More details for KEF Audio

[TomE]

And clearly KEF have a different interpretation of #forthedrivers

 

[Eagle7]

Minor nitpick on your helpful post... isn't it the suspension material connecting the cone to the frame that "breaks in"?

Ideally cones are as rigid as possible while still being light enough to respond/oscillate quickly (which is why high end stuff sometimes uses things like carbon fibre or aluminium).

I suppose some cone materials like polypropylene might also have some give in them that changes the sound a little, but nowhere near as much as the suspension ring.

Yes for those speakers that are multi-material, but the entire cone is still moving in order to create the sound waves.

The key is how fast the material can respond to the movements of the driver. When you consider that high frequency signals can be oscillating at 10,000 cycles per second (or higher), that places quite a demand on a speaker cone. At high frequencies, the cone doesn't move very far, but it has to do it very very fast. This is why stiff high-end materials work in a tweeter.

Compare that to a low bass tone that might be a 100 cycles per second. That requires the cone to move a lot in order to push the air at that rate. It doesn't need to move very fast, but has to be able to hold up to the powerful stress of being pushed and pulled in large amounts of movement.

Sound volume also affects the speaker. The higher the volume, the farther the cone has to move to push the greater amounts of air needed to create the higher volume sound wave. If you listen to something with heavy thumping bass at loud volume, the effect on the cone is almost like kicking the speaker cone. Bass speakers generally take the most abuse in a sound system.

 

[Tokion]

Moderator note: copied from another thread

What did you think was "off" about the Kef system?

As I heard it, demonstrated by sales staff, I had no influence on program material, and could not operate settings and controls of the audio system; so I just heard it “as is” and “as presented to me”.

It did not have much focus and pin-pointing to vocals or individual instruments of the music. It was not an “enveloping sound” with neither insight nor realism regarding the musical performance and recording environment. As a lifelong audiophile, I am familiar with KEF and other UK audiophile brands since the early 1970s, and I respect KEF very much, also having listened under very good conditions to their “Blade“ models for home-use.

As a soon-to-be EMIRA FE owner, I am hoping that I will get a better impression of the premium KEF audio system in my upcoming car when I become in control of both my own chosen music material, and also of the audio system controls and settings. I hope to become positively surprised and pleased at the end. (And even if this does not happen; I will then look into further mods and careful manipulations to the system.) I do keep a positive mind, and I am 100% positive for the EMIRA FE (in my case the I4 AMG with DCT) which I look forward to enjoy alongside my BMW ALPINA B3 Touring here in Tokyo where I live.

 

[Nova]

Moderator note: copied from another thread


As I heard it, demonstrated by sales staff, I had no influence on program material, and could not operate settings and controls of the audio system; so I just heard it “as is” and “as presented to me”.

It did not have much focus and pin-pointing to vocals or individual instruments of the music. It was not an “enveloping sound” with neither insight nor realism regarding the musical performance and recording environment. As a lifelong audiophile, I am familiar with KEF and other UK audiophile brands since the early 1970s, and I respect KEF very much, also having listened under very good conditions to their “Blade“ models for home-use.

As a soon-to-be EMIRA FE owner, I am hoping that I will get a better impression of the premium KEF audio system in my upcoming car when I become in control of both my own chosen music material, and also of the audio system controls and settings. I hope to become positively surprised and pleased at the end. (And even if this does not happen; I will then look into further mods and careful manipulations to the system.) I do keep a positive mind, and I am 100% positive for the EMIRA FE (in my case the I4 AMG with DCT) which I look forward to enjoy alongside my BMW ALPINA B3 Touring here in Tokyo where I live.

Thanks for that explanation.

The way modern car audio is engineered is to beat the frequency response into submission using a high number of drivers and DSP processing, and in the process sacrificing any sense of imaging or sound stage aside from an attempt to project a mostly centered sound source for each front listener.

The way that a home stereo develops an "enveloping" listening experience, a wide soundstage that expands beyond the speakers themselves, is with well-controlled directivity. There is less opportunity for obtaining well-controlled directivity in a car environment, and driver placement/aiming/dispersion is usually severely compromised by the car's interior.

All this is to say, I personally would not be looking for a realistic soundstage in a car audio system. If they get the tonal balance correct, with good dynamic headroom and limited distortion, I would call that a success.

 

[Tonyshepp]

So seen through glass and Shmee both say the stereo needs to be louder, any guys/gals driven the Emira at speed and can hear the stereo above the rise noise/charger whine??

 

[CDM1855]

So seen through glass and Shmee both say the stereo needs to be louder, any guys/gals driven the Emira at speed and can hear the stereo above the rise noise/charger whine??

Maybe it’s designed for when you are parked up

 

[hml_xy]

So seen through glass and Shmee both say the stereo needs to be louder, any guys/gals driven the Emira at speed and can hear the stereo above the rise noise/charger whine??

