More details for KEF Audio

[PsymonR]

I wonder whether the inputs make a difference - currently I always just use spotify streaming via car play. Is there a jack to actually plug the phone in, i.e. to use a high quality audio cable?

There can definitely be an impact from the input used. I can't say for quality (I'm happy with how the system sounds) but I noticed an increase in volume when trying out playing music from a USB stick compared to my more usual Android Auto / Spotify approach early on in my car ownership. I should probably revisit now the speakers have had time to bed in.

 

[Eagle7]

Eagle adding weight? *shocked gasps*


I'd love to hear if this makes a meaningful difference. Could be nice to take some of the road surface noise out of the cabin at highway speeds.

A sheet of Damplfier mat weighs ounces. It's surprisingly light for what it does. If I do decide to do this (depends on how easy or not it is to get at the backs of the wheel well liners) I'll document everything and post before/after results.

 

[robrmon]

Friends, so I finally have my car. And I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile, however, the system isn’t very loud. Can anyone offer some tips for a newbie or point me to the direction of a post that improves things thank you.

 

[Eagle7]

Friends, so I finally have my car. And I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile, however, the system isn’t very loud. Can anyone offer some tips for a newbie or point me to the direction of a post that improves things thank you.

Did you try resetting the audio in the settings? I did that and my system gets plenty loud.

 

[robrmon]

Did you try resetting the audio in the settings? I did that and my system gets plenty loud.

Thank you. I did that and I think it’s made a difference

 

[Tokion]

KEF KC62 SUBWOOFER IN EMIRA

While I am still (soon to be 3 years) waiting to receive my ordered Emira 4-cylinder First Edition, I have dreams and fantasies about how to improve the sound of the audio systems (experience with the audio from borrowing a V6 FE was a complete disappointment - and my conclusion is that it is not acceptable to me).

I am a fan of the KEF brand since many decades ago, so I want to make it work by increasing the KEF-elements in my car.

Even though there seems to be 3-inch KEF UNI-Q drivers in each door panel, it is a little doubtful whether the third 3-inch UNI-Q driver at the center of the dashboard, near the windshield, is really mounted (maybe some cars have got it, while others have not)?

There seems to be no drives mounted in the pillars left and right of the windshield (these locations are for tweeters of the base system on no -FE cars.) However, one question is what would happen if additional 3-inch UNI-Q drivers were to be added in these available spaces on an FE-edition car? (Possibly additional DSP tuning would be required? And also some separate volume adjustment?)

At any rate the “Fresh-Air” woofer at the rear is in my opinion not satisfactory, and not even useable. This has been written a lot about; and I personally intend to disconnect it and rip it out.

I have noticed that Eletre models built in Wuhan, China actually have another KEF invention, the UNI-CORE woofer (which are actually two woofers sharing a single magnet in a very compact closed box enclosure. The size of this is approximately a one foot cube (or about 25 cm cube). I do assume that the version for Eletre may have a different, customized size, and that it is adapted for in-car use. But at current this is not offered as an option for Emira owners.

KEF KC62 is a powered Class-D amp subwoofer for home-use (powered by AC). However, it should be compact enough to place in the center of the luggage compartment behind the seats. It will be connected via RCA cabling, and it needs an AC-DC inverter power supply (readily available from many sources). The KC62 also have many available settings (DSP) for alternative positioning; although none of them are really for a car environment.

I am personally willing to give it a try.

Anyone else in our forum who has the same idea and is willing to take a chance on this?

 

[Davebeats]

KEF KC62 SUBWOOFER IN EMIRA

While I am still (soon to be 3 years) waiting to receive my ordered Emira 4-cylinder First Edition, I have dreams and fantasies about how to improve the sound of the audio systems (experience with the audio from borrowing a V6 FE was a complete disappointment - and my conclusion is that it is not acceptable to me).

I am a fan of the KEF brand since many decades ago, so I want to make it work by increasing the KEF-elements in my car.

Even though there seems to be 3-inch KEF UNI-Q drivers in each door panel, it is a little doubtful whether the third 3-inch UNI-Q driver at the center of the dashboard, near the windshield, is really mounted (maybe some cars have got it, while others have not)?

There seems to be no drives mounted in the pillars left and right of the windshield (these locations are for tweeters of the base system on no -FE cars.) However, one question is what would happen if additional 3-inch UNI-Q drivers were to be added in these available spaces on an FE-edition car? (Possibly additional DSP tuning would be required? And also some separate volume adjustment?)

