KEF ls50 meta’s are on the way

Just curious what kind of amplifier/source you were doing most of your listening with?

@flight750 

If that question was for me, I used an Exposure 3010 s2d - 110wpc.  

I use a Pass lab int 60,which is only 60wpc and i do not experience, what you did with the meta’s. 

I owned the original LS50’s and now own the new Metas. I am really enjoying the new models, for me KEF has addressed the short-comings that bothered me with the originals.  The Metas have lost the occasional “brightness “ in the treble without loosing any detail. The bass also seems fuller. This is a bookshelf speaker though, so you can’t expect room rumbling bass below 50 HZ. I have paired the Metas with stereo Rhythmik F12’s to great affect. Seamless integration after much tuning and patience. I also have acoustically treated my room with absorbent panels as well as diffusers. Such is the nature of this hobby/obsession.   These new models are not a panacea. The Metas are the next step in the evolution of a classic speaker. With a well planned front end feeding them, ( they demand and reward quality well damped amplification) they can satisfy. They totally disappear and the soundstage really is 3D.They are not

The Metas are not a plug-and Play solution. If you are willing to take the time to find that system “synergy “ they are magical. If you don’t have the patience, go for the wireless mode, KEF has done it for you! The passive units are just not limited to a corporate budget....

I was watching a youtube video by tharbamar about the new metas where he was comparing it to Quad S2 bookshelves. He felt that the new metas provide less than 10% improvement over the old LS50s. His advice was that if you already own the original LS50s, it's not worth selling those and buying new ones. Given that the guy has extensive experience with the older model, and is generally more honest and upfront in his reviews (sort of how Thomas and Stereo and a few other youtubers used to be before they started peddling chi-fi), his opinion has to be taken on its merit. However, Steve Guttenberg, another reviewer who I respect, was all ga ga over the metas. Go figure!

I'm sure that even a 10% improvement is a big deal in our hobby, but the question is if it's enough to sell my LS50 wireless. Hopefully, as more long time owners moving up to the metas chime in the dust will start to settle a bit.

I like a few of the Soundstage.com reviewers. The LS50 Meta is going to be reviewed on the 15th by them. I hope it is by one of the reviewers I like.

Still no word on when mine on order (Titanium Grey) will arrive but will have both old and new to compare when they do.

I keep thinking the old ones are pretty good....new guys not any bigger so how much better can they be? I think there is room for improvement, in particular with soundstage and imaging, maybe detail, but how much? The consensus so far seems to be it is significant, but what percent is that? Who knows? These things can be very subjective.

It’s the new absorption technology used internally that is supposedly the game changer.

We will see what happens. Stay tuned.

I have the LS50 and have the LS50 meta for about two weeks.  On the same system and room the meta version is a big step up.  It has better clarity and improved soundstage.  Both need power and subwoofers.  I have a Parasound Halo A21 and two Rel t/7i.

Man, sorry to hear that its taking so long for you to get yours Mapman.  I remember when I bought my wireless Ls50’s I wanted the titanium ones.  After waiting 5 weeks I just took the black ones because I got sick of waiting.  Hopefully yours come soon

The KEF  LS 50 must be the best selling loudspeaker of recent times.

The worldwide demand must be huge for a speaker that's liable to go down in audio history.

I can't remember the last one that made such a splash. 

Someone at KEF surely deserves a promotion.

I heard them Meta today when I was visiting Russ Katz and I was amazed at how much better they sound than the LS50.

Hi @lancelock


I would probably not have stuck with Ls 50s in my smaller room downstairs without a sub. 
They do what they do very well and bear some resemblance sound wise to much pricier small monitors I have heard like Joseph and TAD but are no doubt somewhat limited compared to those.

With a sub, in a small room as well, The gap closes.

I’m anticipating the metas will up the ante further.

Enough that I would go exclusively with them in favor of other larger beasts like my OHMs?

We will see. On my small 12x12 room, I do find the Ls50s do a good job holding together when not quite in the sweet spot, so that helps.

@b_limo,

I plan to hold out for the Titanium Grey. I have lots of good listening options in house to keep me going until then. Will call again tomorrow to see if any new info on the availability since October is now clearly in the books.

Well,  dealer now says end of this month.  
Good things come to those who wait eh?

Why don’t you just cancel and purchase from Kef at this point. 

