First KEF XIO soundbar with Velocity Control Technology & Intelligent Placement Technology

[juliangst]

I hope the build in room correction will also come to their other wireless speakers.

I know that it works with mics built in to soundbar similar to B&O‘s room correction but they probably can figure out how to do that with a phone

 

[Curvature]

I hope the build in room correction will also come to their other wireless speakers.

I know that it works with mics built in to soundbar similar to B&O‘s room correction but they probably can figure out how to do that with a phone

It's so funny that the market is simultaneously moving in two directions: fuller integration and greater segregation.

All-in-one products are released next to the more or less traditional speakers, etc. I find that I want my devices to be stupid, understandable and easily controllable, while all the complication should be ported to the computer. I don't know if I will ever buy the equivalent of an AVP or integrated amp again when I can buy a multichannel DAC, and amp, and have all the room correction and streaming and all the rest on my computer. But then I also deliberately choose to reduce the amount of sources I deal with. No separate game console or CD player or anything like that anymore. I keep it all ITB.

But I should add that when my friends ask me for sound advice I end up recommending the integrated products. My "simple setup" is too complicated for them.

 

[staticV3]

Thank you very much for the swift reply!

XIO includes two identical sets of 3x Uni-Q MX arrays to support both horizontal (table-mounted) and vertical (wall-mounted) orientations.

Hm this graphic appears to say otherwise:


Here, front-firing appear to be 3x Uni-Q (red) and top-firing are 2x 2" wideband (green) + 1x Uni-Q center, with the remaining two Uni-Q mounted as side-firing.

When wall-mounted, the unit must be rotated so that the cables exit from the bottom.

Ah of course! Just rotate the unit. Makes perfect sense.

The animations are for illustrative purposes only.

Still misleading as the animation implies 2" drivers pointing in five directions, which does not match reality.

 

[samysound]

Hi @staticV3

You're right. XIO includes two identical sets of 3x Uni-Q MX arrays to support both horizontal (table-mounted) and vertical (wall-mounted) orientations. When wall-mounted, the unit must be rotated so that the cables exit from the bottom.

In both configurations, the system provides the following discrete channels in a 5.1.2 configuration:

• 3 x Front-firing Uni-Q MX (L/C/R)
• 2 x top-firing Uni-Q MX (Lh/Rh)
• 2 x side-firing full-range drivers (Ls/Rs)
• 4 x P185 LF drivers (LFE)

The side-firing drivers are not Uni-Q MX units. This is intentional, as the Uni-Q’s wide dispersion would diminish the spatial precision required for surround effects in this application. Similarly, the centre top-firing Uni-Q MX is not used as a discrete height channel. Instead, it exists to maintain acoustic symmetry and allow flexible product orientation to suit both horizontal and vertical installations.

Inside XIO, a built-in sensor detects the unit's orientation. When a change is detected, the MCU automatically reallocates channels and adjusts crossover parameters to optimise sound performance for that configuration. Additionally, XIO features two internal microphones that measure the acoustic environment and generate custom EQ settings to mitigate excessive low-frequency boundary loading - something that’s common in typical use cases (e.g., wall or tabletop placement on reflective surfaces). We call this Intelligent Placement Technology (IPT), and it can be initialised from the KEF Connect app. The IPT mics come with a HW mute switch, on the back of the product, for complete peace of mind.

We have also prepared something akin to a whitepaper for XIO, which I’ll be sharing shortly.

Hope this helps!

PS: The animations are for illustrative purposes only.

Does the system also perform room correction/optimization for a RCA or wireless connected external subwoofer?

 

[pthakkar24]

No problem!

Hm this graphic appears to say otherwise:
View attachment 462033

Here, front-firing appear to be 3x Uni-Q (red) and top-firing are 2x 2" wideband (green) + 1x Uni-Q center, with the remaining two Uni-Q mounted as side-firing.

The colours are assigned as per the channel allocations not driver types.

Does the system also perform room correction/optimization for a RCA or wireless connected external subwoofer?

