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

[Mnyb]

I hope this tech would eventually get in the all their active speakers . Maybe except the subs where human hearing of distorsion is not very good, wait maybe the current amps could allow other box alignments...

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Man on eBay I just found a full 5.1 SE set for 220€ an hour's drive away..

I wish I had a use for these

I use the channel HTC 3001 SE with my four LS 50s and two SB 2000's. Sounds great, and fits below my TV. Cost me $150 plus $70 for a Amiya A07 amp to give my system a legitimate center channel for my 5.1 home theater.

 

[90sNintendoKid]

I am demoing the XIO at the Kef Store in London this weekend, I'll let this thread know my subjective opinion. I'm potentially interested because of the sub out and the potential for bass EQ.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I hope this tech would eventually get in the all their active speakers . Maybe except the subs where human hearing of distorsion is not very good, wait maybe the current amps could allow other box alignments...

Would be good if there were a unit that could be used on their passives as well. My LS 50 Metas would be perfect if they could play with 15 db lower levels of distortion.

 

[Haint]

Companies have to make profits, nothing strange about it.
$2500 if I got it right. I have no idea about this market but does not seem too much (I think)

As a stand alone soundbar, its competition is the $999 Sonos Ultra and $999 high end JBL/Samsung soundbars, the remaining 99% of the soundbar market (which likely comprises >90% of total market revenue and sales) is below $500.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

As a stand alone soundbar, its competition is the $999 Sonos Ultra and $999 high end JBL/Samsung soundbars, the remaining 99% of the soundbar market (which likely comprises >90% of total market revenue and sales) is below $500.

So the question really is how close does this come to being a decent Atmos system in a small room with maybe just a sub added? If the answer is "real close" it's probably worth it.

 

[staticV3]

As a stand alone soundbar, its competition is the $999 Sonos Ultra and $999 high end JBL/Samsung soundbars, the remaining 99% of the soundbar market (which likely comprises >90% of total market revenue and sales) is below $500.

Canvas Hifi
Ambeo Max
Devialet Dione
nuPro XS-8500
Beosound Stage

to name a few

 

[Vacceo]

I hope this tech would eventually get in the all their active speakers . Maybe except the subs where human hearing of distorsion is not very good, wait maybe the current amps could allow other box alignments...

If the implementation on the subwoofer means that you can squeeze further extension and db´s on a given size of woofers, I am happy to get extra extension and loudness, even if I will not notice the distortion improvement due to how low the frequency is.

 

[alanca3]

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?

In a nutshell, they compare the room and anechoic response, and use that to generate a filter.

More specifically, they are measuring the real part of the acoustic impedance and generating a correction based on how that impedance affects the room response.

When the speaker pushes out into your room, the air pushes back. The speaker knows how the air pushes back in the free field. When you put the speaker into a corner the air pushes back differently (more pressure, same cone velocity). The mic measures this change in pressure, and the DSP calculates the acoustic impedance acting on the speaker. In this way the speaker gets an idea of how close it is to a boundary, and how that boundary alters the sound throughout the room. This only works for low frequencies where the response is dominated by room modes.


Our hearing and speech works similarly. If you have a bad cold and your sinuses are stopped up, everything sounds muted and quiet. You might raise your voice or change the way you talk because your brain assumes that everyone else hears you that way as well. Same goes for singing in the shower vs the car vs outside.

 

[Ljm153]

I've had my XIO for a week now. My room is 25'x25'x11'h. Open floor plan. My tv wall is in the right front quater of the room. My seating position is 8.5ft from the tv. I'm not looking for a theater experience as I have a hi-end dedicated room. My use case is for background music and tv when we are not in the theater. Bass is adequate sitting close but disappears when not in front of the bar' I'm waiting for the KC92 sub which should take care of the problem. As with the LS60s I demoed in my room the volumn is lacking as you have to really turn it up to get the full effect. and really need to sit near field.I would not call this audiophile as I have a 2 channel set up with Dali Epicon 6 speakers so I can justify my statement. But having said that my use case for music is fine. I]I only have six inches between my tv and fireplace so being able to turn this bar to face the sofa is a real plus and the gyro really works work when orienting it. Anyway I havethree more weeks to complete my demo before return or keeping it.I'll chime in again after the sub gets here.

 

[lewdish]

Imho its an incredibly well though out piece of tech. It addresses a lot of issues w/ soundbar design both for lifestyle and objective which has always been KEF's strong suit.

 

[thewas]

Explore the story behind the XIO soundbar with Jack Oclee-Brown in this exclusive Q&A helf at KEF Music Gallery London.

 

[voodooless]

Rtings.com finally has some preliminary test results on the XIO. It’s still behind a paywall, so I won’t share them here. From what I could gather, it really isn’t better than my Ambeo Max. Sadly Rtings doesn’t do a proper anechoic measurement, so hard to judge the bass performance part. Otherwise it seems fairly linear. It doesn’t really go super loud. My Ambeo Max does several dB more MaxSPL. But it’s also quite large and has some woofer surface area to help.

One major advantage is probably that the XIO will support wireless rear speakers at some point in time.

I also think they both need a sub. Now my wife just gave me the green light to build one (which might have been an accident, but hey, I’ll take it ) since the old cabinet that hid the previous one is no more.

 

[lossendae]

KEF does publish their white papers and there are always verified here. Despite using all the fancy marketing verbiage they do not lie on the numbers unless I missed something (?)

 

[mglobe]

I've had my XIO for a week now. My room is 25'x25'x11'h. Open floor plan. My tv wall is in the right front quater of the room. My seating position is 8.5ft from the tv. I'm not looking for a theater experience as I have a hi-end dedicated room. My use case is for background music and tv when we are not in the theater. Bass is adequate sitting close but disappears when not in front of the bar' I'm waiting for the KC92 sub which should take care of the problem. As with the LS60s I demoed in my room the volumn is lacking as you have to really turn it up to get the full effect. and really need to sit near field.I would not call this audiophile as I have a 2 channel set up with Dali Epicon 6 speakers so I can justify my statement. But having said that my use case for music is fine. I]I only have six inches between my tv and fireplace so being able to turn this bar to face the sofa is a real plus and the gyro really works work when orienting it. Anyway I havethree more weeks to complete my demo before return or keeping it.I'll chime in again after the sub gets here.

Gyro? Can you give us any info on that? I didn’t see mention of that in the user manual.