Dynaudio Xeo 20 vs KEF LS50 Wireless

Anybody? I'm interested in this also as a Sonos 5 I bought recently changed my thoughts on what I want for musical playback. In a word, simplicity. 

This was confirmed when I checked out a pair of Totems on a Craigslist ad that were local and cheap. I heard something I didn't like, started thinking that I could adjust cables, etc to get the sound I wanted and realized what I really want is something I enjoy that just sounds great and that I don't have to muck around with.

Unfortunately, the Sonos 5 does not have the resolution level I am after so I'm looking to move somewhere upstream.

The KEF LS50 wireless are an exceptional value and super easy to set up. I have a pair and do a superb job in checking all the boxes we all seem to seek. They are not my main speaker system but this is the future of audio. They are cheap enough that the risk is minimal and with amazon, the 30 day no hassle return option is reassuring. You will know within the first day whether they are for you.

i use them for casual background listening but they are better than that. They are pretty smooth across the freq spectrum and are just a whole lot of fun. While I tested all the input functionality, mine are fed from a macbook using roon and an uptone regen for the usb input. For some of us old enough to realize whats packed into these two dimuitive boxes, they leave me gobsmacked. Other high end options are in the queue...2019 is going to be fun with new product introductions. Makes me feel kind of foolish that I have power cables in one system that exceed the cost of the little Kefs.

Ive not heard the Dynaudios but have owned some others in their line in the past. They make fine speakers and Im sure they are terrific too. 

I'm quite curious about those. In your setup it sounds like you have things hard wired and wireless, is that correct? 

Six months ago, I wanted to stream in the living room and picked up a Bluesound. It would not reliably stream anywhere except in the same room as my router. In frustration, I tried a Sonos Connect which easily paired from one end of the house to the other, zero drops.

If KEF has reliable connectivity down, it is probably the top contender for me. 

Mine streams fine using the Kef's as a Roon end point. With that said, I like the sound achieved through the usb and I had a Macbook available. It all depends on your wifi setup and your router. No issues here.

Thank you, that is good to know. Having it just work is an important part of getting it right.

Sorry to revive a 4 month old thread, but hopefully this will be helpful to someone, since there are clear practical differences between these two.

Yesterday I auditioned the Dyn XEO 20’s and tried to listen to the KEF LS50Ws as well, but the LS50Ws in the shop were having connectivity issues so it proved impossible. I was only able to audition the XEO 20s (and really liked them, btw), and sadly was unable to make a direct comparison.

The only point I want to make here is these two speakers have vastly different levels of "wirelessness." The KEF LS50W’s require an umbilical cable between the master and slave speaker, while the XEO 20’s do not. Furthermore the LS50W master requires wired connections from all source-types except bluetooth and those connected to your household WiFi network. The XEO 20’s, on the other hand, can be fed all source types wirelessly from Dynaudio’s Connect/Hub device, which does the chore of receiving all the wired inputs (including analogue) and then broadcasting them to the speakers over its own native wireless connection (including to multiple sets of XEO’s in multiple rooms/zones).

In practice therefore, the XEO 20’s are far more "wireless" and can, in fact, be placed anywhere within a powercord’s length of an power outlet, irrespective of the location of your source equipment, and without running a stupid wire between the L & R speakers. This is a significant advantage in terms of equipment placement options, WAF and future-proofing.

I was under the impression that the KEFs provide a wireless option between speakers as well?

@mapman LS50W require the shielded interconnect still but it affords them 24/192 connectivity where as the Dynaudio are limited to 24/96 via their proprietary wireless connectivity. The new Kef LSX are similar to the Dynaudio in that they connect wirelessly Master (control speaker) to Slave but at 24/48 instead.

Great thing about Ethernet connectivity of the LS50W is that a shielded Ethernet cable is affordable and come in a multitude of lengths to use.

I’ve owned both of the Kef’s I mentioned and the similar Dynaudio Xeo2. All 3 great speakers. For a desktop setup the LSX were my favorite. For stand mounts the LS50W. The Dynaudio are great also but more along the lines of background listening appliances to me versus critical listening. As a side note I used the LSX connected via Ethernet so they were 24/96 in my office.

***a few other things to consider, the inputs on the Dynaudio are more limited for a desktop setup where you’re likely to have usb connectivity versus toslink or rca outputs on your computer these days. The Dynaudio are a more laidback sound so if that’s preferable to a forward revealing sound then they are worth a listen for sure. I settled on the Elac Navis ARB51 for my home office (stand mounted) listening setup btw. They are in between the LS50W and the Dynaudio to my ears as far as dynamics and detail. Very happy with them.

Xeo 20 sound is decent, but two caveats.

1. The top end is way too muffled. Positive reviewers will call this "soft" or "warm", etc. No, it’s not that. it’s just missing. For people accustomed to better speakers or better headphones, one has to truly crank up to hear the little details.

2. Secondly, the HUGE drawback: every time a digitally connected Xeo (e.g., via Mac Mini) is switched on, it starts with a VERY low volume and you need the remote to bring it back to the volume of the last time you were playing this at. This is apparently a "feature". Colossally stupid and no firmware yet fixes it.

LS50W2 is a decent choice. Dynaudio needs to get Xeo 20 right.

Just to update my message for anyone interested. 

Having extensively used LS50, and Xeo 20, and Focus 10 (latest Dynaudio wireless speaker), I'd say with the MCRU Linear Power Supply the Focus 10 is in a whole different league.