Kef ls50
- Thread starter nirodha
- Start date
Review available online?
Do they make an active version?
Tim
Good question, right on!
Excellent!
My brain is searching into my bank account right now!
Love the look of those drivers. They remind me of the mid/tweeter configuration in the TOTL Viennas. They seem kind of low powered at 20 (tweets) and 50 (woofs) watts, for what they're putting out, but I don't hear anyone complaining, and there are plenty of small actives in that range. I'm just used to extreme overkill.
Tim
Tim
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
The thing that's got my attention here is mep -- he's such a big speaker/big power guy and he's satisfied by these little guys and his sub. That's quite a recommendaton.
Tim
Tim
I warned you Flez
It's incredible how they fill the room (Mark's main concern is banished) with the right tone considering their frequency limitations - the go deeper than expected, mids and highs perfectly balanced and have the ability to dissapear in the stage, just some additional SPL and I would be considering to retire my large speakers!...Not that fast!
Tim, I think you're next; now that you know that they also come in 'active' configuration (internally powered).
I'd bet that they'd make some of the very finest/refined/best and most accurate PC monitors ever!
...With them you'd be able to tell everything that there is to hear in all the world's music recordings! ...Including analog. :b
I'd bet that they'd make some of the very finest/refined/best and most accurate PC monitors ever!
...With them you'd be able to tell everything that there is to hear in all the world's music recordings! ...Including analog. :b
Flez - you don't need more SPLs, you need a smaller listening room.
Bob - I'm pretty happy with what I have, and with 250 watts for each woofer and 75 watts for each tweeter, they double as sonic weapons of mass destruction. I loaned them to a neighbor for a party a few weeks ago. They played off his back porch (driven by an Airport Express) and achieved respectable volume throughout his backyard...and mine.
They're a few years old, though, and driver technology is moving pretty quickly. I suspect the KEFs are a bit more refined. Heck, I know the latest generation of AVis are more refined.
Those KEFs are nice though...for computer speakers.
Tim
Bob - I'm pretty happy with what I have, and with 250 watts for each woofer and 75 watts for each tweeter, they double as sonic weapons of mass destruction. I loaned them to a neighbor for a party a few weeks ago. They played off his back porch (driven by an Airport Express) and achieved respectable volume throughout his backyard...and mine.
They're a few years old, though, and driver technology is moving pretty quickly. I suspect the KEFs are a bit more refined. Heck, I know the latest generation of AVis are more refined.
Those KEFs are nice though...for computer speakers.
Tim
Fernando-Are you using them with subs? I now have my separate subs hooked up and they are daisy-chained to the subs that are built into my main speakers. I think that so far the SPL levels are fine which is what I was worried about and having 4 active subs with 14" woofers is working quite well right now. Another thing, what amp are you using with the LS50s? These things love power as they are inefficient. I find the KSA-250 to be a lovely match and it sounds like a different amplifier with the LS50s.
Tim-I still have big power with my KSA-250 powering the LS50s. I still have all of my subs with 1800 watt amps x 4 so I didn't lose any of that either. I find the drivers in the LS50s to be remarkable in sound quality. They have a cleanliness and purity to them that has to be heard to in order to be understood. Provided they are used with subs, they play big and sound big. My soundstage is actually wider and deeper now than it was with my big Def Techs.
I don't doubt it. I'm a long-time believer in the magic of excellent small 2-ways and subs. For a lot of reasons, i think it delivers more coherent, natural sound than most big floor-standers can. There are a lot of folks who believe the opposite, different strokes and all that, but it's good not to be alone.
FWIW, my last big audio purchase just sold:
I'll be packing her up and shipping her out tomorrow. Then I'll be shopping for her replacement.
Tim
The LS50 should sound good. They learned a lot from high-end people. From the KEF white paper:
Voicing the Loudspeaker
The crossover was initially designed from measured responses of the individual drivers mounted in the final enclosure. It was found that the combined driver response and diffraction characteristics required a relatively sophisticated circuit: after all the aim was for a smooth response not for the flattest response. It is perhaps worth noting that during the balancing process the priority was on the subjective performance not obtaining the flattest response.
The acoustic balancing of the LS50 was carried out by the KEF listening panel. There are some passing similarities to the methods used for the LS3/5A. Some use was made of anechoic voice recordings of KEF R&D team members since this is a very sensitive way of checking for
colouration. Additionally, a wide range of commercial music recordings were used to evaluate the balance. The reference loudspeakers used were the LS3/5A and the KEF Blade (production version).
