Audio specialist KEF has revealed the compact KC62 subwoofer, which promises all the punchy sub-bass you’d want from a full-size sub without taking as much space in your living room.
FYI: The best wireless speakers are getting a big upgrade for 2022.
The KC62 is a wired subwoofer with an immense 1,000 watts of output power, delivered through two 6.5-inch drivers in a symmetrical “force cancelling” arrangement. It’s how these drivers are conjoined, in what KEF calls Uni-Core Technology, that grants the KC62 such a smaller footprint than other high-power subwoofers, potentially making it a good space-saving addition to the best soundbars.
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If you’re not familiar, force-cancelling subwoofers work by pointing two drivers in opposite directions: the forces exerted by the speakers can then cancel each other out, which prevents the rattling noise some subs can produce when the drivers make the enclosure shake.
Uni-Core Technology apparently improves on the conventional force-cancelling design, or at the very least shrinks it, by combing the two drivers into a single motor system with overlapping voice coils — the wires that cause the speaker cones to vibrate and in turn produce sound.
The result is the KC62, KEF’s first Uni-Core speaker product and presumably not its last. Measuring 9.7 x 10.1 x 9.8 inches it’s certainly smaller than most hi-fi subwoofers, especially those with dual force-cancelling drivers.
It also features KEF’s patent-pending P-Flex driver surrounds, which allow the drivers to travel further from their resting position when they vibrate. This supposedly delivers deeper sub-bass tones with less distortion.
Given all this new tech, it shouldn’t be surprising that the compact KC62 is expensive: it’s on sale now from KEF for a cool $1,500, with white and black finishes available.
