More details for KEF Audio

[emiraspain]

By the way..audiofiles....
What the hell is a "fresh air sub wooooofer"? and how much power does the kef system have ..?

On the best car I have experienced for sound... there was a great subwooooofer under the rear seats (where is the Emira one?) and there was also a centre speaker on the dash.... about 380 HP, I mean watts and it knocked spots off Kef from my experience and wasn't even branded.
The best experience it has to be said was watching films with a firestick..... the bassssss was amazing....

I look forward to trying the Emira again... it cant possibly be as bad as I remember....and I will connect via cables next time.

 

[Tonyshepp]

What we need is someone to try the bass on high playing streets of Philadelphia, that wil not only test the bass but any rattles in the car.

 

[Davebeats]

By the way..audiofiles....
What the hell is a "fresh air sub wooooofer"? and how much power does the kef system have ..?

On the best car I have experienced for sound... there was a great subwooooofer under the rear seats (where is the Emira one?) and there was also a centre speaker on the dash.... about 380 HP, I mean watts and it knocked spots off Kef from my experience and wasn't even branded.
The best experience it has to be said was watching films with a firestick..... the bassssss was amazing....

I look forward to trying the Emira again... it cant possibly be as bad as I remember....and I will connect via cables next time.

I believe fresh air refers to it not being in a sealed or ported box

 

[KusaKusa]

As a note just in case, Wireless Android Auto uses wifi and not Bluetooth to transfer data. So just because it's wireless doesn't mean it's Bluetooth and is subject to potential losses. I haven't been able to get a straight answer for what sort of compression occurs with wireless AA.

And I hope when people are saying the audio is generally good/bad that they don't just mean it makes really really loud bass.

 

[Tonyshepp]

As a note just in case, Wireless Android Auto uses wifi and not Bluetooth to transfer data. So just because it's wireless doesn't mean it's Bluetooth and is subject to potential losses. I haven't been able to get a straight answer for what sort of compression occurs with wireless AA.

And I hope when people are saying the audio is generally good/bad that they don't just mean it makes really really loud bass.

It's not making much if any bass no matter the adjustments made to treble, midi or bass. It's like the amp isn't providing the power to drive the bass

 

[Eagle7]

Wow. Please go and spend the day at a dealers playing with the knobs
Sounds like it could be made better by putting in an aftermarket amp maybe!? Not that I particularly want to. Would love to hear from someone at KEF @Eagle7 any news...

Rather than just giving up and denouncing them, I've contacted their customer service who've replied they're reaching out to the engineering teams who made the system for the Emira. I'm still waiting for the response for that. I plan on letting them know (they may not yet know) what the responses and reactions are to the system at the current time.

Hopefully we can get more insight into their system, and they can help (through our feedback) to improve it if needed.

I am noticing so far, that it seems the more favorable reviews are in cars with a leather interior rather than ones with Alcantara. That may be a factor. I've asked them specifically about that.

 

[Leonard]

Rather than just giving up and denouncing them, I've contacted their customer service who've replied they're reaching out to the engineering teams who made the system for the Emira. I'm still waiting for the response for that. I plan on letting them know (they may not yet know) what the responses and reactions are to the system at the current time.

Hopefully we can get more insight into their system, and they can help (through our feedback) to improve it if needed.

I am noticing so far, that it seems the more favorable reviews are in cars with a leather interior rather than ones with Alcantara. That may be a factor. I've asked them specifically about that.

AMAZING! Thank-you for taking the time to do this. I hope a brand like KEF will actually care enough to speak out X ❤

 

[Tonyshepp]

Rather than just giving up and denouncing them, I've contacted their customer service who've replied they're reaching out to the engineering teams who made the system for the Emira. I'm still waiting for the response for that. I plan on letting them know (they may not yet know) what the responses and reactions are to the system at the current time.

Hopefully we can get more insight into their system, and they can help (through our feedback) to improve it if needed.

I am noticing so far, that it seems the more favorable reviews are in cars with a leather interior rather than ones with Alcantara. That may be a factor. I've asked them specifically about that.

Buy if two people are sat in the seats how does leather Vs alcantara make a difference ?
Two people were sat in the seats when I tried it.

 

[Tonyshepp]

I didn't try with putting more sound towards the back of the car, that may simulate more bass to the ears.

 

[Eagle7]

AMAZING! Thank-you for taking the time to do this. I hope a brand like KEF will actually care enough to speak out X ❤

They probably will. It's their first system in a car, and their reputation which is high in the audiophile world, would be affected if their car systems can't even beat a Bose system.

