KEF KC92 Subwoofer Review with iBX

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Disclosure: The Affiliate links above earn me a commission if you purchase using those links. This is at no additional cost to you. KEF sent this product for me review and I was paid to review this product. They do not have a say in my review process and they were not allowed to review this prior to release.

[joentell]

To be clear, I'm not sure if this does have a fan inside near the heatsink, but I was able to hear a whirring sound even when no sound was being played out of it. Hopefully, someone from KEF can chime in on this.

The more I think of it, it might just be audible hiss from the amp causing what I thought was a whirring sound. In that case, it could possibly be an air leak.

[roccobruno]

Living in a condo I needed a compact yet capable subwoofer. I was able to purchase two of these subs and I couldn't be happier for both music and home theatre. It's nice to see a company like KEF take the compact subwoofer market seriously because not everyone is able to use a larger subwoofer never mind two. The max I have every driven my the two subs has been 105 decibels and thankfully the DSP didn't curtail the bottom most frequencies to gain the extra output. Thankfully my Anthem AVM 70 has dual subwoofer outputs and the ARC software did a great job ironing out my room problems.

[ErinsAudioCorner]

Swear I thought the title said “IBS”. 😂

Good video, Joe!

[maxwinderlich]

Had two of the older version without trigger input.
Sonically good subs, however, the missing trigger input sucked.
The sub output on my pre-pro had to be turned up to max. to wake up the sub.
Finally I replaced the KC92‘s by two B&W DB2D‘s. It was a huge step up!

[hugoknapp]

I freaking love my KF92 subwoofer! No complaints so far. I have the first revision of this subwoofer paired with a B&W ASW610XP sub. Mine doesn't have the squeal noise yours does, but I've heard it before on a few D-Class amps... So I think it's to do with that. Also I've not heard any discernible delay between this sub and my B&W! I'm little jealous the new revision gets the P-Flex and USB-C Service port as the only way to 'Service' mine is via plugging it into another KEF speaker (I believe the LS50) but thankfully I've not needed to so far.

[imzunv]

Really Good Review @joentell I like the amount of detail information without making the video too long. It’s a really nice looking sub, great looking design. 11Hz is really something from such a small cube.

[whitecrowuk]

Solid review Joe!
Nice measurements, it’s a solid living room sub where people like things that are not obstructive and look nice whilst being able to perform. Had a couple of them and they rock. Also with wireless transmitter that’s probably one of the best on the market. But you can get better at lower price if size is not the issue. I’ve changed them for two Arendal 1723 s1 subs which are twice as big with greater extension and no “ibs” trickery. I didn’t like the idea that response curve will change depending on spl making room correction potentially useless

[ayokay]

I was thinking that KEF would have ported all the tech in KC62 into the KC92, but not quite. Especially when it comes to an aluminum inclosure. I think it would have been more interesting product if KEF made a KC72 or 82 out of aluminum. Great review, btw.

[MyFatherLoves]

Another interesting fact for this sub.... Kef offers a kit that allows you to stack 2 or 3 of these subs on top of each other. Two subs stacked is equivalent to a Blade Meta 1 in output and distortion... Could you imagine making a psuedo-Blade using a stack of two or three of these subs DSP'd to integrate with a Reference 1 or even an R3 Meta? ORRR you can get even nuttier and stack two or three (depending on speaker height) under a Ci3160REFM or a Ci3160RLM? You'd have a full-range setup with near-zero SBIR that's also doubling as your LFE.

Yowza.

[filipebeat]

me much exp with audio but didnt had many big expensive subs, made total sense. thanks!

[hdyxbymw]

Can you please do a comparison with B&W DB1D?

[MyFatherLoves]

Wow.... so basically for HT, just one sub has the ability to play at reference level.. For music, it may be limited depending on the multi-tone distortion. So dang cool.

[MisterChibs]

Great review!! It’s a shame about the delay. Does the KC62 have that same delay?
On a separate note, I also appreciate your guidelines. While they are common sense and should be the way everyone commenting behaves, it’s not always the case. 🍻

[MattyDaddy]

I have really high hopes for this size compact sub. What I liked about it specs wise since I haven’t heard it in person is how adjustable and many options it provides! Plus the dual 9” driver with 2x500 watt amps, this thing must sound amazing! One of my fave things is the room/placement switch! So cool to be able to move it around and it adjusts automatically. 🎉 can’t wait to see the cta2010 measurements! 🎉

From what I’ve read and seen on reviews so far, I’m ranking this as the ultimate number bedroom HT/music subwoofer paired to a soundbar/smaller HT system! :)

[isak]

I would love to see some overlay graphs with other subs that you've tested in the same room. What would be a comparable ported sub in terms of performance? 10", 12"?

[GaneshPerumal-qtly]

Wow! Excellent critical points....thanks❤!

[dragonstone]

Nice overview. I like that you test the delay time. Question: which sub has the lowest delay? Is it the REL subs?

[sudd]

great point with the delay for the high pass output. i would rather have the phase knob on a subwoofer to apply to the output instead, usually those need the delay.

[xguillaume]

Interesting point is how smaller unit can deliver lower than 20Hz signal? and whether thoese infrasound part has helth concern?

[luciferray]

Please help me out. I want to buy the Best bookshelf speaker under 2000 US dollars.

Klipsch 9s, sonus Faber lumina 2, q acoustics 5020, kef r3 meta, warfdale linton 85 ?

We don't get arindal 1723 or 1961 in my country. Any other speaker that you would recommend under or a little over 2000 dollars ?