm removing a hundred pounds. I can stomach adding a scant few pounds back to improve the audio.

 

[KJWEmira]

Just to answer the question “AreTweeters originally / actually installed in the A-Pillars?” - The answer is NO.

After removing both A-pillar trims, I can confirm there are purpose built clips in place, just no tweeters or wiring

 

[Honcho]

After nearly 2000 miles it seems the audio from the Kef setup has improved drastically for me. I have the EQ around +5 bass, +10 mid, +10 high and speed sensitive at medium. This is when the volume is set to around 1/4 at speeds around 50-70mph. Happy enough with the sound now.

 

[KJWEmira]

As promised, here are the final 3D printed versions of the front and rear speaker mounts, & Amp Mount, allowing you to upgrade your KEF audio to a far superior system. The front mounts allow you to transform from a 3" speaker to any 6.5" speaker, and the rear mounts allow you to install any far superior 5" speaker.

I’m able to produce both front and rear mounts on demand at a cost of £435 (Including postage if you’re within the UK). The mounts are 3D printed at 100% infill, not hollow or honeycomb.

The amp mount can also be produced upon request for £180, (formed from a single sheet of 5mm aluminium, plasma cut & folded into the perfect shape to mount in place of the cars original sub). All holes are pre-drilled and it’s made to take any Audison Forza amp. A 70mm Stainless-steel blanking plate (to cover the bottom free-to-air sub drain-hole).

Speaker wiring colour codes will also be included, saving you hours of time.

I’ve personally completed this upgrade to my own Emira and the difference is night and day – If you enjoy your music as much as the car, then this upgrade is definitely worth it!

I’m sure there will be many questions, and hopefully I’ll have all of the answers as the installation was completed by myself (plus taken 100’s of pictures along the way should these also be of interest).