The key components for the crossover were individually auditioned to ensure they did not limit the perceived sound quality. The capacitors for the higher-frequency section are vibration damped with mastic, to prevent sonic deterioration due to vibration. Initial prototypes were bi-wired but during the voicing it was found that the system actually sounded better with bi-wire loudspeaker cable connected together both at the amplifier and the loudspeaker. Consequently, the final product incorporates a single pair of binding posts. Nevertheless, the low-frequency and high-frequency circuits are on separate boards to reduce interaction between the inductors, since this has been found to have a significant impact on detail.
From the KEF white paper: Voicing the Loudspeaker
The crossover was initially designed from measured responses of the individual drivers mounted in the final enclosure. It was found that the combined driver response and diffraction characteristics required a relatively sophisticated circuit: after all the aim was for a smooth response not for the flattest response. It is perhaps worth noting that during the balancing process the priority was on the subjective performance not obtaining the flattest response.
The acoustic balancing of the LS50 was carried out by the KEF listening panel. There are some passing similarities to the methods used for the LS3/5A. Some use was made of anechoic voice recordings of KEF R&D team members since this is a very sensitive way of checking for
colouration. Additionally, a wide range of commercial music recordings were used to evaluate the balance. The reference loudspeakers used were the LS3/5A and the KEF Blade (production version).
The key components for the crossover were individually auditioned to ensure they did not limit the perceived sound quality. The capacitors for the higher-frequency section are vibration damped with mastic, to prevent sonic deterioration due to vibration. Initial prototypes were bi-wired but during the voicing it was found that the system actually sounded better with bi-wire loudspeaker cable connected together both at the amplifier and the loudspeaker. Consequently, the final product incorporates a single pair of binding posts. Nevertheless, the low-frequency and high-frequency circuits are on separate boards to reduce interaction between the inductors, since this has been found to have a significant impact on detail.
Beautiful guitar Tim. The LS50s are the first true point source speakers I have ever owned and so far, I really, really like them. I just received notification today from Sound Anchors that my custom made stands for the LS50s have shipped. They will arrive some time next week.
The LS50 should sound good. They learned a lot from high-end people.
Voicing the Loudspeaker
The crossover was initially designed from measured responses of the individual drivers mounted in the final enclosure. It was found that the combined driver response and diffraction characteristics required a relatively sophisticated circuit: after all the aim was for a smooth response not for the flattest response. It is perhaps worth noting that during the balancing process the priority was on the subjective performance not obtaining the flattest response.
The acoustic balancing of the LS50 was carried out by the KEF listening panel. There are some passing similarities to the methods used for the LS3/5A. Some use was made of anechoic voice recordings of KEF R&D team members since this is a very sensitive way of checking for
colouration. Additionally, a wide range of commercial music recordings were used to evaluate the balance. The reference loudspeakers used were the LS3/5A and the KEF Blade (production version).
The key components for the crossover were individually auditioned to ensure they did not limit the perceived sound quality. The capacitors for the higher-frequency section are vibration damped with mastic, to prevent sonic deterioration due to vibration. Initial prototypes were bi-wired but during the voicing it was found that the system actually sounded better with bi-wire loudspeaker cable connected together both at the amplifier and the loudspeaker. Consequently, the final product incorporates a single pair of binding posts. Nevertheless, the low-frequency and high-frequency circuits are on separate boards to reduce interaction between the inductors, since this has been found to have a significant impact on detail.
So when they listened to the recorded voices of their co-workers, they didn't listen to hear if the speakers sounded like their co-workers but, rather, if they sounded like euphonic enhancements of their co-workers?
Tim
Tim-You need to go back and reread what was said by KEF. They listen to the voices to see if there is any coloration of the voices and not because they wanted to create a euphonic coloration of the voices.
I know, Mark. I was just messing with micro. Congratulations again. I wish there was a KEF dealer in my neighborhood where I could hear them. I love a small 2-way. And I mean small. I think the woofer, which is really a midrange and does the overwhelming majority of the work in such designs, begin to lose something when they get over about 7". 4.5" to 6.5" seems to be about right. Enjoy those.
Tim
What is the sensitivity of your Avalons? IMO, if you are used to full-range sound, you really want to run the LS50s with at least one sub and preferably more. I went to a whole other level when I daisy chained the subs in my main speakers to the other pair of subs. I would think the JA50 should sound simply beautiful with the LS50s, but if you aren't getting the SPLs you desire with at least one sub, you may just need more power.
Tim-I am enjoying them. It's going to get interesting when my Sound Anchor stands show up and I really pay some attention to the setup and hopefully dial in the sound even better. It's scary how good they sound just basically plunking them down on a cheap pair of Paradigm stands. Again, I think subs are mandatory for those that want full-range performance.
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