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KEF Ls50 wireless vs passive

Hello,

Was wondering if anyone has had a direct comparison with the passive ls50 speakers and the active ones.  I only ask because a dealer near me only has the passive ones and the amp they have it paired with (Sony TA-A1ES) is $2k alone.  ( I did love the combo but if I could save the cash and go with the actives I would). From what I have read people seem to really speak highly of the performance of the actives.  I am curious as to how the actives might sound in comparison to the demo at my dealer with the Sony.  Also, I noticed the actives only come with a one year manufacturer warranty which kind of scares me since all that hardware is packed into such a small enclosure I feel that the risk of failure would be rather high. But if anyone has any feedback I would love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks!


mgrec42
yyzsantabarbara
4,929 posts
 
I have the passive and I am soon going to be running it with Benchmark AHB2 amp ($3k) + Benchmark DAC2 HGC ($2k) which will be replacing a breaking down Parasound A23 amp. I would recommend you get the ACTIVE version from Amazon or KEF Direct web store. Since the performance is very high with the ACTVIE and you would likely need to spend a lot of $$ like me to equal or better the ACTIVES.

Read the review from DARKO site,

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/12/kef-ls50-wireless-review-dars-product-of-the-year-2016/

I likely will get one of the following integrated amps (including DAC) to drive the passive LS50’s when I move the LS50’s to a bedroom from the office (likely next year).

NAD C368 ($800 - $1200 with ROON Ratt module)
Rotel A14 ($1299)
Hegel Rost ($3000 Apple support)
Peachtree Nova 1500 ($1700)

I will get something bigger for the office where the LS50 currently reside. Thinking of getting something like the Magico S1 mkII or S3 mkII or the new Yamaha NS 5000 for the office.



Post removed 
seanheis1
629 posts
 
The actives put out more bass which is a big deal if you aren't using a sub. Yeah warranty is rough at 12 months. I don't expect them to hold their value like a passive would. 
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