More details for KEF Audio

[TomAce]

From what I gathered from the car at the b&c open day, is that the fm/dab is ‘ok’ (and likely due to the ariel as aluminium isn’t great for these it seems) but via apple carplay, it sounded pretty good at medium volume.. I tried deadmau5 which is pretty bassy, and it dealt with it well..

Yes, this is probably the key to the different perceptions of the sound quality. Something to consider, as an analogy to the engine-power discussion, it depends where you come from and what you're used to I guess.

I like the sound in my M2 (Harman Kardon), I also was blown away by the Focal premium in the Alpine. And the KEF is in that same league. It's obviously not comparable to the Naim in a Bentley.

At home I also have a Naim Uniti Star and some german speakers from ELAC (one of the first to use the AMT technology). So I also like good music reproduction. Of course there is also Mark Levinson, Krell and other High-End stuff like Linn Sonus Faber and so on, but as always the price you pay for the last 5% of perfection is getting very expensive.

 

[Tonyshepp]

I tried the KEF stereo today and it sounded so -so. The equalizer is simply MiD, Treble and Bass there isn't a proper equalizer. Its a very clear sounding stereo, not very loud and the Bass is missing. It doesnt have the Bass you feel in your seat. I'm reviewing it against a 2013 HK stereo in my BMW which to my ears sounds better.

 

[Stsainj]

I tried the KEF stereo today and it sounded so -so. The equalizer is simply MiD, Treble and Bass there isn't a proper equalizer. Its a very clear sounding stereo, not very loud and the Bass is missing. It doesnt have the Bass you feel in your seat. I'm reviewing it against a 2013 HK stereo in my BMW which to my ears sounds better.

What source did you use? FM during my short drive was not great. No satellite option it seems but hoping that using Carplay/Android auto gets better results.

 

[Tonyshepp]

What source did you use? FM during my short drive was not great. No satellite option it seems but hoping that using Carplay/Android auto gets better results.

DAB source

 

[Tonyshepp]

DAB source

The Bass does seem to come from behind the seat

 

[Speedluvver]

Per my previous posts, I tried it with CarPlay with some bassy music (deadmau5) and there was definitely bass and it sounded pretty good to me… I wasn’t expecting burfmeister in an aluminium and plastic car…

 

[Eagle7]

I tried the KEF stereo today and it sounded so -so. The equalizer is simply MiD, Treble and Bass there isn't a proper equalizer. Its a very clear sounding stereo, not very loud and the Bass is missing. It doesnt have the Bass you feel in your seat. I'm reviewing it against a 2013 HK stereo in my BMW which to my ears sounds better.

Alcantara or leather interior?

For those who have the opportunity to test the KEF system, please include whether the interior is Alcantara or Leather. I'm curious to see if the negative reviews are Alcantara, and the better reviews are with leather.

 

[Forlorn]

Per my previous posts, I tried it with CarPlay with some bassy music (deadmau5) and there was definitely bass and it sounded pretty good to me… I wasn’t expecting burfmeister in an aluminium and plastic car…

The Evora was just bad with Alpine head units and sub woofer in the back seats. Jayemm did a YouTube video on his Evora400 system improvements. He went to a specialist who reviewed and commented on the Lotus cabling, quality of the speakers and tweeters and I think the amplifier. I guess it cost him an arm and leg to sort out.
It’s not good enough to have a name, if the quality of items and cabling are poor.
Someone will do a deep dive later and determine the competence of the overall system, and see if it is worth the additional cost!

 

[VL3X]

The Bass does seem to come from behind the seat

Correct. The fresh air subwoofer is located here:

More info here:

 

[Davebeats]

I know this goes against the whole lighter the better, but would it be possible to install an aftermarket subwoofer on the shelf behind the seat? I haven’t heard the KEF system yet in person but don’t have high expectations of a factory sound system

 

[Tonyshepp]

Alcantara or leather interior?

For those who have the opportunity to test the KEF system, please include whether the interior is Alcantara or Leather. I'm curious to see if the negative reviews are Alcantara, and the better reviews are with leather.

Alcantara but I was sat in the drivers seat and salesman in passenger.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Alcantara but I was sat in the drivers seat and salesman in passenger.

That explains everything.

The salesman didn't sing well enough!

 

[emiraspain]

I wonder if someone had messed with the EQ settings. It almost sounds like (no pun intended) that the subwoofer wasn't connected. I contacted KEF customer service about the settings, and got a reply that they're reaching out to the engineering and design teams to get answers.

