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Can a set of Ls50 metas surpass or equal a set of Kef blade metas with subwoofers

I recently purchased a nice set of Ls50 metas off a fellow audiogoner..l have them on 33 in. stands in a large room.They are powered by a Hafler XL600(450x2) @ 4ohm.The metas are rolled off at 140hz.Behind the metas there are 2 line arrays of 6 (12 total)1000 watt velodyne 8In. Sealed subs.next to those there are 4-12 in. Subwoofers in sealed boxes with radiators tuned to 25hz,powered by 2 Crown K2's .l have a Mcintosh front end and lm using electronic crossovers.Everything is in phase,level matched and tweaked... Sounds amazing and effortless. I keep looking at the blades and wondering if there any better at 35,000 dollars...Aesthetically probably yes...Does anyone know if the blades have a better UNI Q driver?

128x128vinnydabully
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dbphd
1,631 posts
 

The control app for the LS50 Wireless II sets low-pass at 70 Hz and high-pass at 45 Hz when used with a pair of KC62s.  Integration of speakers and subs is excellent.  Even though it's a setup in the living room aimed at jazz and baroque music at moderate levels, it sounds very good with large orchestrations played at higher levels.  Sources are Roon, Oppo 205, and Sony 65 XBR ARC.

db 

vinnydabully's avatar
vinnydabully OP
86 posts
 

My final thoughts on the LS50 metas are every audiophile who loves speakers should try a set.The tweeter midrange coherence is so good they will make speakers you thought were great for so many years sound recessed....IMO..I like them rolled off with subs..and a good mosfet solid state amp...

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mapman
22,502 posts
 

Agree with @vinnydabully.   Ls 50’metas are a benchmark setting product and every hifi enthusiast should hear a pair. 

steve59's avatar
steve59
1,790 posts
 

subs don't really fill in the midbass and that's a tall order for the little ls50's. I have a local KEF dealer and before the original ls50 price dropped to $1100 he was pretty confident the R3 was the better speaker for the money because the woofer helped fill out the bass. Now both those speakers retail for less than the sales tax on a pair of Blades so it would be nice. I think if I still got high a pair of R3's and a k62 would be more than enough to keep me engaged.

yyzsantabarbara
4,964 posts
 

On side note. My KC62 had a design flaw in the batch it was part of (wireless transmission). KEF asked me to send it back to them. When it came back to me it did not work. The shipping packaging was damaged, but the unit was also packed in the wrong way.

I did not make a big stink about it and was just going to get it fixed myself at George Meyer AV in Los Angeles. KEF stepped up and is sending me a new sub. 

It's common knowledge that no speaker does everything... l just wanted to Say that Paul McGowan CEO of PS Audio, who can have whatever he wants chooses a pair of LS50's with a sub for his personal home for general listening...that alone means something 

I think John Atkinson from Stereophile also uses the LS50 as his main speaker. I was surprised at that.

 

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