At any rate the “Fresh-Air” woofer at the rear is in my opinion not satisfactory, and not even useable. This has been written a lot about; and I personally intend to disconnect it and rip it out.

I have noticed that Eletre models built in Wuhan, China actually have another KEF invention, the UNI-CORE woofer (which are actually two woofers sharing a single magnet in a very compact closed box enclosure. The size of this is approximately a one foot cube (or about 25 cm cube). I do assume that the version for Eletre may have a different, customized size, and that it is adapted for in-car use. But at current this is not offered as an option for Emira owners.

KEF KC62 is a powered Class-D amp subwoofer for home-use (powered by AC). However, it should be compact enough to place in the center of the luggage compartment behind the seats. It will be connected via RCA cabling, and it needs an AC-DC inverter power supply (readily available from many sources). The KC62 also have many available settings (DSP) for alternative positioning; although none of them are really for a car environment.

I am personally willing to give it a try.

Anyone else in our forum who has the same idea and is willing to take a chance on this?

That's an impressive setup. It's a little bigger than the shelf though, you have about 8.5" of usuable from the wall to where the lip is, and unfortuantly the back wall is not a perfect 90 angle, it slants forward some... I was going to try and do one of these

Rockford Fosgate P300-12T

Punch truck-style powered subwoofer with 12" sub and 300-watt amp

www.crutchfield.com

but on the test fit it was a little to deep, so ended up going with the 10" version which fits perfectly

Rockford Fosgate P300-10T

Punch truck-style powered subwoofer with 10" sub and 300-watt amp

www.crutchfield.com

There's a local installer that I'm waiting on an appointment for, as he usually does very detailed install videos and I'll share that once he posts the video

 

[Stiffarm]

It's fine. Honestly. The biggest impediment to great sound in the car isn't the system, it's the fact that there's quite a bit of road noise and wind noise when under way. So the only time you're going to enjoy the stereo is when you're stuck in traffic, which isn't a place you probably want to be spending time in your Lotus anyway.

I found mine to be quite bright at first but it seems to be settling in. Bass extension is actually pretty good, but the system totally lacks the midbass hump you normally find in car systems, so most people will probably find it lacking in bass even though it is actually pretty accurately reproducing recordings.

The equalizer settings are worth fiddling with, in the "season to taste" sense.

In terms of imaging, there is a clear and fairly stable center image in front of the driver, so they are definitely doing some DSP stuff, including time alignment.

Ny good ideas how to isolate the cabin from the road noise? Mine is terrible--cannot have a decent phone conversation or hear the music well. UGH

 

[PsymonR]

Even though there seems to be 3-inch KEF UNI-Q drivers in each door panel, it is a little doubtful whether the third 3-inch UNI-Q driver at the center of the dashboard, near the windshield, is really mounted (maybe some cars have got it, while others have not)?

There definitely is a centre driver mounted in the dash, in my car at least. With FEs all having the same system I can't see that any wouldn't have it!

 

[Tokion]

There definitely is a centre driver mounted in the dash, in my car at least. With FEs all having the same system I can't see that any wouldn't have it!

View attachment 44590

Hi PsymonR
Very recently I visited a Lotus Racing and Tuning specialist which may be at the very top of the world. I intend to write an article about this place very soon. Stay tuned

But, what is relevant to the subject herein is that this company is also an authorized Lotus retailer. However, they are not currently doing any modification to the Emira audio system. However, when I talked to them about my own intentions regarding the Emira audio system, they mentioned that brand new Emiras intended for resale to customers had arrived from the Hethel factory with missing speaker drivers. And the way they said this, there was apparently more than one vehicle affected. The problems were documented recognized through the chain of the retailer, the country distributor, and the retailer; and the problem was fixed by supplied parts and installation (presumably by this very technically capable company.)

Also, like I mentioned in my initial write-up in this thread, the audio in the demo Emira V6 FE really sounded broken (I had the car for three hours total, and I drove it on regular streets as well as highways). I did not raise this issue with the importer/retailer since this is not my particular car; but I made it quite clear to them that the audio quality “sucked”, and that when my own car arrives, I intend to do something about it.

Like I have written in other posts herein; I am actually a (home) audio professional, and I do know sound quality and differences in sound quality both in home audio and car audio. I am not at all looking at anything extreme or excessive. Rather the contrary. I am looking for something that is clear and focused, and at the same time well-balanced.

