CES 2017: KEF

[amirm]

KEF introduced the power wireless version of LS50.

 

[amirm]

Pretty neat app for controlling many parameters:

 

[amirm]

 

[amirm]

Johan was there as usual. He usually does a superb job of demonstrating KEF products but this was an exception. He was using an Amazon echo as the source, streaming compressed music using voice control. Yeh, voice control is cool and great scenario here but the content he picked just sounded bad to me. Again, he never makes mistakes like this and I try to steal his playlist anytime I can. Shame.

 

[Thomas savage]

Ah, this is precisely how 'real' humans would aspire to use this product and I can fully understand why it's being demonstrated in this way.

Companies like KEF with products like this are trying to 'cross over' , reach the larger audience Beyond the usual market.

Out of all the people I know ( at least 8 ) this product used in this way would appeal to them, these are the normal folk not obsessive ( well not about audio) , who want the largest music library ( Spotify) and the most fun and convenient play back ( Amazon echo) .

More men are a little more tech enthusiastic, than audiophile bonkers..

You might be disappointed amir but they are not for you ( or at least not being marketed towards your demographic)

 

[FrantzM]

You come home and ask Amazon echo, Google equivalent or Apple thing to play music and raise volume... Music is playing loudly ... you want to lower volume or increase volume. Will these things hear you through the music? Won't you , then have to revert to the lowly touchscreen to control things? Great that it can by voice-controlled but that doesn't seem to me to be the most convenient way to interact with an audio system.

 

[Thomas savage]

You come home and ask Amazon echo, Google equivalent or Apple thing to play music and raise volume... Music is playing loudly ... you want to lower volume or increase volume. Will these things hear you through the music? Won't you , then have to revert to the lowly touchscreen to control things? Great that it can by voice-controlled but that doesn't seem to me to be the most convenient way to interact with an audio system.

Normal folk who live in buildings that a join others don't play so loud that will cause a issue..

Iv used a echo.. Over the phone! So music is playing out of it , I'm on the phone to the owner and say the relevant phrase ( the devices name then command) and believe it or not the thing works..

Don't ask me how

People don't sit down and listen frantz , it's weird to us but normal folk just put music on while doing other things.. The echo most likely won't even be in the same room as they are or indeed the same room as the speakers...

It's a whole diffrent world.. The normal folk live in

 

[FrantzM]

Not from it (Amazon Echo or equivalent); from a real speaker... say an audio system or Home Theater ... You play say at 85 dB average with peak of 105 dB.. You find it too loud. try to lower the volume through it (Echo) .. Would it?

 

[Thomas savage]

Not from it from a real speaker... say an audio system or Home Theater ... You play say at 85 dB average with peak of 105 .. You find it too loud. try to lower the volume through it .. Would it?

I live in a modern village with ( normal) folk, they don't use audio / music like you or me.

they use these echo things as speakers, they are happy to have the thing play music in the hall way and be In The kitchen cooking..

Maybe the speakers are in the lounge and the echo is in the hallway , your in the kitchen.. It works fine. No doubt you can get satellite mics for the echo device to place about your home..

It's on demo in the kef suit, they play music in there through speakers... If it did not work it would be rather obvious.

It reacts to a key word and can identify that key word through a surprising level of background noise. I don't know how but it does..


Can I use it when listening to music in my MLP .. Probably not but that's not what( who) it's for.

 

[Purité Audio]

I heard these at theirlaunch and they sounded really good just streaming flac.
Hope to have some here soon.
Keith

 

[Thomas savage]

In 5 years we are going to see digital fully integrated into a coherent playback system that comprises of a pair of speakers and little else.. Achieving a in room fidelity ( real world ) that's on par with anything you can have have now out of a pair of stand mounts regardless of cost.

Still 99.9% of people want a single point source not even two speakers let alone 5-7 . They want one in every room all integrated and voice activated.

In the 70's my dads freinds all had hifi's or wanted one... Now no ones intrested, 320 is plenty and a decent sound bar type speaker is all they want.. Hell it can even be battery powered.. Who wants to have power cords. No one sits and listens .

Oh, also.. The idea everyone gathers round a big tv is dead too. Everyone watches what they want on phones and tablets.. I visit my sister and they are all in the same area ( kitchen / second lounge) watching iPads and phones.. The lounge with the big tv and Xbox... Empty, no one goes in there !

The worlds totally changed from even 5 years ago. Basically everyone's gone from shared communal content to personalised content that's chosen by us for ourselves.

 

[amirm]

You come home and ask Amazon echo, Google equivalent or Apple thing to play music and raise volume... Music is playing loudly ... you want to lower volume or increase volume. Will these things hear you through the music? Won't you , then have to revert to the lowly touchscreen to control things? Great that it can by voice-controlled but that doesn't seem to me to be the most convenient way to interact with an audio system.

It works better than one imagines but Yohan did have to repeat his commands and I have to do that sometimes with Amazon Echo too.

 

[amirm]

It reacts to a key word and can identify that key word through a surprising level of background noise. I don't know how but it does..

It is called "beam forming." You use multiple microphones and focus them toward the sound source (i.e. human). It heavily attenuates all other directions and hence any sound or noise coming from them.

 

[Thomas savage]

It is called "beam forming." You use multiple microphones and focus them toward the sound source (i.e. human). It heavily attenuates all other directions and hence any sound or noise coming from them.

Ah, like those FBI surveillance mics? You know the ones amir

 

[watchnerd]

Ah, like those FBI surveillance mics? You know the ones amir

Parabolic mic.

Widely available for sale in USA.

 

[RayDunzl]

Echo Teardown

 

[watchnerd]

Echo Teardown

View attachment 4501

Oh an in-home audio surveillance device.