Automotive
The 200mm (8”) drive unit you see here is normally hidden away inside KEF’s ingenious 8 litre Coupled Cavity subwoofer enclosure. When mounted in the luggage compartment, the unwanted output of this driver is harmlessly dissipated, while the resonant cavity feeds into the car through a small, neat grille. this bass output, the focus of so many rave reviews, is maintained within a single dB from below 50 Hz to above 150 Hz.
The KEF 110mm (4½”) long-throw bass/mid-range driver is thoroughly prepared for the rigors of the travelling life. The compressed foam surround is less affected by freezing cold and desert heat than PVC, neoprene or butyl rubber. The high-strength fiber cone is specially coated to resist moisture. The dissipate the heat generated during loud passages, the driver uses a one-inch double thickness voice coil wound on an aluminium former. With a water-resistant, heat-resistant, corrosion-proof moulded housing, this drive unit could very well outlast your car.
This KEF 25mm (1”) fabric-dome tweeter is directly descended from KEF home hi-fi speaker drive units. Which means exceptional transient response and broad dispersion. The dome is chemically treated to resist moisture. The combination of an aluminium coil former and ferrofluid cooling help dissipate the Number One enemy to any tweeter: heat build-up.
To make a better car speaker, we had to make a better car speaker enclosure.
A critical but oft-overlooked part of any speaker system is the box it sits in - the enclosure. Any properly-designed enclosure is precisely matched to the drive units it encloses. That’s the only way to control unwanted back-radiation, provide proper bass loading, and prevent diffraction - all functions important to proper sound. Competent enclosures perform these functions well. Carelessly-designed enclosures don’t.
Unfortunately, most automotive speakers systems - even very expensive ones - use as their enclosure whatever body cavities the car has to offer. This hit-or-miss method condemns the sound of any given speaker to very dramatically from one installation to the next. The familiar promise of using ‘the entire luggage compartment as a bass enclosure’ may seem attractive. In actual practice, you’ll hear the limited, boomy, underdamped bass one automatically identifies as ‘car loud speaker sound’.
While this sort of sound is fine for some people, it’s absolutely unacceptable to the speaker engineers at KEF. After all, KEF are responsible for some of the world’s most coveted home loudspeakers. It was KEF that introduced the computerised precision of Fast Fourier Transform analysis to speaker testing. And KEF are foremost among speaker manufacturers in their use of computers for speaker design, analysis and quality control.
KEF have a refreshing new philosophy of automotive sound: car speakers shouldn’t sound like car speakers. They should sound like music. In their single-minded pursuit of this goal, KEF engineers determined the only way to assure KEF standards of sound quality, unit-to-unit uniformity and car-to-car consistency in KEF car speakers: supply them with KEF enclosures.
GT Systems
This thinking led to unprecedented results: the KEF GT systems. KEF engineers took rugged, moisture-resistant drive units and created matched enclosures. They carefully enclosed their 25mm (1”) dome tweeter and their 110mm (4½”) bass/midrange driver. And they borrowed the award-winning Coupled Cavity bass enclosure from the Reference 104/2 home loudspeaker to create what may well be the world’s first perfectly controlled in-car subwoofer system.
As applied in the GT200 KEF’s unique subwoofer design has been honoured two years in a row by AudioVideo International , which placed KEF’s subwoofer ‘among the best solutions to deep bass and limited real estate in the rear of the car’.
Performance Car’s Ian Wearing was even more impassioned. He exclaimed, ‘The sound of the timpani at full bore belting up those bass ports on the back shelf has to be experienced, a sound only eclipsed by the shattering burst of the full organ. I’ve yet to hear a car subwoofer system get anywhere near ....the KEF’s. Quite remarkable for a domestic system, devastating in a car’.
KAR Components
While the ‘plate’ design of the GT systems is perfectly suited to many card, there are others that benefit from the installation of separate woofers, tweeters, and midrange drivers. For these cars, KEF have created the KAR components. They deliver the same outstanding performance as the GT systems, with vastly superior ease of installation.
KEF’s KAR components let you put together the drive units and crossovers that meet the exact requirements of your car. Their profile is low enough to clear even a door handle, and flat enough to fit the dashboard. And a choice of flush-or-angle-mount tweeters allows clear treble to project from the parcel shelf - even when there is no reflecting glass surface above.
To discover which KEF system is right for your car, simply read on.
Your car’s speakers should be up to the marque.
The outstanding drive units you see on the page opposite can combine into a tremendous variety of configurations. Here are just a few possibilities. The KEF GT systems represent pre-assembled packages complete with tweeters, bass drivers and frequency dividing networks. KEF’s KAR components let you put together exactly the drive units and crossovers that meet the special requirements of your car.
Whether you choose GT systems or KAR components, you’ll be choosing the same high standard of performance.
GT100 Two-Way System
This popular system provides the exceptional performance of KEF at the price of far lesser car speakers. Each handsome plate incorporates KEF’s legendary 25mm (1”) tweeter, a semi-enclosed 110 mm (4½”) bass/midrange driver, and a multi-element frequency dividing network.