Unfortunately I will only be able to say more after my own car arrives. It has been built, and I have received the “VIN NUMBER”, but the car has to be shipped half-way around the world and go through various inspections. So my impression is that it is still several months away from reaching me.

PS. Thank you PsymonR for confirming that there is indeed a centre driver. This has in fact been rather unclear depending on who I asked

 

[Nova]

@Tokion , my replies are inline below.

While I am still (soon to be 3 years) waiting to receive my ordered Emira 4-cylinder First Edition, I have dreams and fantasies about how to improve the sound of the audio systems (experience with the audio from borrowing a V6 FE was a complete disappointment - and my conclusion is that it is not acceptable to me).

You should hold off on planning any changes to the system until after you get your car. I am not sure about the system you heard but the production V6 FE car I have sounds very good. Except for the subwoofer, which I will get to later, it's well engineered and well tuned to produce a balanced and very dynamic performance. Overall, I am very happy with the system aside from the bass performance.

Even though there seems to be 3-inch KEF UNI-Q drivers in each door panel, it is a little doubtful whether the third 3-inch UNI-Q driver at the center of the dashboard, near the windshield, is really mounted (maybe some cars have got it, while others have not)?

All the FE cars I've seen have a 3rd UNI-Q driver at the center. I have not seen *ANY* cars that do not have this third driver.

There seems to be no drives mounted in the pillars left and right of the windshield (these locations are for tweeters of the base system on no -FE cars.) However, one question is what would happen if additional 3-inch UNI-Q drivers were to be added in these available spaces on an FE-edition car? (Possibly additional DSP tuning would be required? And also some separate volume adjustment?)

I am not sure what the purpose of those additional drivers would be. The existing drivers in the front doors and center dash do a great job covering the midrange and highs, generating one of the best sound stages in terms of width and placement that I've heard in an automotive environment. It's really remarkable how good it is in this regard and I don't see how additional drivers would help. The sound stage height is dead in front of the listener. There is no hint of it being low. The existing system also gets plenty loud without stress or distortion.

At any rate the “Fresh-Air” woofer at the rear is in my opinion not satisfactory, and not even useable. This has been written a lot about; and I personally intend to disconnect it and rip it out.

It's not ideal but certainly usable. It's a little shy below 40Hz, but it's not terrible. In my car, it plays all genres of music without bottoming out our distorting. I do wish there was more low end extension, but as is, I don't feel the need to replace it. The additional cost and complexities of installing an aftermarket subwoofer is not worth it to me, personally - just my opinion.

KEF KC62 is a powered Class-D amp subwoofer for home-use (powered by AC). However, it should be compact enough to place in the center of the luggage compartment behind the seats. It will be connected via RCA cabling, and it needs an AC-DC inverter power supply (readily available from many sources). The KC62 also have many available settings (DSP) for alternative positioning; although none of them are really for a car environment.

To me this is a terrible idea. The KC62 is built for home use, with a very specific design parameter at that. It includes a lot of technology and engineering into achieving these goals, but they are irrelevant for a car environment. Any modern 8-10" subwoofer with 200 or more watts of power will surpass the KC62 in performance in an automotive environment while costing significantly less and being far easier to install and integrate. I'm partial to JL audio for subwoofers in a car environment - either of the two below will knock your socks off:

ACP108LG-W3v3

Amplified Subwoofer System with Single 8W3v3-0.40 Subwoofer, Built-In 250W Class D Amplifier, Black Carpet - Ported Enclosure

 With MicroSub+™ systems, the power is built right into the subwoofer system. Housing a proprietary Class D amplifier, this incredible subwoofer system utilizes our...

www.jlaudio.com

ACP110LG-TW1

Amplified Subwoofer System with Single 10TW1-0.25 Subwoofer, Built-In 400W Class D Amplifier, Black Carpet - Ported Enclosure With MicroSub+™ systems, the power is built right into the subwoofer system. Housing a proprietary Class D amplifier, this incredible subwoofer system utilizes our...

www.jlaudio.com

 

[Jjrho]

Thanks for posting this. I am a driving with music person and can't wait to hear this system. Will likely be the best car stereo system I have ever had.

Sound system "sucks"...I ll be modifying mine with Hertz speakers n JL audio Amps... no factory system beats aftermarket stuff imo... not even the mark Levinson in lexus LC500...

