Kef LS50 Wireless - my review of sorts

[Rajeshh]

My hunt for high quality sound began when one of my close buddies, got himself a ELAC Unifi bookshelves & a Marantz Pm6006 stereo amplifier. Over some Gin and tonic i was literally blow away by the sound that was coming from the set-up.

The noob that i was, i thought that a 5.1 receiver driving a 2.1 would be the answer. The idea was that a) the specs of a 5.1 seemed a lot more modern, b) watts are watts. c) Add a center speaker & rear speakers at a later stage.

I bought a Marantz NR1506 receiver & a Tannoy TS 2.8 subwoofer, for my long serving Pioneer BS22LR bookshelves. After a few months, it was apparent that i was not enjoying music, the final straw was when we brought over the Pm6006 amplifier to power my speaker.
Rated @45 watts to 2 channel the PM6006 basically killed the NR1506 rated @50 watts to 5 channel in every aspect

I decided to quickly sell everything, except the Pioneer bookshelves, which i shipped to my moms place, and restart.

Thankfully, i managed to not lose money in the process (an audiophile bought the Nr1506 for its tuner & pre-out capability )
Then began a long auditioning process. Internet reviews tend to be extremely confusing, and i realised that from now, i would have to hear it myself to be convinced. I wanted a clear step-up, maybe 2 levels up.

After auditioning Wharfedales, Q Acoustics, Dynaudio Emit20s, B&W 685 S2/CM5s, Thiel Tm3s, Focal chorus & Aria bookshelves (these are the standout ones i remember from close to 2 months of audition), i finally walked into the KEF showroom.
This was when the LS50 Wireless had just been launched and they had set-up a pair nicely. I remember the song that i auditioned it with "Black lizard - Pink Martini" it sounded eerily real, and what more the speakers produced more bass, than i thought a small bookshelf possibly can.

The next weekend was a much longer audition with mainly blues, rock&roll & EDM music. The midrange where voices reside was to die for, and that bass!
and so I was sold on the LS50W and had to get them.

 

[Rajeshh]

Setting up the Kef LS50 wireless was a breeze, but once i had set it up/fired it up, something seemed amiss. The tonality & bass was just not there.

I wasn't a believer in speaker break-in until that point, but a long break-in period of 200 hours sorted out most of the issues. The highs became much smoother and extended, the mids lush. But the bass was still missing, so was the famed imaging.
Playing around with toe-in angles, distance from wall & speaker stands proved the remedy, the built in equaliser helped.
A pair of rather heavy speaker stands are a must for these speakers.

Then came the hunt for a high quality source to feed the speakers. I was not going down the CD route, therefore it had to be digital music, after many experimentation with Audirvana & Roon via my old Mac mini, a Bluesound N2 & a Aries mini, i finally settled on a ELAC Discovery music server.

The Discovery, to this day remains one of fav piece of Hifi kit, but thats a story for another day.

I must say that the LS50 Wireless is one of the most finicky speakers i've known. It got me a good part of 2 months to re-create the magic i'd heard at the Kef showroom.
Once set-up, it is an extremely rewarding speaker.

Pros
-Fantastic warm sound.
-Clean highs, lush mids & taut bass weight (not extension)
-No amp & cable matching involved, the LS50 wireless comes built in with everything.
-Precise & layered imaging.

Cons
-Extremely Finicky with toe-in angle, distance to wall & speaker stands
-Needs a high quality source to sound their best, can sound muddled otherwise.
-The built-in DAC is at-best average, and is the weak link in the package.
-Bass, while punchy and taut, there is only so much that a small bookshelf can do, meaning EDM & Drum/Bass are not its forte

 

[mpw]

please do put up a picture of your setup..

thank you

 

[gururanga]

nice review thanks for posting. what is your source, do you directly connect computer to speakers via USB

 

[Rajeshh]

nice review thanks for posting. what is your source, do you directly connect computer to speakers via USB

Thanks. My source is the Elac discovery music server, i use the RCA out from this to the LS50 W's input. Whenever possible i avoid using the LS50's built-in DAC for critical listening.
On the other hand the built in DAC is handy for media playback, i use a MAC mini as my media center, and run USB audio out to the LS50 W.

please do put up a picture of your setup..