There have been several, and I mean maybe 10 and upwards people now having heard the Kef system, some preprodction, supposedly before the extra work / parts were added and several on customer actual delivered cars.
I think its time to simply accept the stereo is not what we expected and is simply not what you would pay 2000$ for which is what I am sure it will be going for as an extra on the base cars.
To me its a big let down and sadly but true, it will have an effect on my driving experience. Those who say you shouldn't be listening to the stereo.. I say, its not a Caterham....and for many people its not just for a quick burst at the weekend..... where I would agree for short (1-2 hour journeys), but otherwise you should be able to listen to some great music while enjoying a great drive in a great car.
This car is not a supercar, its certianly not a hypercar, it could be argued its more of a grand tourer from the weight and width, and hence you want a good sound system.
If I kept this car, I would seriously consider bringing it to an expert to get the sound system "looked at" / potentially modified, and this should NOT be even contemplated...... par for the course for Lotus stereos though.... Big big let down for Kef... and I would tell them so, after getting the opinions of some experts who work in this field, not forum idiots like me who know very little in reality. Im guessing these guys could do some testing and give some real analysis and then suggestions to "fix" it..... I would pass these on to Kef, rather than just moan about it, put up with it, and do nothing....

 

[Cachaco131]

There have been several, and I mean maybe 10 and upwards people now having heard the Kef system, some preprodction, supposedly before the extra work / parts were added and several on customer actual delivered cars.
I think its time to simply accept the stereo is not what we expected and is simply not what you would pay 2000$ for which is what I am sure it will be going for as an extra on the base cars.
To me its a big let down and sadly but true, it will have an effect on my driving experience. Those who say you shouldn't be listening to the stereo.. I say, its not a Caterham....and for many people its not just for a quick burst at the weekend..... where I would agree for short (1-2 hour journeys), but otherwise you should be able to listen to some great music while enjoying a great drive in a great car.
This car is not a supercar, its certianly not a hypercar, it could be argued its more of a grand tourer from the weight and width, and hence you want a good sound system.
If I kept this car, I would seriously consider bringing it to an expert to get the sound system "looked at" / potentially modified, and this should NOT be even contemplated...... par for the course for Lotus stereos though.... Big big let down for Kef... and I would tell them so, after getting the opinions of some experts who work in this field, not forum idiots like me who know very little in reality. Im guessing these guys could do some testing and give some real analysis and then suggestions to "fix" it..... I would pass these on to Kef, rather than just moan about it, put up with it, and do nothing....

For us that are ordering a Base car, should we just order the basic stereo and upgrade ourselves?

 

[emiraspain]

For us that are ordering a Base car, should we just order the basic stereo and upgrade ourselves?

IMHO yes... no one has come on here and said WOW...this is right up thre... Kef at its best.
Even those who have Kef at home have said its average.
I cant imagine Lotus's basic system being much worse, so why pay x,000$ for it?
I'd wait, if I had the choice and give x000$ to an expert to put in something they guarantee will be up to the job.
I have no choice as FE comes stuck with it, but for sure I'd consider upgrading without spending a fortune... maybe a better subwoofer...will fix it... but no good guessing, there are those who make their living doing this .

 

[dgrace]

I spent a few minutes listening to music parked at the end of my test drive yesterday. Definitely nothing special. The stock system in my Silverado sounds better TBH.

 

[DF_Toronto]

If anyone’s watched the latest Eletre marketing they’re basically pushing the KEF system as the number 1 selling feature IMO. Granted it’s a 23 speaker +2000 watt system, but once thousands of Emira’s are in customers hands and there’s more discussion about how it is that’s really going to make ppl think the Eletre is a joke if that’s what they’ve chosen to highlight more than anything. Hence why I really think they need to try to fix this ASAP as Geely is focused on the mass produced electrics more than anything. Hopefully it’s maybe something with the software but if there’s a weak component involved they absolutely need to replace it and offer a dealer recall to replace the component. This is really going to affect what they’re trying to sell the Eletre on.

 

[DF_Toronto]

IMHO yes... no one has come on here and said WOW...this is right up thre... Kef at its best.
Even those who have Kef at home have said its average.
I cant imagine Lotus's basic system being much worse, so why pay x,000$ for it?
I'd wait, if I had the choice and give x000$ to an expert to put in something they guarantee will be up to the job.
I have no choice as FE comes stuck with it, but for sure I'd consider upgrading without spending a fortune... maybe a better subwoofer...will fix it... but no good guessing, there are those who make their living doing this .