 

[scc.131.fe]

I've done the "reset settings" and still hear no subwoofer even with bass at +8‐10. but this is all wireless android auto / spotify, so I'm waiting to test with radio and USB to see of it changes. if no sub with any source, will ask the dealer to confirm that the sub is connected and not defective.

 

[Tokion]

@Tokion , my replies are inline below.



You should hold off on planning any changes to the system until after you get your car. I am not sure about the system you heard but the production V6 FE car I have sounds very good. Except for the subwoofer, which I will get to later, it's well engineered and well tuned to produce a balanced and very dynamic performance. Overall, I am very happy with the system aside from the bass performance.



All the FE cars I've seen have a 3rd UNI-Q driver at the center. I have not seen *ANY* cars that do not have this third driver.



I am not sure what the purpose of those additional drivers would be. The existing drivers in the front doors and center dash do a great job covering the midrange and highs, generating one of the best sound stages in terms of width and placement that I've heard in an automotive environment. It's really remarkable how good it is in this regard and I don't see how additional drivers would help. The sound stage height is dead in front of the listener. There is no hint of it being low. The existing system also gets plenty loud without stress or distortion.



It's not ideal but certainly usable. It's a little shy below 40Hz, but it's not terrible. In my car, it plays all genres of music without bottoming out our distorting. I do wish there was more low end extension, but as is, I don't feel the need to replace it. The additional cost and complexities of installing an aftermarket subwoofer is not worth it to me, personally - just my opinion.



To me this is a terrible idea. The KC62 is built for home use, with a very specific design parameter at that. It includes a lot of technology and engineering into achieving these goals, but they are irrelevant for a car environment. Any modern 8-10" subwoofer with 200 or more watts of power will surpass the KC62 in performance in an automotive environment while costing significantly less and being far easier to install and integrate. I'm partial to JL audio for subwoofers in a car environment - either of the two below will knock your socks off:

ACP108LG-W3v3

Amplified Subwoofer System with Single 8W3v3-0.40 Subwoofer, Built-In 250W Class D Amplifier, Black Carpet - Ported Enclosure

 With MicroSub+™ systems, the power is built right into the subwoofer system. Housing a proprietary Class D amplifier, this incredible subwoofer system utilizes our...

www.jlaudio.com

ACP110LG-TW1

Amplified Subwoofer System with Single 10TW1-0.25 Subwoofer, Built-In 400W Class D Amplifier, Black Carpet - Ported Enclosure With MicroSub+™ systems, the power is built right into the subwoofer system. Housing a proprietary Class D amplifier, this incredible subwoofer system utilizes our...

www.jlaudio.com

Thanks Nova for your thoughts and good information. You’ve got your car, while I am still waiting for mine

Obviously I am going to take delivery of my car and play the car audio stock standard as it is while I break in the car for the prescribed mileage.

I am sure you understand that my ideas that I wrote about a few posts above are simply about throwing out thoughts and fantasies (during my prolonged period of boredom).

There are others in this forum that throws out all of the KEF drivers and replace them with whatever brand expensive units. To me this is disrespectful to KEF (a very old, respected British manufacturer - that is today Chinese operated and run.) However, just like I went for the Geely-Lotus, I will also give today’s KEF all the chances they deserve.

There are also purely “commercial players” that are happy to charge “an arm and a leg” to throw out all the original audio, and replace it with “gold, silver, pearls and voodoo”

I do respect, and may possibly buy some 3D printed speaker frame parts (if they fit my purpose) from another member.

Whether any additional tweeters/midranges should be added in the left/right pillars, I tend to agree with you that it shouldn’t be done unless there is a need for a last resort emergency solution (which I don’t expect). My fear is based on how terrible that demo-Emira sounded; which to my ears was “broken”.)

Regarding whether the KC62 is purely designed for home audio, so it cannot possibly work inside a car, is more debatable, and I think this is something that can be tested without making it a permanent installation.

I don’t want to type more about why I myself as an audio professional and audio enthusiast is highly against the principles of the Australian “Fresh-Air” subwoofer. I hate this thinking.

The KC62 is a miniature closed box (acoustic suspension) that have a fair chance to work well in various environments. It just takes some willingness and courage to try.

I do have other, more conventional car audio subwoofer alternatives on my list, and my top choice is the top of the line 8” or 10” from the German ETON company.

Thanks NOVA I always enjoy the informed and reasonable exchange of opinion with you; and I respect your experience.

