KEF LS50


Don't post often here but thought I would let you all know I stumbled on a pretty amazing performer in this little monitor.

I would say the midrange is on par with my Harbeth 40.1, treble has a tad more leading edge bite than the best soft dome but its a really good top end that never gets nasty. Dynamically they are performing way better than they should. I'm betting they would compete with the new 30.1 sonically, just a guess.

Have them running with 20X price electronics in a small office and they are not outclassed in any way. Made me want to keep throwing my best gear with them they sounded so good.

If you are in the market grab a pair, you will not regret. Saw two pair this morning for sale for around 1K, I can't think of anything in 20 years offering this much performance for 1K. You could build a world class non-full range sound around these.
petland
Hi Brianportugal,

Yes, I did own the little Minuets, LS50's and P3ESR's all at the same time being driven by a Musical Fidelity M3i integrated amp. I still own the Harbeths and Silverlines..I sold the Kefs a few weeks ago.

I'm a fan of the Silverlines, and they sound more different from the Kefs and Harbeths than the Kefs and Harbeths sound from each other.

The main thing with the Silverlines is that you can only get so much out of that tiny driver in a tiny enclosure. The music just doesn't breathe as well and can start to sound compressed where the other two don't. If you don't play big music with lots going on, you might not notice it though.

I do prefer the imaging and soundstage capabilities of the Silverlines. With them, instruments are more specifically focused and the soundstage was wider and deeper. I also thought the overall tonal balance of the Silverlines was better in that they don't have that artifical bass hump in the upper bass regions that both the Kef's and Harbeth's have in my room. FWIW, the Silverlines also measured a lot flatter with an SPL meter in that range as well.

That said, the treble and upper midrange regions are a little more refined on the Kefs and Harbeths, but remember, there is a huge price differential going on as well.

Hope that helps.
Thank you Seikosha. That is very interesting. What are you using to drive your harbeths and silver lines?
Hi Brianportugal,

The Silverlines are now actually being underutilized in my TV system, being driven by a NAD. The Harbeths are now relegated to a second system where I am running them with a Wadia 151 Powerdac since I sold the Musical Fidelity M3i that I'd previously been using with them.
Seikosha thank you. what would you mate the silverlines or Kef LS 50s with for vocals and jazz? I'd like to build toward a nice system. Any recommendations?
I am don't have much experience with hifi equipment and would like some help from you guys. As I have already mentioned in this thread, I am driving a pair of LS50s with a Nad D7050 amplifier. I am very happy with the sound but sometimes I believe that I may be straining the amp a bit too much. I am usually listening with the potentiometer levels between -15 and -10db. Is this forcing the amp too much? Am I putting my speakers at risk? Just for your info, the Nad D7050 is a 50w per channel at 4ohm amp.