GT200 Three-Way System
The GT200 can lay a strong claim to representing the ultimate state of the in-car entertainment art. Whereas the GT 100 has to accept compromises in loudness and bass extension, the GT200 does not. With its genuinely controlled in-car subwoofer, the GT200 is capable of full band-width and a tremendous 110 dB spl.
KAR Two-Way Systems
KEF’s easiest-to-install separate component systems are also KEF’s most versatile. The KAR110 Bass/Midrange Driver is highly efficient. the KAR33A Angle-Mount Tweeters direct high frequencies towards your ears - not your knees. Or you can choose KAR33F Flush-Mount Tweeters slim enough to clear window cranks. The KDN20 Dividing Networks can be concealed under the dashboard.
KAR Three-Way Systems
KEF’s high-specification component systems boast the astonishing bass response of the KAR200W Sub-woofers. As with the two-way component systems, they include the KAT110 Bass/Midrange Drivers, plus a choice of flush-or angle-mount tweeters. TheKDN30 dividing Networks mount in any convenient location.
KAR 200SW Add-on Subwoofer
The easiest way to add that “devastating” KEF subwoofer performance to your existing automotive system is to buy the KAT200SW Sub-woofer - now available separately. Match them with the KDM10 dividing Networks, which accommodate single-or bi-amplifications. Or use them in an active crossover system.
Specifications
| KAR Drive units | ||||
| Model | KAR200SW | KAR110 | KAR33F | KAR33A |
| Description | Coupled cavity subwoofer | 110mm (4½") LF/MF unit | 25mm (1") flush mount HF unit | 25mm (1") angle mount HF unit |
| Nominal impedance | 4 ohms | 4 ohms | 4 ohms | 4 ohms |
| Maximum continuous sinusoidal input | 20V rms above 50Hz | 20V rms above 100Hz | 9V rms above 2.5kHz | 9V rms above 2.5kHz |
| Finish | Black | Black | Black | Black |
| Net weight | 4.4kg (9.7lb) | 0.8kg (1.75lb) | 0.35kg (0.8lb) | 0.34kg (0.75lb) |
| KAR DIVIDING NETWORKS | ||||
| Model | KDN10 | KDN20 | KDN30 | |
| Type | SP2116 | SP2117 | SP2118 | |
| Description | 2-way | 2-way | 3-way | |
| Crossover frequencies | 250Hz | 2.5kHz | 250Hz, 2.5kHz | |
| Overload protection (auto reset) | - | HF | HF | |
| Finish | Black | Black | Black | |
| Net weight | 0.45kg (1.0lb) | 0.27kg (0.6lb) | 0.47kg(1.03lb) | |
| Dimensions l x w x h | 160 x 94 x 36mm 6.3" x 3.7" x 1.42" |
122 x 80 x 36mm 4.8" x 3.15" x 1.42" |
160 x 94 x 36mm 6.3" x 3.7" x 1.42" |
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| KAR Suggested Systems | ||||
| Systems | 2-way | 3-way | Add on subwoofer | |
| Units | KAR110+KAR33 | KAR200SW+ KAR110+KAR33 | KAR200SW + existing full-range system | |
| Dividing Network | KDN20 | KDN30 | KDN10* | |
| Frequency range | 50Hz-20kHz | 30Hz-20kHz | 30Hz-250Hz | |
| Nominal impedance | 4 ohms | 4 ohms | 4 ohms | |
| Amplifier requirements | 5-50W | 5-100W | 5-100W | |
| Sensitivity at 1m for 2.83 pink noise input | 90dB spl | 90db spl | 90dB spl | |
| Maximum output *Bi-amplified systems (separate power amplifiers for KAR200SW) may use either KDN10 or active filters. Recommended crossover frequency 70Hz-250Hz. |
104dB spl | 110dBspl | 110dBspl | |
| GT Systems | ||||
| Model | GT200 | GT100 | ||
| Type | SP3063 | SP3077 | ||
| Description | 3-way system with coupled cavity subwoofer and panel mount satellite | 2-way panel mount system | ||
| Driver complement | 1 x 200mm (8") subwoofer unit 1 x 100mm (4") MF unit 1 x 25mm (1") soft dome HF unit |
1 x 110mm (4½") LF/MF unit 1x 25mm (1") soft dome HF unit |
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| Frequency range | 30Hz-20kHz | 50Hz-20kHz | ||
| Nominal impedance | 4 ohms | 4 ohms | ||
| Amplifier requirements | 5-100w | 5-50W | ||
| Sensitivity at 1m for 2.83 pink noise input | 90dB spl | 90dB spl | ||
| Maximum output | 110dB spl | 104dB spl | ||
| Finish | Black | Black | ||
| Net weight | 6.8kg (15lb) | 1.7kg (3.74lb) | ||
| All KAR components and GT systems are packed in pairs with fixing kit. KEF reserve the right to incorporate development and amend specifications without prior notice in line with continuous research and product improvement. |
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