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When high-end audio engineering meets inspired futuristic design….
A quest for perfection…
When you've been innovating for nearly 50 years, staying ahead of
the game becomes second nature. So as soon as the digital home entertainment
revolution kicked off, we designed the KEF Home Theatre concept
to sound, look and feel better than anything else for the price.
And the KEF KHT2005 earned the awards and 5-star ratings to prove
it.
But innovators don't stand still. We set about improving every single
component to raise the bar in terms of freedom from distortion,
power handling and optimising KEF's unique ‘sit anywhere’
point
source sound dispersion technology. The 3000 series is the result,
and it's much more than just an evolution from its award-winning
predecessors - it's a revolution. Smoother. Sweeter. More dynamic.
The secret of KEF home theatre
KEF’s patented ‘sit anywhere’ Uni-Q® driver configuration,
places the tweeter in the acoustic centre of the bass/midrange cone.
This creates a single focused audio source that disperses the sound
image evenly throughout the room so that everyone enjoys the full
richness of music or movie soundtracks.
The Uni-Q array in the 3000 series has a completely new design which
performs better than ever. Instead of having identical centre and
satellite speakers like other systems, we've created a stunning
new dedicated centre channel that gives dialogue more weight and
clarity delivering cinema-like frontal impact. We've also added
a
radical new high performance powered subwoofer. As a system, it
certainly puts the 'live' into living room.
Satellite Speakers
Clearly an evolution - in styling terms - of the signature egg shape,
the 3000 series is a completely new design that looks better and
sounds sweeter than anything else in its class.
The new 115mm (4.25in.) Uni-Q driver of the HTS3001 satellite speaker
has been comprehensively engineered for even cleaner, smoother response.
An improved magnet system delivers even heftier bass by allowing
greater movement of the speaker cone. KEF’s all-new sealed
suspension technology (SST)TM fills in the gap between midrange
cone and tweeter to produce a markedly more
powerful, cleaner sound. Distinctive radial ribs on the midrange
cone improve its rigidity for pure, clean vocal effects with exceptionally
low distortion.
The cast aluminium enclosures are shaped to minimise internal
resonance so that the satellites fill the room with a lush and incredibly
detailed 3D sound. The attention to detail is plain to see, from
the depth of the gloss finish to the ingeniously simple wall mounting
bracket system. Dynamic. Perfectly balanced. Seamlessly integrated.
Centre Speaker
Carrying up to60% of the sound,the centre channel is vital in any
home theatre system,and the new dedicated centre speakerof the 3000
Series is in a class of its own. With the same new generation 115mm
(4.5in.) Uni-Q arrayas the satellites, flanked by two additional
75mm (3in.) bass drivers the hefty frontal impact is complemented
by amazingly clear dialogue. And the response is so superbly integrated
across the frequency range that you soon forget you’re listening
to a recorded signal. It sounds astonishingly true to life.
Subwoofer
It’s the first subwoofer at this price level that you won’t
want to hide away out of sight. With an ultra-reliable high efficiency
250W class D amplifier powering a 250mm (10in.) driver with an auxiliary
bass radiator of the same size, the radical HTB2 model subwoofer
anchors
the 3D sound image with stunningly realistic low frequency reproduction.
Whether you prefer to position it vertically or horizontally, the
story’s the same: an acoustically inert enclosure shaped to
eliminate internal standing waves, extremely fast response and SmartBass
‘connect and go’ versatility with simple bass boost and
phase controls.
The Technology
Sit anywhere’ Uni-Q Technology
KEF's patented Uni-Q driver configuration uses aerospace technology
to mount the tweeter in the acoustic centre of the bass/midrange
cone. This allows both to act as a single focused source that disperses
the sound image evenly throughout the room, so you experience the
same 3D effects wherever you sit.
The all-new Uni-Q driver array of the 3000 series has been comprehensively
engineered for even cleaner response.
An element of loudspeaker design is the ability to produce sound
which is as close as possible to the original source. Distortion
is the main factor that impacts upon the quality of the sound reproduced.
A distortion below 2% is considered excellent. The KEF 3000 series
performs within a 0.3-0.8% band, considerably better than this
benchmark.
The midrange cone now produces smoother sound thanks to radial reinforcing
ribs for more ‘piston-like’ behaviour, and its rubber
surround has been re-profiled to deliver superior bass extension.
The KEF 3000 series suffers less break-up and hence produces cleaner
sound.
Sealed Suspension Technology
KEF’s unique new Sealed Suspension Technology – SSTTM
(patent applied for) dramatically improves sound quality at higher
volumes as it provides the most effective seal of the gap between
the moving mid-range cone and tweeter.
“Improving upon the already near perfect design wasn’t
easy. We had to make a rubber seal that was light enough to move
with a speaker without affecting the sound, it’s a genuine
innovation.”
KEF Research Engineer, Jack Oclee-Brown.
Stands
The standard elliptical shelf stands (supplied with each satellite
and centre speaker double up as unobtrusive wall brackets, and allow
your satellites to be stably oriented in any direction. The elegantly
simple optional floor stands (right) complement the satellite speakers
in both form and function.
Grilles
The grilles on the centre and satellite speakers are held in position
by magnets, giving a high quality, tactile feel, and because it’s
a closed loop magnet system, they won’t interfere with your
TV or any other nearby electronic equipment. Very KEF - a typically
ingenious touch.
Finishes
When you're buying audiophile quality sound, you want your system
to look the part. The 3000 series comes in a choice of High Gloss
Black or High Gloss Silver finishes; whichever you choose, you'll
find that the surface reflections echo the distinctively smooth
contours of the enclosures. If you think the look makes a statement,
wait till you hear the sound.
Subwoofer Drive Unit
Heavy weight long-throw motor design with aluminium Faraday ring
for reduced distortion. Magnetically shielded. 4-layer copper coil
for high power capacity. FEA(1) optimised coil and magnet design
to give
a linear BL profile (2). Rear suspension and surround FEA optimised
to give maximum linear excursion resulting in reduced distortion.
Electronics
Highly efficient 250W class D amplifier. Thermal and overcurrent
protection built into the amp and power supply unit ensuring ultra
reliable performance.
Auxiliary Bass Radiator (ABR) Balanced symmetrical low profile ABR
design for more linear excursion and reduced distortion. Internally
vented ABR air cavity resulting in less compliance damping giving
better LF performance.
Sophisticated limiter system to prevent voltage overload is optimised
for maximum audio quality(3).
1 FEA = Finite Element Analysis - a design development process
where individual components are modelled and analysed within a
computer program.
2 BL profile = measurement of the motor force factor on the
speaker driver over the working displacement of the magnetic coil.
3 Opto-coupled LED and light sensitive resistor senses overdrive
and automatically limits this to prevent damage to the unit.
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