I don't know what Lotus gave them as a development platform back when they first started developing the system. It may have been a 3D printed mock-up. They may not have even had an interior model with production leather or Alcantara to test with. At any rate, because of their audiophile reputation, I'm hoping they'll be interested in getting involved in sorting out any issues that are showing up in the early production cars.

It might be nice if they could provide a test/calibration file we could download and put on a flash drive, so we could test our systems and give them feedback on the results. I have a few ideas to give them once I have contact with their engineering team.

 

[Eagle7]

Buy if two people are sat in the seats how does leather Vs alcantara make a difference ?
Two people were sat in the seats when I tried it.

Alcantara absorbs sound, almost like the sound-deadening material used in recording studios. Leather is reflective. People absorb sound; their clothing absorbs it. It also depends on the source material being played through the system; not only the file resolution, but how well the original material was recorded to begin with. All recordings are not equally good.

I'm waiting for the response from KEF to see what they have to say. They may need to take their testing equipment to Lotus, and sit in cars with both types of interior (leather or Alcantara), and test with one person and then with two in the car. If they're the engineering geeks I suspect they are, they aren't going to just be okay with their system having mediocre or worse performance; they'll want to get it right.

 

[Leonard]

Alcantara absorbs sound, almost like the sound-deadening material used in recording studios. Leather is reflective. People absorb sound; their clothing absorbs it. It also depends on the source material being played through the system; not only the file resolution, but how well the original material was recorded to begin with. All recordings are not equally good.

I'm waiting for the response from KEF to see what they have to say. They may need to take their testing equipment to Lotus, and sit in cars with both types of interior (leather or Alcantara), and test with one person and then with two in the car. If they're the engineering geeks I suspect they are, they aren't going to just be okay with their system having mediocre or worse performance; they'll want to get it right.

My Old Golf R had alcantara and a Dynaudio system. Instant gratification.
Really hope KEF step up and address what the mission statement is with the Emira

 

[Leonard]

My Old Golf R had alcantara and a Dynaudio system. Instant gratification.
Really hope KEF step up and address what the mission statement is with the Emira

Same with 981 GTS and BOSE

 

[Eagle7]

My Old Golf R had alcantara and a Dynaudio system. Instant gratification.
Really hope KEF step up and address what the mission statement is with the Emira

Having Alcantara isn't fatal, it just requires the system taking it into account.

 

[Mctaff]

i have some Kef wireless active speaker thing in the bedroom. For the size it has an incredible soundstage and good bass response

I cannot believe their system wouldn’t outperform stuff like bose and harman kardan, who make average systems at best

Feels really weird this one!! They are using this funny bass speaker though aren’t they?

 

[Leonard]

Having Alcantara isn't fatal, it just requires the system taking it into account.

It really wasn't that good....

Hoping Amp and EQ is better in production cars (even though I thought these were production..)

 

[Eagle7]

It really wasn't that good....

Hoping Amp and EQ is better in production cars (even though I thought these were production..)

The engineers themselves can sit in the car and listen to it; they know how it's supposed to sound. They can also use sound dummies (like crash test dummies) that have mics where the ears are, so they can analyze the frequency response of the system and environment.

I'm envisioning a software option that can be accessed on the infotainment screen, where it asks what kind of interior you have; cloth, leather or Alcantara. Based on your selection, it selects a pre-tuned factory setting for that type of interior. You can adjust it from there if you like, but at least you'd have a proper setup to begin with.

I'm going to suggest a few things to them once I have contact with engineering.

 

[Leonard]

The engineers themselves can sit in the car and listen to it; they know how it's supposed to sound. They can also use sound dummies (like crash test dummies) that have mics where the ears are, so they can analyze the frequency response of the system and environment.

I'm envisioning a software option that can be accessed on the infotainment screen, where it asks what kind of interior you have; cloth, leather or Alcantara. Based on your selection, it selects a pre-tuned factory setting for that type of interior. You can adjust it from there if you like, but at least you'd have a proper setup to begin with.

I'm going to suggest a few things to them once I have contact with engineering.

If I'm honest it's beyond software

 

[Eagle7]

If I'm honest it's beyond software

It may be, but if that's the case, they need to know that too. There haven't been enough cars built yet that it would be unreasonable to make a hardware fix/change if necessary at this point.

 

[Mctaff]

If I'm honest it's beyond software

Yuck! Don’t like the sound of this at all… I love good hifi.

What’s your benchmark Leonard?