Interesting situation! Do we need this....
I had a very interesting and unsettling experience that brings this hobby all together...or rips it apart. Recently, I bought a pair of Fluence SX6 speakers, on sale at Amazon for $120 pair. A small, black, two way bookshelf speaker. Highly-positively reviewed. My plan was to pull the drivers to use in another project. I couldn't buy drivers and crossovers like this for $120(More on this later)...Anyways, I was listening to my new kit amplifier, AKITIKA Z4 that I recently built...Streaming Quobuz...The Fluance speakers were set up next to the KEF LS50 Metas as I had used them previously to test yet another kit amplifier, Nelson Pass' ACA Mini.....For six hours I was simply amazed at how great the AKITIKA kit amp sounded. Massive sound stage, tight, well defined bass, some of the best vocals I've heard, the "AIR" around jazz instruments was fantastic!.....a system to behold...playing through my KEF LS50 Metas....Six hours later, after all types of music, it was time to call it a night (or early morning)....As I go to shut down the system, I realize that all night I was listening to the Fluance speakers!!! They were placed side by side with the KEFs. Do we really need any of this high end equipment to really enjoy the music!
@moonwatcher the used prices on Ebay seem in line with most used speakers. One of the reasons for a lot of used units is likely that a lot were sold. Even my local discount retailer has them on the shelf. I doubt there is a more popular non amplified speaker. Unlike most speakers, they are easy to ship hence more conducive to Ebay/used.
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@thespeakerdude perhaps, but if they are soooo good, then you’d think people would be keeping them for use in a secondary system, or passing them down to relatives or friends, not pawning them off on eBay. Most speakers I have bought have been repurposed or given to relatives to get them started in this hobby and especially move up from cheap soundbars. I don’t know, maybe people buy them based on the hype, but then find out they just don’t fill a large room like they expected, and they live and learn and move on. This isn’t a knock against KEF or their good design. They image extremely well. |
@anotherbob - I think the OP was simply sharing that when he thought he was listening to one setup it actually turned out to be another one that he wouldn’t have expected to be as good and it “lesser” combination compelled him to enjoy the music. It will be interesting to see what his experience is with the intended combination, but he never said that the “lower expectation” speaker was better. It kind of reminds me of the Bose demonstration where you think you’re hearing large speakers and then they reveal the little one. It’s fun when something sounds good enough to trick you into thinking it’s something that you’d expect to be better. Sometimes it’s expectation bias and sometimes is a high value product, but either way it’s nothing more than a compliment to the gear of the listener enjoyed it. |
I did connect the KEF LS50 Metas to the Akitika Z4 amplifier, and gave a it a good listen. It is quite obvious that the Fluance speakers are simply no match for the KEFs......The KEF create a sound stage like no other speaker I've auditioned in my living room....on some recordings you'd swear there were two more speakers on the sides of you....It's actually spooky. The Fluance speakers have a rise in the 70hz and down range which gives the impression of deeper bass, but in reality it is just more bass. In my room it is rather plesant. The KEF's are an amazing speaker.....In 50 years of selling, installing, designing systems, only a couple other speakers ever impressed me like the LS50 Metas. (Any Magnepans, Dahlquest DQ10s, B&O Red Line series, and in the right room, Klipsch Forte)......But I'm here to tell ya, for $120 a pair, the Fluance speakers are remarkable....or maybe it is just my room and my ears that they have "synergy"... |
