I just switched out my LS50s for some Totem Model One Signatures. Yeah, I know, Model Ones are old, but I found these in MINT from a dealer hear on audiogon. But, perhaps I was slowly becoming disenchanted with the LS50s due to loose screws (both literally and figuratively)!! All kidding aside, the Totems are on a completely different level of transparency and sound staging and timbre(tone). Instruments just sound more real and uniquely different from each other and delineated in space. Switching back to the LS50s, everything kind of sounds the same, like they're coming from speakers and not real. Also, they LS50s sound way more bloated in the mid bass, muddying everything up in comparison. Just different level, guys.
A Note For LS50 Owners
I have an original pair from 2012. For no particular reason—other than the fact I’m always looking for a good tweak—it occurred to me to check the four bolts on the back that hold the boxes together.
Sure enough, overly loud listening over the past decade had loosened them. Without applying too much torque, I generally got at least a half turn with an Allen key, sometimes a full turn.
And the sound? I was blown away by the change. It was black and white, night and day, stop and go.
Well, not quite. But it was there. A little crisper, a bit cleaner on the transients. I think the speakers played a touch louder at the same power output. Certainly worth the price of admission.