Having worked in car audio a long time ago I can say that 100% the manufacturer upgrades are a ripoff like most additions - but we still want them . A $2500 stereo upgrade option probably costs the manufacturer $250, and you can do something aftermarket for $1000 that sounds better, and spend $2-5K aftermarket and it’s gonna blow away whatever you thought was possible. The issue for me is having this shiny new expensive toy and taking it apart right away and voiding warranty’s etc. I also did this stuff a long time ago before most cars had fully integrated units, you’d just swap out the deck for a better aftermarket one and then hook that up to the amp you’d have in the boot. You’d drill tweeters into the pillars, or you could place them upward firing into the floorboard where your feet are. And then you’d have a sub in the trunk. In a higher end custom setup you‘d have the shop build new carbon pillars and replace them with tweeter inserts, and have a custom installation of amp and sub in the spare tire well. There is no way on earth I’d want to start modding or drilling holes into my brand new Emira like that . I think what most would be looking at and this is where I don’t know how it works in modern cars is I assume there’s adapter type stuff where you can simply hook up an aftermarket amplification unit in place of the existing one. This way it works off the existing software and EQ settings built into the car, and then potentially find better speakers of the same size that fit as is without having to modify door panels etc. I wonder if there are amp units that maybe aren’t the biggest and best but that can fit where the current one exists…otherwise you’re looking at losing boot space by putting it there or the most obvious location behind the seats. I highly doubt you need anything more than 500 watts, it’s the quality of the components and power unit that matters and this is where cost is involved and why most car stereos suck even if it’s the 5K manufacturer upgrade…they know the avg person doesn’t know how crap it is but just thinks it‘s good because ”it was 5K - it has this fancy name on it”. I have the flagship Audison VRX 6.420 and Focal Utopias sitting in a storage unit for 15 years now. It has less so called wattage than the KEF system but you’d never turn the volume more than halfway with that thing and that’s in a sedan. That system I put in my first car still sounded better than anything I’ve heard but it costs money to use that level of components - I think there’s an ounce of gold used internally .

 

[emiraspain]

Having worked in car audio a long time ago I can say that 100% the manufacturer upgrades are a ripoff like most additions - but we still want them . A $2500 stereo upgrade option probably costs the manufacturer $250, and you can do something aftermarket for $1000 that sounds better, and spend $2-5K aftermarket and it’s gonna blow away whatever you thought was possible. The issue for me is having this shiny new expensive toy and taking it apart right away and voiding warranty’s etc. I also did this stuff a long time ago before most cars had fully integrated units, you’d just swap out the deck for a better aftermarket one and then hook that up to the amp you’d have in the boot. You’d drill tweeters into the pillars, or you could place them upward firing into the floorboard where your feet are. And then you’d have a sub in the trunk. In a higher end custom setup you‘d have the shop build new carbon pillars and replace them with tweeter inserts, and have a custom installation of amp and sub in the spare tire well. There is no way on earth I’d want to start modding or drilling holes into my brand new Emira like that . I think what most would be looking at and this is where I don’t know how it works in modern cars is I assume there’s adapter type stuff where you can simply hook up an aftermarket amplification unit in place of the existing one. This way it works off the existing software and EQ settings built into the car, and then potentially find better speakers of the same size that fit as is without having to modify door panels etc. I wonder if there are amp units that maybe aren’t the biggest and best but that can fit where the current one exists…otherwise you’re looking at losing boot space by putting it there or the most obvious location behind the seats. I highly doubt you need anything more than 500 watts, it’s the quality of the components and power unit that matters and this is where cost is involved and why most car stereos suck even if it’s the 5K manufacturer upgrade…they know the avg person doesn’t know how crap it is but just thinks it‘s good because ”it was 5K - it has this fancy name on it”. I have the flagship Audison VRX 6.420 and Focal Utopias sitting in a storage unit for 15 years now. It has less so called wattage than the KEF system but you’d never turn the volume more than halfway with that thing and that’s in a sedan. That system I put in my first car still sounded better than anything I’ve heard but it costs money to use that level of components - I think there’s an ounce of gold used internally .

holy crap... you need to use paragraphs... .

yes well... it will be interesting to see what an expert says... although where I am it will be harder to find one.
on that note..... NOTE...time to take the dogs out (that was an awful song... who let the....)

 

[Leonard]

Tried the stereo today and it was poor for a premium brand and additional luxury extra.
It's what I would have expected as std in the Base car. I'm not sure it was any better than the std system or Sound Plus in the equivalent Porsche or BMW.
Can only hope the demo cars still don't have the uprated amps, as the power and bass (even mid) was severely lacking.
Don't get me wrong you could still enjoy music. But it grates that you are technically paying for it on the FE.
I cant see anyone paying money for it on the BASE car unless they have more money than sense and want the alloy speaker grilles. Which do help lift the interior and make it feel more premium (can't believe I'm talking about speaker grilles...)