Does Stacking Wireless Speakers Sound Feasible?


Wondering if you could stack wireless speakers, such as the KEF LS50 Wireless into an array? You could start off with two or three and add as needed. I think a vertical array of six or eight would sound pretty awesome (each channel, of course). My concern is any latency issues between the separate speakers. Would the wireless signal arrive and each speaker react at exactly the same time? What do you think?
128x128dweller

Showing 8 responses by dweller

Boy, do you have the holiday spirit. Please respect my request to not contribute to my posts again. 
I really don’t know the techniques KEF uses to make this work. I assume they use a transmitter, connected to your source, that sends the left-and-right signals to the respective speakers. I don’t believe the speakers are connected in any way.

I’m not planning to build the array anytime soon (if ever), I just thought I’d throw it out there as a "thought experiment". BTW, KEF is offering wireless speakers costing much less than the LS50. If the dreaded "comb filtering" isn’t a show stopper, one could build a modest array and add to it until it satisfies your particular circumstance.

P.S. Is comb filtering an issue with sound bars? there are a ga-zillion of them out there. You'd think we would have heard about this by now. 
Maybe not the same signal but certainly the same frequencies are emerging and interacting from up to three channels. 
One technical concern is that KEF embeds an "identity" code in the transmitted signal that keeps a stereo pair "private". Like using two identical subwoofers with remote volume adjust, there has to be a way to adjust volume one-at-a-time. Some remotes have an A/B switch to keep them separate. Like I said previously, I don't know what operating system KEF is using.
As to your stacking request, I'll gladly accept any contributions to make this happen! I suggest you send a pair of LS50s to "get the ball rolling"!
After homework, looks like the "wireless" speakers must connect to each other via cat-6. Also, LS50 wireless are $4400/pr. Kinda takes the fun out of my thought experiment. 
Yes, loudness. That's what you pay the "big, big" money for (thanks Alex). Loudness and scale. Also, I never said I'd put them one-on-the-other. They could be separated by 12 inches or whatever. So in a room with eight foot ceilings, you could have a seven speaker array. Bet you'd get good sound out of this. Attention KEF: Please have this setup at AXPONA, O.K.? You'd sell a lot of speakers if this works! Remember: You start with a mini-array and add-on as you can afford. You could also sell the rack to attach them to.
KEF has a new wireless speaker, the LSX, that retails for $1099/pr. Street price probably lower. Saves $1400 from your test. Also, these are powered speakers, have a DAC, and support streaming services. Not to mention the space savings and aesthetic considerations. I think this is a good idea all-around as long as everything works in sync.