Thanks, here is a pic of the set-up

 

[gb123]

Hello Rajesh,

From what I know, even if you use RCA, it will still not bypass LS50's DAC. Try using Coaxial cable from Elac Discover's Digital output. Your sound should be better.

PS: Guys, if anyone wants to audition LS50 Wireless in Delhi, gimme a PM. Would be setting up my system very soon

 

[Rajeshh]

Hello Rajesh,

From what I know, even if you use RCA, it will still not bypass LS50's DAC. Try using Coaxial cable from Elac Discover's Digital output. Your sound should be better.

PS: Guys, if anyone wants to audition LS50 Wireless in Delhi, gimme a PM. Would be setting up my system very soon

Hello Gb123, RCA nets the best sound from the LS50 W, also the LS50 W does not have a coaxial input.
The inputs available are RCA, optical, USB, Bluetooth & wireless App for built in uPNP/Tidal/Spotofy streaming

 

[newlash09]

Congratulations Rajesh.H....

Your setup looks nice, stylish and tidy. Glad to know they sound awesome too. Something about the performance to pound ratio of the active LS50's appeals to me. Most of us here, after enough box swapping will end up with a active setup too

 

[Rajeshh]

Congratulations Rajesh.H....

Your setup looks nice, stylish and tidy. Glad to know they sound awesome too. Something about the performance to pound ratio of the active LS50's appeals to me. Most of us here, after enough box swapping will end up with a active setup too

Thanks newlash
I highly recommend the LS50 W for exactly the same reasons you've mentioned.
But i have since moved on to a separates driven set-up with the Kef Reference 1s

 

[elangoas]

The noob that i was, i thought that a 5.1 receiver driving a 2.1 would be the answer. The idea was that a) the specs of a 5.1 seemed a lot more modern, b) watts are watts. c) Add a center speaker & rear speakers at a later stage.

I bought a Marantz NR1506 receiver & a Tannoy TS 2.8 subwoofer, for my long serving Pioneer BS22LR bookshelves. After a few months, it was apparent that i was not enjoying music, the final straw was when we brought over the Pm6006 amplifier to power my speaker.

An inefficient speaker (85db) paired with a slim line AVR, which is almost the size of bluray player, didn't make it i guess..

Something like Klipsch, which are high on sensitivity (96db) would have made a great match and demand less power..

Rated @45 watts to 2 channel the PM6006 basically killed the NR1506 rated @50 watts to 5 channel in every aspect

Sibling rivalry..

Thankfully, i managed to not lose money in the process (an audiophile bought the Nr1506 for its tuner & pre-out capability )

One grabbed it from an other..

This was when the LS50 Wireless had just been launched and they had set-up a pair nicely. I remember the song that i auditioned it with "Black lizard - Pink Martini" it sounded eerily real, and what more the speakers produced more bass, than i thought a small bookshelf possibly can.

So the LS50W is an active speaker..If you closely look at the spec, the mid-bass driver has 200W power, while the tweeter has significantly less..

The midrange where voices reside was to die for, and that bass! and so I was sold on the LS50W and had to get them.

If you were floored by the bass from a pair of 5 inch driver from LS50, imagine the kind of bass an 8inch active sealed subwoofer would be capable of..Think of what dual subs could do...

What the LS50 achieves in the from of bass is also achievable in the form of dual subs + AVR..

You had the opportunity, but overlooked options i guess..

Congrats on your new set-up, looks great..

 

[marsilians]

Congrats on the purchase. I had heard the passive version and it was very musical. It seems its got a good dispersion, so space is a key element in placement. Very true to source, almost like the superb Dynaudio contours.

I think you have rightly figured that the DAC replacement would really enhance the experience. BTW what type of music you listen to?Also, look at a closed sub down the road.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[gb123]

Hello Gb123, RCA nets the best sound from the LS50 W, also the LS50 W does not have a coaxial input.
The inputs available are RCA, optical, USB, Bluetooth & wireless App for built in uPNP/Tidal/Spotofy streaming

oh i didnt realise that... dont you think usb/direct streaming/wifi would have a better sound ? rca is analogue input which does go through their dac to be digitized and then again converted to analogue.... thats what i read about ls50 wireless...

