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KEF LS50 Speaker Stands

Just bought a pair of KEF LS50s and was wondering what height speaker stands I should get. The standard approach is to get the driver at ear height. I tried several chairs that I might use and they put my ears at 43 inches from the floor. Since the LS50 driver is in the center of the front baffle that makes it about 6 inches from the bottom of the speaker. In that case I would need to buy 36 inch high speaker stands. There are very few quality speaker stands that high and the speaker stands that KEF sells specifically for the LS50 are only 24 inches high. Am I missing something? At 24 inches that would put the driver at 30 inches from the floor. You would have to be practically sitting on the floor to get your ears at 30 inches. My question is do I follow the standard rule and get 36 inch speaker stands or follow KEF and get 24 inch stands.
neo2199
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
i would get 32 or 36 in tall stands, 24 clearly too low unless you are camping out on a futon :) 

main driver at ear level is objective

measure height seated in listening position
docknow
309 posts
 
An inexpensive option ...

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24794


turnbowm
353 posts
 
The tonal balance of the LS50s is affected by the height of the stands. Going higher than Kef’s recommended stand height of 24" (max.) will reduce the amount of bass due to less boundary (floor) reinforcement. I experimented with speaker height and found the most satisfying bass at 21" but the lower image height was an issue so I went with 24" (including spikes).

Buy a new listening chair if needed to get tweeters at ear level.
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@turnbowm

good to know that ls50 is an exception to the usual rule for how to set standmounts at the right height for best performance...

interesting that this speaker poses this interesting tradeoff for a user -- proper imaging height and presentation vs sufficient bass reinforcement... a tough one it seems (i have not heard ls50’s in my own system... don’t own them)

if kef recommends this set up i would defer to that, and disregard my earlier, generic advice

this being said, using a good sub for real bass reinforcement is a solution that has made many a good standmount into world beaters! i suspect that is the way to have the cake and eat it too
turnbowm
353 posts
 
"good to know that ls50 is an exception to the usual rule for how to set standmounts at the right height for best performance..."

The LS50 is NO exception to the standard rule of making sure that the tweeters are at ear level. As I indicated, buying a new listening chair might be a preferred option.
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