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Can the KEF LS50 rock?

Hi,

Right now my setup includes a Rel T5 sub and a pair of Wharfedale 10.1s. I just got a peachtree nova 125se which should be coming soon. For the longest time I have been looking at buying a pair of KEF LS50s. My room size is medium and I rarely get to play my music loud. All that being said if I bought the Kefs and paired it with my sub how would they do when I occasionally feel the desire to rock out? Any other monitor suggestions would be helpful. I live in a small town so there isn't much chance to test drive speakers but maybe I can take a roadtrip to Denver in the future.

Thanks!
brimel1974
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
Go with the ELAC floorstanders instead. (Another option is the JBL LSR305/8 + 310s sub in a 2.1 setup, that’s what I have now, super accurate, super awesome, super value)

The LS50 got great resale value though, I sold it in one day for about the same price I bought it at.

I was thinking in the same direction. The Elac Uni-Fi UF5 Tower has a concentric midrange/tweeter (similar to the LS50) but augmented by three small, fast (5-1/2") woofers in a larger enclosure. Their dimensions are very compact, however at 7.87"w x 38"h x 10.75"d. They should match well with your REL even if you don’t high-pass to the Elac towers. They were designed by Andrew Jones and are only $999/pair, meaning you could sell your KEFs and have money left over. They have far more radiating surface than the LS50s, meaning they should be able to "rock out".

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-438083-elac-uni-fi-uf5-tower-speakers-pr.aspx
brimel1974's avatar
brimel1974 OP
35 posts
 
Hey johnnyb53. I know the Elacs are getting great reviews but I don't know if I want to invest in a pair of speakers featuring "luxurious textured vinyl finish."

Music Direct is also selling the Wharfedale Jade 5s for about 600 more. I do like wharfedales.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
To me, Bob made the really relevant comment early on:

"The LS50 begs to be high passed" (maybe low-cut would be clearer).

The speaker looks great with smooth (and very gently falling off-axis) frequency response.  However, it can't produce really clean output below 200hz and is a mess at 100hz - provided that the power in/SPL in the test is reflective of that in actual use - which is, in turn, dependent on any individual listener's preference in a given installation.

IMO, if you're using this speaker for listening to wide-bandwidth program material at real world SPL, a high quality, actively crossed sub-woofer will almost certainly produce a tremendous improvement in bass response.  I'm not sure whether I'd cross at 100hz, 200hz, or somewhere in-between, but I'd definitely add a subwoofer (or two in stereo) for this type of listening with the LS50.


mapman's avatar
mapman
22,664 posts
 

In a brief in house audition I did with ls50s a while back,   I found bass performance was very amp and room dependent.


Sounded great in smaller room with high current high power (500w/ch 8 ohm) low output impedance Class D amp (Bel Canto ref1000m),  was very underwhelming in a larger room with lower current, higher output impendence, 180 w/ch 8 OHM SS amp (TAD Hibachi), much more so than other similar size smaller monitors I have tried.

coli
291 posts
 
The Pioneer FS52 floorstanders, also designed by Andrew Jones and was on sale for like $75 each. They sound so damn good, definitely more enjoyable for music than the LS50. The ELAC is Andrew Jones’s latest creation at twice the price point using 2015/6 technology, it’s a no brainer really unless you want to learn things the hard way via your wallet. Been there done that.

If you search around, you’ll find Andrew Jones on diy forum personally explaining distortions from concentric designs and how he overcomes it with 3 way by minimizing the movement of the mid cone/guide to the woofer. This is something the LS50 lacks and is very noticeable if you A/B it.
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