***Regardless, obviously the phase plug itself does not move but the woofer moves, so in relative sense you will see the tangerine waveguide moving. It's like driving through heavy snow fall, one could think one's car is moving on its own when it is not. This does not happen so much with other speaker and I think it is the color of the waveguide and the woofer cone that might have amplified such effect, and that is a major distraction to me.
Thanks for the clarification. And interesting thoughts about the IMO poorly-chosen cone color and lack of grill causing the issue. Likely spot-on, too.
Does the R-Series have the same effect on you with the grill off? I've not seen it on the Q100's, but honestly I see far enough away that my highly power-assisted eyes wouldn't likely pick up on such a thing anyway.
That's because it uses the second most sophisticated UniQ. It's UniQ is second only to the Blade itself.
Jack Oclee-Brown, who designed the Blade, described the differences between the Q100/X300A, R100, and LS50 drivers in a diyaudio thread. To paraphrase (because I'm too lazy to look up the thread)
Q100/X300D: starting block
R100: different cone (material, ridges), copper caps on mid and tweeter.
LS50: R100 but with different surround for slightly improved upper mids compared and different voicecoil. Also, some changes to the tweeter magnet IIRC.
That said, the one in the R300 and up is actually much closer to the Blade one. Remember that the Q100/X300D, R100, and LS50 all use a midwoofer. The Blade and the bigger R's have a dedicated midrange.
Impressive.
Interesting how the Muon, Blade, and Reference are made in England, yet the LS50 is made in China.
I figured the flagship speakers get to be made in England.
So the LS is about 5 times cheaper than the $6,000 201/2, is made in China, yet it has a better UniQ than even the $20,000 207/2.
Will the LS50 measure better than the 201/2 and 207/2 and sound better too?
KEF's marketing placement of these speakers is odd, but not unheard of for them.
Back in the day when they had the Reference line with bandpass woofers, they had a separate "signature" line or something like that above the reference line, with a big speaker I don't remember...and their latest iteration of the LS3/5a. It cost, IIRC, less than the smallest Reference (Reference One) but was priced lower than it.
The References, while excellent in every respect, are growing a bit long in the tooth. They don't fit KEF's current aesthetic, and their midrange Uni-Q hasn't been updated with their modern phase plug. I wonder what KEF will do with the line.
As for manufacture, keep in mind that the References are really just assembled in the UK. All of KEF's drivers are made in China, and I suspect the crossover parts are, too.
