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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
ryder
1,746 posts
 
The LS50 is a good speaker. Had it not been clad in an industrial all-black form, I would have considered it. It's certainly a great sounding monitor at its price range. I've been looking for some small monitors to complement the Harbeth SHL5 that I own and the LS50s did fall under the radar. However, I went with some Dali Mentor Menuets instead as they looked much more acceptable in the WAF department.

If one is able to accept the looks of the LS50 and has the right amplification and matching gear to go with it, these speakers are certainly worthy of consideration.
bhobba's avatar
bhobba
303 posts
 
Yea heard them against some much more expensive and obviously better stuff along with a number of fellow audiophiles. Very clear, real and present especially in the midrange. Everyone that heard them liked them. The issue is feed them something complex and they go to pieces. If you like Dianna Krall, Sinatra etc - get a good valve amp and these speakers and you are in heaven - forget rock, heavy metal etc.

Thanks
Bill
petland OP
85 posts
 
All valid observations. I would disagree with BIll however that this just a small box speaker with a pretty midrange. Every two way has its breaking point, if not there would not be 10 models in front of the Magico Mini.

Kef was perfectly comfortable putting a version of this same driver flying solo out in the open to cover most of the audioband in their reference Blade. Never heard them but certainly have read nothing but praise for their performance, some suggesting they are a "bargain" at 30K. Certainly nothing to suggest that the bold move of a singe driver in a reference full ranger was causing compression given what should be expected from a 30K floorstander.

If anything I would say lack of compression is one of this speakers greatest attributes particularly at this price point. It keeps things together nicely at moderate listening levels even with complex material rock included. Maybe my room is ideal in size but I have yet to see them break much of a sweat..........
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,807 posts
 
Nice ! Thanks for pointing these out.
hesson11
237 posts
 
The thing I like about my Harbeth C7s is their faithful rendition of the instrumental tone colors of unamplified instruments. Violins sound like violins; oboes like oboes. I listen almost exclusively to classical music, and this is the most important thing to me. I'd be eager to hear how the LS50s do in this area.
-Bob
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