No, it does not. IPT uses mics mounted within the XIO, so it is unable to assess the impact of the room/listening positions on external subwoofers.

 

[juliangst]

I'm curious how this kind of room correction works. A lot of B&O speakers and the Apple Homepod use this too.
Is there any significant correlation between the frequeny response at the speakers position which it measures and the (unknown) listening position?

 

[Bobby Bass]

Glad to see another soundbar that looks like it’s good for both TV and streaming music. I have a couple of excellent stereo setups but I also have soundbars with my TVs for the others in the family. They didn’t like my 5.2 TV system, which I of course loved, so I moved to soundbars a few years ago. I have several Sonos bars with matching subs as well as a Samsung bar that came with one of the TVs. It’s good to have options. The 2500 price will keep me away. I thought 1K for the Sonos Arc was a lot.

 

[dogmamann]

Here's the link: https://ebay.us/m/bi73WY


Per speaker, yes, but for the full set?

I meant full set. 200 per speaker is too high!!!

I have added now 2 videos to the original post where the engineers explain the new velocity control technology to lower distortion.

The distortion was already too low, I wonder what is the goal now ? They are speaking of velocity, damping etc- so timing improvement ?

 

[thewas]

I have added now a link to the corresponding white paper to the original post.

 

[thewas]

The distortion was already too low, I wonder what is the goal now ? They are speaking of velocity, damping etc- so timing improvement ?

The distortion for such compact drivers is always quite high, to quote them "By directly controlling the movement of the LF drivers in this way, XIO delivers measurably more accurate, deeper bass with significantly reduced harmonic and intermodulation distortion, in the order o f15dB, over conventional small-boxsystems"

 

[Thighsofsteel]

Wonder how it compares to the Nakamichi Dragon Soundbar?

Martin

The Nakamichi wins on name alone.

 

[thewas]

The Nakamichi wins on name alone.

Wish it was a real Nakamichi though and not just another case of a long not existing companies name (ab)used by some newer investor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakamichi

 

[Hiten]

A curved surface on fron panel would help reduce comb filtering. Isnt it ?

 

[8bits]

I wonder if it can compete with Samsung's (backed by Harman) top-of-the-line offering, which is cheaper and gets the top spot on every review.
While I understand that they are trying to put themselves in this premium bracket with the design and the KEF name, I am not sure it will pay out when the competition in this space is quite difficult

 

[thewas]

I wonder if it can compete with Samsung's (backed by Harman) top-of-the-line offering, which is cheaper and gets the top spot on every review.
While I understand that they are trying to put themselves in this premium bracket with the design and the KEF name, I am not sure it will pay out when the competition in this space is quite difficult

Yes, guess it will compete from the price and market more with the offerings from "premium" brands like B&O, B&W, Devialet, Sennheiser etc, hope RTINGS will measure it soon.

 

[dogmamann]

The distortion for such compact drivers is always quite high, to quote them "By directly controlling the movement of the LF drivers in this way, XIO delivers measurably more accurate, deeper bass with significantly reduced harmonic and intermodulation distortion, in the order o f15dB, over conventional small-boxsystems"

So it’s a tech to improve the distortion on small drivers basically on larger ones they have it on check. However, probably the newer blades and references would feature even lower distortion in bass.

 

[samysound]

No problem!


The colours are assigned as per the channel allocations not driver types.

View attachment 462050


No, it does not. IPT uses mics mounted within the XIO, so it is unable to assess the impact of the room/listening positions on external subwoofers.

thanks for the clarification about the built in room correction. Are there high and low pass filters available if an external sub is connected?

 

[thewas]

So it’s a tech to improve the distortion on small drivers basically on larger ones they have it on check. However, probably the newer blades and references would feature even lower distortion in bass.

It reduces also IMD so it would be a great option for their 2-way models.

 

[RobL]

This will be a tough sell vs. the top-of-the-line Samsung. The Q990F is half the price here and comes with wireless rears and a wireless sub…

 

[lossendae]

It looks a little better than cheaper alternatives. On par with the Devialet Dione, a little less statutory design wise, maybe.