Nova
Emira Addict
Picking up the Emira, I didn't listen to the sound system much on the 300 mile drive home. What little I did listen, it sounded thin and I wasn't sure if the subwoofer was working. It's been a few days and I was able to spend a bit of time listening to it. Again the system sounded thin, and I checked the equalizer settings were all flat. So I did a "Audio Settings Reset" and all of a sudden, there was bass. I am not sure what happened. The following are my listening impressions, all done through Android Auto playing Spotify. I'll take some measurements when I have time.
Volume: Overall volume is good. It got about as loud as I would be comfortable listening to without hearing damage. In fact, I had to lower it a 2-3 clicks from max just to be safe. The car is very loud when it is being driven, so the audio system will sound "quieter" since there is reduced dynamic range due to the high noise floor. However, keeping in mind the potential for hearing damage, it doesn't really need to be louder than it already is. It certainly is powerful enough to enjoy to over the engine/road noise. If anyone feels some type of way about the volume being set to near max, that's purely a psychological consideration from the days of analog audio when system sensitivity had to be high enough to work with a wide range of input sources. In the modern days of digital audio, we know with absolute certainty what the full input signal level is going to be, so the system only needs to be as sensitive as the level for numerical saturation, no more.
Bass: Bass quality is mediocre, better than some of the Mercedes Burmester systems I've listened to but not as good as many other premium audio systems I've enjoyed. The main issue is lack of low end extension. It feels like the subwoofer output falls off fairly quickly after about 40Hz. There is ample midbass output, especially upper midbass, giving percussion instruments good impact and "punch". If the low bass extension was better, it would significantly improve the overall quality of the sound. One good thing is that I didn't hear a lot of distortion in the bass, everything stayed under the 10% THD threshold that I'd consider problematic. I don't listen to a lot of bass heavy HipHop/R&B so those that do may have a different experience.
Midrange: Lower midrange seem a bit shy. Male vocals don't have the warm presence that I prefer. It's not a huge shortfall, maybe 2dB in the 200-400Hz region? I'd love to see what the measurements look like in this regard. If I could dial in just a bit more output in this region, it'd be golden. Clarity is great and the sound is very dynamic. Overall I'd say the midrange is pretty good, but not great.
Treble: As is, the treble sounded a little bright. It sounded "detailed" with good "air", but it was a bit too artificial. I dialed the treble equalizer setting to -2 and it sounded more balanced. Aside from that, the extension was good and I had no other complaints. Overall the treble was great after the EQ adjustment.
Overall Tonal Balance: Adding the bass, midrange, and treble together, you get the picture that the system sounds a tad bright overall, and the bass is boosted significantly in the midbass region. While parked and with the engine off, the bass is just too much by about 3-4dB and distracts from the music. With the engine on and While driving, the background noise drowns out the bass and it sounds more balanced.
Stage and Separation: Pretty darned good. The sound stage was at eye level and just slightly listener-side biased. Stereo imaging effect was very strong with distinct, convincing, and stable sound source placement. The stage width is very spacious, spanning perhaps 120 degrees in front of the listener. It's definitely one of the better car systems I've heard in this regard. Many OEM systems rely on a large number of drivers to produce a neutral tonal balance, sacrificing imaging in the process, but this KEF system was able to avoid this common pitfall.
Clarity, Noise, and Vibrations: Clarity was very good even at high volume. There was no noticeable onset of additional strain or distortion even at max volume - which while being an excellent trait, can be especially dangerous for hearing damage because you feel like you can keep turning it up. Knock on wood, my car had no audible rattles, buzzing, or vibrations. Everything seems to be fairly well buttoned down.
Summary: Overall, it's a decently good system and about par for what I'd expect from a premium OEM car audio system. I would be shocked if a base sound system was this good. Except for the bass extension, which is its key weakness, everything else works well as a package together. I really enjoy listening to it and look forward to spending more time with it during longer stretches of driving when there isn't much shifting to do.
Volume: Overall volume is good. It got about as loud as I would be comfortable listening to without hearing damage. In fact, I had to lower it a 2-3 clicks from max just to be safe. The car is very loud when it is being driven, so the audio system will sound "quieter" since there is reduced dynamic range due to the high noise floor. However, keeping in mind the potential for hearing damage, it doesn't really need to be louder than it already is. It certainly is powerful enough to enjoy to over the engine/road noise. If anyone feels some type of way about the volume being set to near max, that's purely a psychological consideration from the days of analog audio when system sensitivity had to be high enough to work with a wide range of input sources. In the modern days of digital audio, we know with absolute certainty what the full input signal level is going to be, so the system only needs to be as sensitive as the level for numerical saturation, no more.
Bass: Bass quality is mediocre, better than some of the Mercedes Burmester systems I've listened to but not as good as many other premium audio systems I've enjoyed. The main issue is lack of low end extension. It feels like the subwoofer output falls off fairly quickly after about 40Hz. There is ample midbass output, especially upper midbass, giving percussion instruments good impact and "punch". If the low bass extension was better, it would significantly improve the overall quality of the sound. One good thing is that I didn't hear a lot of distortion in the bass, everything stayed under the 10% THD threshold that I'd consider problematic. I don't listen to a lot of bass heavy HipHop/R&B so those that do may have a different experience.
Midrange: Lower midrange seem a bit shy. Male vocals don't have the warm presence that I prefer. It's not a huge shortfall, maybe 2dB in the 200-400Hz region? I'd love to see what the measurements look like in this regard. If I could dial in just a bit more output in this region, it'd be golden. Clarity is great and the sound is very dynamic. Overall I'd say the midrange is pretty good, but not great.
Treble: As is, the treble sounded a little bright. It sounded "detailed" with good "air", but it was a bit too artificial. I dialed the treble equalizer setting to -2 and it sounded more balanced. Aside from that, the extension was good and I had no other complaints. Overall the treble was great after the EQ adjustment.
Overall Tonal Balance: Adding the bass, midrange, and treble together, you get the picture that the system sounds a tad bright overall, and the bass is boosted significantly in the midbass region. While parked and with the engine off, the bass is just too much by about 3-4dB and distracts from the music. With the engine on and While driving, the background noise drowns out the bass and it sounds more balanced.
Stage and Separation: Pretty darned good. The sound stage was at eye level and just slightly listener-side biased. Stereo imaging effect was very strong with distinct, convincing, and stable sound source placement. The stage width is very spacious, spanning perhaps 120 degrees in front of the listener. It's definitely one of the better car systems I've heard in this regard. Many OEM systems rely on a large number of drivers to produce a neutral tonal balance, sacrificing imaging in the process, but this KEF system was able to avoid this common pitfall.
Clarity, Noise, and Vibrations: Clarity was very good even at high volume. There was no noticeable onset of additional strain or distortion even at max volume - which while being an excellent trait, can be especially dangerous for hearing damage because you feel like you can keep turning it up. Knock on wood, my car had no audible rattles, buzzing, or vibrations. Everything seems to be fairly well buttoned down.
Summary: Overall, it's a decently good system and about par for what I'd expect from a premium OEM car audio system. I would be shocked if a base sound system was this good. Except for the bass extension, which is its key weakness, everything else works well as a package together. I really enjoy listening to it and look forward to spending more time with it during longer stretches of driving when there isn't much shifting to do.
