A new Kef speaker? The Kef LS Luxe

[mhardy6647]

AT-LP60X-PL

The ATLP60X features a redesigned tonearm base and headshell to improve tracking and reduce resonance. Noise is further reduced by the inclusion of an AC adapter that moves the AC/DC conversion ou ...

www.audio-technica.com

I'm guessing the same OEM made both of these.

 

[heflys20]

I can't get past the whole ugly plastic egg thing. I can't help but think that they are "different" for the sake of being different. The Klipsch The Nines II are much more appeaing and a bit less expensive.

Idk...The Kef look infinitely better to me. Very alien in appearance, especially from the back. Definitely a statement piece and conversation starter (if you care about that) reflective of the price. Knowing Kef, it probably has benefits (based on the white paper), too. Definitely not for everyone, though.

 

[Goldhamster916]

With all the discussion here about their appearance I feel like it gets a bit lost that the outer design is completely submissioned to the acoustic performance. I doubt you would get those close to perfect dispersion graphs with any other form for this speaker. Even the ribs on the back are optimized for heat dissipation.

What I want to say is: I don’t think KEF intentionally choosed this design based on looks but rather worked out the optimal design for the performance and then looked how they can improve the appearance within that constrain. And I applaud them for this, in the Hi FI world it’s all too tempting for a company to focus on appearance. When looking on the social media reaction to these most of the commentary is some flavor of ,,ugh what an ugly egg“, performance is rather of secondary concern.

 

[Cogito]

Even the ribs on the back are optimized for heat dissipation.

You think? Plastic makes for a terrible conductor of heat.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

You think? Plastic makes for a terrible conductor of heat.

It's ribbed for your pleasure.

 

[ppierre]

You think? Plastic makes for a terrible conductor of heat.

On the rear is a large aluminium heatsink (Figure 19) that is incorporated to provide significant thermal mass and surface area to efficiently dissipate the heat generated by the active electronics that are mounted directly behind it.

From page 9 of the white paper : https://images.salsify.com/image/upload/s--3dv0Hd7p--/myoxbujcbvrsfpjkmrph.pdf

 

[Hayabusa]

@stren I hope—and think—you're joking!

I think it would be great idea

 

[Cogito]

From page 9 of the white paper : https://images.salsify.com/image/upload/s--3dv0Hd7p--/myoxbujcbvrsfpjkmrph.pdf

AH! Sorry, I assumed it was plastic like the rest of the enclosure (BMC Composite).

 

[Mnyb]

Stupid q does it come with port bungs if one wants to use subwoofers or is the special veco and currant amp tuning not amicable to such things ? Looks to me that it would need to a setting for blocked ports to adjust for a different closed tuning ?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Stupid q does it come with port bungs if one wants to use subwoofers or is the special veco and currant amp tuning not amicable to such things ? Looks to me that it would need to a setting for blocked ports to adjust for a different closed tuning ?

It has a setting for the use of a (KEF) subwoofer without a bung.

 

[mhardy6647]

ergo "digital bung processing".
Quod erat demonstrandum

 

[Grimoire]

ergo "digital bung processing".
QED

Crypto?

 

[Flaesh]

Could this happen to the LS Luxe too? View attachment 553421

Too weak! It should be like this:

or

ps: A USB audio input is essential for connecting USB turntables!

 

[NTK]

Could this happen to the LS Luxe too? View attachment 553421

It is an active DSP speaker. I hope its VECO electronics include limiters to prevent it from being overdriven.

 

[Oeilvert]

So... Motional feedback? I had some 1990s high-end Sony bookshelf speakers with electrostatic tweeters and motional feedback drivers, they were pretty good as I recall.

 

[Flaesh]

MFB https://audioxpress.com/article/r-d-stories-motion-feedback-for-active-desktop-subwoofers

Is there a KEF patent number somewhere?

 

[Goldhamster916]

The only thing stopping me from buying this are concerns about reliability. I only care for the dsp engine and Amps since I want to connect them to my Avr, so I don’t care if any streaming module etc. Dies. However I want to keep them for many years and I wonder if I regret it.

Do you guys think KEF would try to repair them if a amp dies even after warranty?

Do you think KEF analysed the points of failure on earlier active models and removed them?

I mean genelec shows it’s possible to have really reliable active speakers and I wonder if, for my use case, KEF is there yet in terms of reliability.

 

[Mnyb]

It has a setting for the use of a (KEF) subwoofer without a bung.

My idea comes from the fact that no port is resonance free not even kefs well designed ones . And ”something” is always leaking out from a port in the midrange ?

I think many of the good attributes of my LS60/KC92 kombo is that it’s all closed boxes no ports anywhere.

 

[Goldhamster916]

My idea comes from the fact that no port is resonance free not even kefs well designed ones . And ”something” is always leaking out from a port in the midrange ?

I think many of the good attributes of my LS60/KC92 kombo is that it’s all closed boxes no ports anywhere.

All I can say is that I have the Reference 1 meta and LS 50 meta and I don’t hear any port noise at all. KEF spend a lot of time optimizing the ports geometry to get it as silent as possible. you can read for yourself In their 2014 reference white paper (the generation before meta).

 

[Puddingbuks]

MFB https://audioxpress.com/article/r-d-stories-motion-feedback-for-active-desktop-subwoofers

Is there a KEF patent number somewhere?

Philips Motional Feedback - Developed in 1969–1970 by the acoustic R&D and NatLab teams at Philips in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Engineer Piet Gouw is widely credited as the leading figure behind its commercial realization (often called "Papa MFB"). The system uses a tiny sensor on the speaker cone to feed movement data back into the amplifier for precise bass control.