Pairing with LS50 for whole home audio


Good morning all,

I’ve got a room I’m trying to build for some high end audio enjoyment. I’ve got a Rega P3 turntable and recently donated my NHT classic fours to my downstairs home theater (man do they sound great). Now I want to buy some nice hifi to restart my system. I’ve got a bead on a nicely priced pair of KEF LS50s and was thinking of pairing with a Rotel RX-1052 and a klipsch sub from the 1052’s pre-out

My room is about 12x15, I listen to mostly folk/Americana/oldies/country/jazz witn some hip hop and rock mixed in. My wife would like the system to be able to run  into another set of speakers for the kitchen/living room and have the option for Bluetooth streaming audio. 
My thought was to get the above setup - P3, RX1052, LS50s, klipsch sub and pair it with a blue sound node, then attach a Bluetooth transmitter into the zone 2 of the amp, sending that to a Bluetooth receiver on another amp in my kitchen/living room and potentially into my basement home theater system. Anyone have ideas on improving this particular setup without dropping $5k? 
 

glfnboomer

Bluesound offers a great product at an attractive price. They’ve been around and know what they’re doing. No need to stay away 😊

If you have a Bluesound Node then you would just add onto it in the other rooms with Bluesound Powernodes. You can also do a similar idea with Sonos using a Port and Sonos Amps, which cost a little bit less than Bluesound. 

@glfnboomer If you can swing a bit of extra cash then go for a used KEF LS50 Meta. In my setup the differences between the old LS50 and Meta were rather big. You need power for the LS50. I used the great KEF KC62 sub with the LS50 Meta and they are made for each other. Your room is perfect for both.

You do need a lot of power for the LS50 to make them sound their best. People will say that the LS50 can work with low power, that is true, but they will not sound their best. I recommend a min of 100 watts.

If you are willing to stretch your budget, then this used integrated amp is really hard to beat. It is a warm and smooth sound, but with some details. I used it with the LS50 and KC62 sub.

Krell K-300i Integrated Stereo Amplifier with OPTIONAL DAC Board. MINT Condition. 2022 Model For Sale - US Audio Mart

If you want to save more and use a slightly lesser sounding setup, but only for streaming.

GaN 1 | Peachtree Audio

You can get it with the Bluesnode they sell in a package deal. This is to stream and integrate a sub.

Now I said this was not as good as the KRELL. I have the Peachtree GAN1, and I made it even better than the KRELL. I did this by having Ric Shultz mod the GAN1 for $500. However, that would void the warranty.

EVS Homepage (tweakaudio.com)

I replaced the LS50 Meta a few months ago with the lower cost Magnepan LRS+ speaker. In almost every way the LRS+ is better than the LS50 Meta. I thought the LS50 Meta was still a bit better in terms of sharpness of the sound, but that was not a deep dive test.

Your room is fine for the LRS+ as long as you can move the panel about 3-feet from the front wall. This speaker needs way more power than the LS50 Meta so I got a used Sanders Sound Systems Magtech amp ($3k-4k). These amps were made for Maggies, Mag - tech

The Peachtree GAN1 is not powerful enough for the LRS+. It works but not as good as it could be.

 

 

 

For you wife's audio request have you considered any of the KEF's powered speakers with built-in streaming and DSP? The LSX II would fit nicely in a Kitchen countertop.