You can absolutely still hear the stereo at high speeds. But you will have turned it up to near maximum volume then. And their statements confirm my criticism, in my opinion the KEF lacks "sound stage" and power. Everything else is good. The quality of the reproduction is pretty good, but it sound isn't wide enough. Think very good Sonos speaker with a single physical source. It is lacking the tweeters that could have been in the A pillars, the center speaker in the dashboard is trying to make up for it with glass reflection and DSP trickery but it is not doing a great job at it. That and oomph.

But you will be able to hear your music at high speeds, it is not _that_ bad

 

[virtualmacho]

I've had this "Learn to speak Spanish in 7 days" CD in my current car for the past 7 years with absolutely no progress. Do you think the KEF system will yield better results?

 

[Jimblob]

So seen through glass and Shmee both say the stereo needs to be louder, any guys/gals driven the Emira at speed and can hear the stereo above the rise noise/charger whine??

I’d you turn the stereo up to max it hurts your ears…. Plenty plenty loud enough. I think the sound stage / frequency balance isn’t perfect but volume is not the issue.

Anyone with a car perfected the equaliser choice in the car?

I’ve just set mine all the same after spending 30 mins going def playing them!

 

[kitkat]

I've had this "Learn to speak Spanish in 7 days" CD in my current car for the past 7 years with absolutely no progress. Do you think the KEF system will yield better results?

me gustaría tener mi coche pronto

 

[Tonyshepp]

I’d you turn the stereo up to max it hurts your ears…. Plenty plenty loud enough. I think the sound stage / frequency balance isn’t perfect but volume is not the issue.

Anyone with a car perfected the equaliser choice in the car?

I’ve just set mine all the same after spending 30 mins going def playing them!

I used the equaliser on the streaming app, in my case Amazon Prime music, this did seem to pump more bass and frequency into the system. Can you hear it above the engine whilst driving?

 

[simonb]

I've had this "Learn to speak Spanish in 7 days" CD in my current car for the past 7 years with absolutely no progress. Do you think the KEF system will yield better results?

not without a CD player

 

[Jimblob]

Hello all. I thought I'd weigh in on this topic since I've done nearly 800 miles in my own Emira now.

The KEF audio isn't bad by any means, lots of negative comments I've read here. I used to be huge into car audio, and as I've got older have stopped replacing and upgrading the cars, but still have a bit of an ear for it.

So comparisons, because that's what is probably most relevant. There's no point talking about how much bass or clarity something has if no one has a reference point.

The HK system in my BMW is louder than this KEF system - however the KEF system has a lot more clarity to it, and better mid range. The sound stage is extremely front centric, which some people will love, but there's very little sound from the rear speakers, this is easily changed in the settings to balance it better. It does lack volume though, but it doesn't distort at high volumes, hence the comment re clarity.

The BOSE system in my Porsche Cayenne is louder, much more bass, and is all round better. This would be expected, it's a larger sound stage, with bigger subs and bigger speakers. So it's hardly a surprise. But the clarity is on par, if not slightly better, in the KEF in the mid range.

One interesting thing to note is the source material. The radio quality is pretty poor / lacks bass / lacks volume. Hook up to your phone however, stream something on spotify or downloaded material from your phone and the system comes into it's own. So don't go sit in a demo car and put the radio on, you'll be unimpressed. Get your fav album on Spotify, hook the phone up, and go from there.

Just an actual owner's thoughts on the KEF setup Take as you wish.

How did you adjust the front rear balance - from playing with it I think/thought my balance only did left to right!

 

[Jimblob]

I used the equaliser on the streaming app, in my case Amazon Prime music, this did seem to pump more bass and frequency into the system. Can you hear it above the engine whilst driving?

It was loud enough to completely drown out my wife whilst testing! She wasn’t complaining, just helping me play with the settings!

 

[Jonhklee]

not without a CD player

What’s this? 2001!?
Stream the song without the song skipping over pot-holes!
I Do miss the 10- CD changer in the boot days….. how cool were we! )

 

[Tonyshepp]

How did you adjust the front rear balance - from playing with it I think/thought my balance only did left to right!

It does only do balance, strange thing is though the bass seems to come from behind the seats. The Emira manual talks if a fader but there isn't one.

 

[Pugwash]

I was told the same at Goodwood but I was not asked to keep quiet about it. I just never got around to mentioning it.

Now if you ask me about early nose badges……………

Ah, so the news about the nose badges is starting to come out.

 

[OneThreeOne]

Ah, so the news about the nose badges is starting to come out.

Was this posted to the wrong thread?

 

[GetawayDriving]

I have already solved audio in previous Lotus.

 

[Pugwash]

Was this posted to the wrong thread?

Nope, if you click on the link you will find it was part of a discussion about the KEF sound system.

of course if Tom wants to copy and paste it into another thread then that’s fine but I don’t have priviledges to do that.