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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 :)

128x128arafiq
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b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,274 posts
 
I don’t see where he said awesome...??

So-al was saying the app stinks, which it does.  It’s absolutely horrible.

The speakers are really pretty awesome though.  Just get yourself a bluesound node and bypass the KEF app.

The reliability on them is questionable as well.  Be very nice to them.  I’m not sure what the answer is in order to treat the as gingerly as possible; leave them on all the time perhaps...

I’ve owned the LS50’s, and the LS50W’s.  My Brother has LS50w’s (which crapped out on him after 6 months but were replaced under warranty, he know has  an extra 3 year warranty covering the electronics. 3 of my friends have a pair and out of them, 1 pair crapped out Nd was replaced under warranty as well.

They are fantastic sounding speakers however with loads more bass than the passives had in my set-up, which wasn’t enough to do them justice probably.

The LS50W’s with a sub or two are something quite special.  I have a pair of R100’s coming tuesday; I hope I like them!
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
I've had mine or two and a half years and they have been rock solid for me. Initially, the connection was a bit temperamental, but I made two changes that made a world of difference. First I got Roon, which is a million times better than KEF's native application which I agree is horrible, to say the least. 
Second, since I don't have ethernet in the room where the KEFs are, I installed Nest Wifi -- one router with three nodes all over the house. The sound quality improved quite a bit and no more drop offs. 
Now speaking of awful products -- Bluesound. I've had it for a year now (attached to another system). It worked well for some time but then I installed the latest update and it has pretty much stopped working. This is a common problem if you search the web but their support is adamant that it's your home network. Seriously, stay away from Bluesound ... their support is pathetic.
so-al
19 posts
 

I have an eero mesh and works great, everything works on it except the KEF LS50W.
The wireless (WiFi) Function on the LS50W  is awful.
Its no wonder KEF with will only cover active parts/function of the LS50W for a year, it’s because it’s crap...
so-al
19 posts
 
Update- I’ve called KEF about my LS50w and they are working with me!
I have to give them props for helping out on a trade in!!
Big kuddos to KEF once again, I don’t feel left out in the cold and they’ve converted me to lifetime KEF guy!
it might’ve been I just got a bad pair, that will be replaced by KEF for a new KEF pair.
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