I keep seeing great reviews about these KEF LS50 speakers. I auditioned them hooped up to a Parasound A21 and a Krell 300i integrated amp and honestly I was not impressed at all. Sound was thin, bright, not resolving enough for a $1,500 speakers. They don't sound better that a Paradigm mini monitor $500.00.
KEF LS50 Wireless -- wow!!!
Today I bought a new pair of the KEF LS50 Wireless speakers for my study (10 x 13 x 12). Just so you know my main system in the media room (15 x 20) consists of a pair of Bowers and Wilkins CM10s2 ($4000), Parasound A21 ($2500), Cambridge Audio 851D ($1000), Double Shotgun silver wires ($350), power cable from Cerious Technologies (Graphene something -- $350), with a total cost of something around $8k.
I thought it would be fun to put the KEFs in the same room as my main system and play them side by side using Tidal streaming for both. Now keep in mind that the CM10s have several hundred hours on them, whereas the KEFs have probably less than 2 hours so far. The speaker stands for the KEFs are still on backorder, so right now they're just sitting directly on the media console (glass top) -- in other words, this is a totally unfair comparison. Also, the CM10s are placed about 9 feet apart and 4 feet from the wall, whereas the KEFs are about 6 feet apart and less than two feet from the back wall.
What I heard was totally unbelievable!!! The KEFs, which mind you, are not broken in at all, not sitting on a proper stand, and not as wide apart from each other as the CM10s, totally blew the CM10s out of the water. The sound coming out of the KEFs is more full-bodied and balanced, beautiful midrange, and a very satisfying base. The imaging is just so much better than the B&Ws. I just can't believe how a speaker which is literally 4 to 5 times smaller than the CM10s can produce such a rich, satisfying base. I think the only aspect where the CM10s have a slight edge is the soundstage. But, I suspect that might improve with proper stands and more play time.
A few weeks ago, I auditioned a pair of Harbeth M30.1 in the same media room (driven by Parasound A21). While I really liked the midrange on them, they sounded a little thin to me. The KEFs, on the other hand, have a pretty good midrange (probably not as good as the Harbeths), but to my ears, they sound better in every other aspect.
Now, I'm not saying that these $2199 speakers are the ultimate bookshelves. But they sure beat my comparatively more expensive setup by a mile.
All hats off to the KEF engineers!
P.S. The CM10s will be on the market pretty soon :)
I thought it would be fun to put the KEFs in the same room as my main system and play them side by side using Tidal streaming for both. Now keep in mind that the CM10s have several hundred hours on them, whereas the KEFs have probably less than 2 hours so far. The speaker stands for the KEFs are still on backorder, so right now they're just sitting directly on the media console (glass top) -- in other words, this is a totally unfair comparison. Also, the CM10s are placed about 9 feet apart and 4 feet from the wall, whereas the KEFs are about 6 feet apart and less than two feet from the back wall.
What I heard was totally unbelievable!!! The KEFs, which mind you, are not broken in at all, not sitting on a proper stand, and not as wide apart from each other as the CM10s, totally blew the CM10s out of the water. The sound coming out of the KEFs is more full-bodied and balanced, beautiful midrange, and a very satisfying base. The imaging is just so much better than the B&Ws. I just can't believe how a speaker which is literally 4 to 5 times smaller than the CM10s can produce such a rich, satisfying base. I think the only aspect where the CM10s have a slight edge is the soundstage. But, I suspect that might improve with proper stands and more play time.
A few weeks ago, I auditioned a pair of Harbeth M30.1 in the same media room (driven by Parasound A21). While I really liked the midrange on them, they sounded a little thin to me. The KEFs, on the other hand, have a pretty good midrange (probably not as good as the Harbeths), but to my ears, they sound better in every other aspect.
Now, I'm not saying that these $2199 speakers are the ultimate bookshelves. But they sure beat my comparatively more expensive setup by a mile.
All hats off to the KEF engineers!
P.S. The CM10s will be on the market pretty soon :)
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- 62 posts total
@scarpino -- sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but did you make sure you have updated to the latest firmware? I had the same issue, albeit not quite as bad as yours, and getting the latest firmware solved it. Secondly, the KEFs are definitely finicky about the wifi quality. How close is your router to the speakers? Do you have multiple devices connected to the same network? I've noticed that it definitely increases dropouts in my case. Lastly, have you considered Roon? At least in my case, I find Roon to be a better application -- including user interface and overall sound quality. I get a lot fewer dropouts when listening to music via Roon. |
Very impressed with the KEF LS50. Very solidly built, and clearly a lot of attention has gone into the new Uni-Q drivers, as they sound incredibly accurate. Also listened to the R100 when trying the LS50 which, although no slouch, is eclipsed by the accuracy and soundstage of the LS50. The bass performance in particular is incredible for a speaker of its size. Personally, think the LS50 would still be a five star product at double the price. A great product from TechnoVolume. 10/10! |
Has anyone ever used a Killawatt or something similar to see how many watts the LS50 wireless draw? I have a specific use in mind and need to know how many watts the pair will draw at average listening volumes. Can someone please help me with this? thanks! ps, the specific use is on a cruising catamaran and the speakers would be powered off of an inverter, and since this draws power from the house batteries, power consumption is a concern. |
- 62 posts total