KEF LS60 v Reference 1s

If the missing text was and add a good subwoofer, the Reference 1s are augmented by a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s with acoustic room correction via an SMS-1. I'm now thinking of replacing the LS50 W2 with LS60. Thanks for the advice. The Reference 1s with a rack of Ayre gear is a hard act to follow.

I had demo of Ref 3 metas, r11 metas and ls60s recently.

All good and similar sounding in many ways but of course each radically different in physical construction.

I liked them all very much!

Main appeal for ls60s would be conserving space, cost, especially at current price, and overall value. You get a lot for your money. They are all-in-1 design of course, overachievers in terms of sound quality for their size and relatively easy to handle, set-up, and use.

Ref 3 metas were exquisite sounding. The other two were both pretty close.

I run ls50 metas + sub currently in a smaller room and that combo can compete quite well up to about 90db SPL or so, which is all I need mostly these days.

@dbphd You can hear the LS60 at Best Buy on the way to Los Angeles. Not sure which store. KEF is also selling the LS60 for 2K off this month.

@mapman The LS50 Mets and KEF KC62 sub were really good. I gave the LS50 to my nephew and now run with the $999 Magnepan LRS+ in the same small room. My office speaker search is done. I like the LRS+ more. You need a lot of power for the LRS+.

I was in the hospital with the highly contagious RVS, and did some soul searching about what I actually listen to. In the living room it’s the KEF LS50 W2 with a pair of KC62s, and that’s a surprisingly satisfying sound for me. In the room with Ayre gear and KEF Reference 1s, it’s the 85" Sony. Sony has really nailed the audio of their upper end large screens, another surprisingly satisfying sound. I think I’ve decided to sell all the Ayre gear except the disc player and phono pre amp. I’ll sell the KEF Reference 1s, the LS50 Wireless 2 and LS50 Meta, and keep the Velodyne HGS-15s. I’ll buy an LS60 from KEF this month.

It may seem like sacrilege, but it’s facing an honest analysis of my audio usage -- not always an easy thing to do. The wireless KEFs are just too convenient. and sound too good to be ignored. Kal Rubinson’s review of the LS60 in Stereophile was very favorable, and I tend to trust his judgement.

I am keeping a Thorens TD-124 and Technics SL though I rarely spin an LP, so not completely honest with myself.  They're visual icons.  That SME tonearm gets me every time.