PS. By the way; I noticed that the JL subwoofers are PORTED. This is something I absolutely will avoid (personally)

 

[Eagle7]

I've done the "reset settings" and still hear no subwoofer even with bass at +8‐10. but this is all wireless android auto / spotify, so I'm waiting to test with radio and USB to see of it changes. if no sub with any source, will ask the dealer to confirm that the sub is connected and not defective.

After sitting in my car and playing around with listening to different types of music from different sources, I've noticed the sound quality (especially bass) differs significantly depending on the source and the recording. I went from one recording that had almost too much bass, to another one immediately after that sounded like it was playing in an aluminum beer can. I did nothing but change tracks as I was stepping through a play list. These were all from my iPhone through wireless CarPlay.

The radio sounds pretty good, but again seems to depend a lot on the station and what they're playing. One local talk station sounded rich with good mid-range and bass, then another FM station sounded like somebody disconnected the bass speaker. I've never seen a sound system that does this in a car. It's almost like a recording studio monitor system; no biasing, what's there is what you get as-is.

I'm going to try loading some different source material onto a USB stick and see what I get out of that.

 

[Eagle7]

Ny good ideas how to isolate the cabin from the road noise? Mine is terrible--cannot have a decent phone conversation or hear the music well. UGH

Yeah I've noticed it can get pretty loud depending on the road surface. It's pretty good on asphalt, but on grooved concrete like you see on freeways, it gets loud. I have the Goodyears. I've got some custom forged wheels being made, so when they arrive (sometime in June) and I pull the stock wheels from the car, I'll look at the wheel well liners to see what can be done to dampen them. They can resonate like a drum which is a lot of what you hear in the car. I'll do some testing to see if that's the case, and what to do to get that under control. I'll post the results.

 

[Eagle7]

There definitely is a centre driver mounted in the dash, in my car at least. With FEs all having the same system I can't see that any wouldn't have it!

View attachment 44590

I just looked and mine has the KEF center speaker as well.

 

[RyanGphoto]

That's an impressive setup. It's a little bigger than the shelf though, you have about 8.5" of usuable from the wall to where the lip is, and unfortuantly the back wall is not a perfect 90 angle, it slants forward some... I was going to try and do one of these

Rockford Fosgate P300-12T

Punch truck-style powered subwoofer with 12" sub and 300-watt amp

www.crutchfield.com

but on the test fit it was a little to deep, so ended up going with the 10" version which fits perfectly

Rockford Fosgate P300-10T

Punch truck-style powered subwoofer with 10" sub and 300-watt amp

www.crutchfield.com

There's a local installer that I'm waiting on an appointment for, as he usually does very detailed install videos and I'll share that once he posts the video

Did you happen to get this installed yet? Do you have any photo or video of the install? Thoughts; IF you did indeed get things installed yet?

For all: I debate doing something to the audio system and then having a wiring issue or anything go wrong and Lotus tells me that it's not covered... I also do NOT live close to a dealership, 2 - 2.5 hours.

Ryan G

 

[seriously]

Update on mine - there was no water in the sub. It also seems to be 'working'. I have noticed that if you crank the volume up it actually sounds not too bad and the issue seems to be at low volume which means I am wondering whether it is the vibration issue that has been mentioned previously in the 'cabin vent' but not sure where that is or how I should fix it. Also has anyone taken off the panels around the sub / rear speakers and simply Dynamat'd it all to see if that helps? I wonder if doing that plus simply upgrading the rear speakers which looks to be a simple job might have a significant difference on bringing the rear into play more as it seems bonkers to have basss drivers in the rear yet no way of adjusting the bias front to back - a lot of my 'sound' seems to be coming from the front two door speakers and the centre speaker.

Besides the sound balance/quality, it’s crazy that you can’t change the staging center front to back, only side to side. I’m used to placing the stage in my ear like I’m wearing headphones. Makes the sound fuller, more 3d. Now it will always be in front of me. That’s strange for me, but something I’ll have to live with.

 

[Porter]

Besides the sound balance/quality, it’s crazy that you can’t change the staging center front to back, only side to side. I’m used to placing the stage in my ear like I’m wearing headphones. Makes the sound fuller, more 3d. Now it will always be in front of me. That’s strange for me, but something I’ll have to live with.

There aren't rear speakers in the car. The drivers that are behind you are midbass drivers for the front set. So there's nothing to "fade" F/R.