 

[Rajeshh]

Hello elangaos, thanks for the comment. My listening is mainly music, I did try pairing the Ls50 W with quite a few sealed subs (Tannoy & REL various models) but did not find the bass response accurate enough for my liking.
On the other hand for movies, the sub works very well.

oh i didnt realise that... dont you think usb/direct streaming/wifi would have a better sound ? rca is analogue input which does go through their dac to be digitized and then again converted to analogue.... thats what i read about ls50 wireless...

The connection between the left and right speakers is a CAT6 cable, so yes the RCA signal in, is digitized at some stage.
But the LS50 W is very true to source, feed it good quality inputs and you will be rewarded.
I found the RCA inputs to yield the best sound after extensive A/B with the same source.

Congrats on the purchase. I had heard the passive version and it was very musical. It seems its got a good dispersion, so space is a key element in placement. Very true to source, almost like the superb Dynaudio contours.

I think you have rightly figured that the DAC replacement would really enhance the experience. BTW what type of music you listen to?Also, look at a closed sub down the road.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks marsilians, you are right. Dac replacement makes a massive difference.
i find the LS50 wireless extremely true to source, and of all sources, i got the best sound from a borrowed Rega Planar 3 TT to the RCA input.
My listening is mainly rock/blues - Fleetwood Mac, keb Mo and the like.

 

[sunder]

Hi Rajeshh, don't these speakers have front grills? If so, how could you manage when handle without the protection? Thanks.

 

[Rajeshh]

Hi Rajeshh, don't these speakers have front grills? If so, how could you manage when handle without the protection? Thanks.

Sunder, there are no grills for the Ls50s

 

[Rajeshh]

There are a few more things i'd like to add about the LS50 W.

Once you get the set-up right, you will be rewarded with a warm midrange, mellow high and adequate bass weight.
The 30 watts, AB amplification for the Midrange/tweeter & the 200 watts, D amplification of the woofer has some say in this i'm sure

A close friend of mine, was motivated enough to pick-up one, after listening to mine.
The pic posted here, is his set-up.

I should say that the ISO-Acoustics stands that he has them on, has improved the sound dramatically. That is continuing with the theme of how finicky the LS50 speakers are.

One minus to add is the LS50 wireless App, it is absolutely rubbish and almost unusable.

 

[Shuddho1980]

Hi, nice review. My very close friend has bought this (I'm a tower person myself) and it is a really good speaker - very well controlled through-out the frequency range and fit for a wide variety. Yes, bass is nto earth shattering but that is to be expected - plus there is a sub-out I think?
I'm surprised by your assessment of the inbuilt DAC, considering it is meant to mainly receive music fro digital sources.

 

[Rajeshh]

@Shuddho1980 Yes there is a sub-out, i did try integrating a Sub, a Tannoy TS2.8 & a REL T7i and just could not manage to match it properly for music reproduction.
The built in DAC does not hold candle to a standalone DAC or even one in a good Integrated Amplifier, and is the weak link in a otherwise superb package.
I noticed that the images got deleted in the the forum upgrade and have re-posted them here.

 

[arivuchelvan]

I vouch for all the observations here on its sonic supremacy and finicky on placement and setup. A proper heavy weight stands are a must to appreciate this beauty well.

But I felt the app does its work quite well and the bass is tight and expansive, the room is 10 * 10 feet. It is still running in and I can see the improvements in Mid range and Bass area as it gets burning.

As against many complaints that streaming flunks often, for me the streaming is seamless so far. I guess it is much to do with Wifi bandwidth rather than the KEF app or firmware.

Earlier in one of my broadband setup my Samsung was unable to stream to KEF though able to connect but Iphone did it. Then I switched to another broadband with more bandwidth and voila, Samsung too pushed streaming in to KEF. Right now KEF App driven thru Wifi from PC and 2 Mobiles + Roon from PC apart from Bluetooth connectivity all flooding KEF. But it didnt give up. Whenever a source pops in KEF embraces immediately. And it is getting better.

 

[Rajeshh]

@arivuchelvan The App must have improved, in the beginning it was quite buggy.
I have since moved to a different set-up, but you are right, the LS50 W is a brilliant package provided it is set up properly.