Nevermind, they’re all back ordered at KEF. Saw some white ones out there online...mapman, you are very patient.

Thanks.  I'm sure everyone has bigger things to stress out about than waiting for some new toys.

Quick update:  I’m hearing early  December now.   Dealer finally getting some more concrete delivery dates it seems plus I have seen similar available dates published elsewhere so the wait may soon be over. 

Crikey, the demand for these speakers must be phenomenal.

I'm sorry you're having to wait so long. It doesn't seem right. 

It's one thing when you know that the wait will be a few weeks, and quite another when that date keeps getting moved back.

"I'm sure everyone has bigger things to stress out about than waiting for some new toys."

We do, but it's the toys that help to keep us going. Now I don't need to upgrade my phone for one with an edge to edge amoled display, but I just might.

Well true I didn’t know it would take this long when I ordered them and I could have gone with the standard color like my current ls50s but hey everyone needs a little spice in their life like a different color every once in a while, and I do have 6 other speaker pairs set up around the house (crazy eh?) to listen to anyhow so I will survive. 🥸. Not to mention headphones. So they will hopefully be a special holiday treat.

Also there is the pandemic which I know has impacted a lot of companies who make speakers in recent months so a little extra patience is in order for these things these days it seems to me. 

Hopefully KEF will get some new stock in soon....these things have been selling quite well (both the passive and active versions).

As an fyi, if anyone else is looking for Titanium Grey, I do have one pair in stock at this time!  

@goldprintaudio did you just  recently get those in?

@mapman   I believe they can in around the end of October.  I had several pairs on order in both black and titanium....black shipped first, then this pair came in.

Drum roll.................

They finally arrived  at the dealer's shop over the weekend.  Will go fetch them and hook them up in the next day or two.  Stay tuned...

@mapman Please do post your impressions when you can. BTW, Steve Guttenberg awarded these speakers the product of the year award. Great achievement, and luck you!

Ok well I picked them up at the dealer earlier today. Got a bonus of three cans of Christmas Cookies for being a patient customer.
Had a final quick listen to the old ls50s then in with the new. Only had time for some quick initial impressions so far. Keep in mind old ls50s are well broken in and the new ones are new.
1) I left the sub on set up the same for new as old. I had it dialed in pretty exactly and did not hear a need to change the settings at all so far. So no difference in terms of how to integrate the sub. I also listened with sub on and off. The sub will be staying for now in that it clearly still added bass extension and made every recording tried sound bigger and fuller just like the old. I doubt I will be losing the sub with the metas. So far at least they are not plumbing the depths similar to old and the difference with and without sub is big still like small monitors versus larger full range. No miracles here so far!
2) The general character of the sound is similar to before but it sounds more full and clear top to bottom More like larger speakers. It just sounds bigger and more open. Also things are a tad less bright than before but detail does seem really good top to bottom.
3) The good recordings seem even better. More of them in most ways. I also got to sample some of the worst and loudest recordings I have and those were the most listenable I have heard on any small monitors I have owned. Very listenable actually.
That’s it so far. All very fast initial impressions. Off to a good start. Will likely only get better. Definitely some very capable new kids on the block. The kefs compete with the large Ohms I have in the larger next room. Guttenburg raved about those as well.

Quote from KEF website:

"Using advanced simulation and analysis tools, our engineers have developed the 12th generation Uni-Q with MAT. This new driver array delivers reduced coloration, less distortion and a sound that is more transparent and life-like than previously possible, all dispersed evenly throughout the room. "

These claims seem justified and sum up the differences (so far) nicely (as advertised).


Less coloration and distortion I do think than before. THe aluminum tweeter is no longer explicitly noticeable by the slight shimmer it seemed to give the sound prior.

Also I wanted to particular note that the dispersion does seem to be much improved. I hear very little difference moving away from the sweet spot compared to prior. That alone makes these both more unique and competitive, adding an additional sense of realism. I may eventually have to try these with sub in my larger family room where my smaller Ohms currently reside. Would not have considered that with the old more directional KEFs.

I’ll post a picture soon but in the meantime note the metas are in same location as prior ls50s about 1/3rd of the way into the room from rear wall and several feet to side walls so bass gets little or no reinforcement with this setup however it benefits soundstage and imaging and the sub picks up the slack. No port plugs in play. Still breaking in but no doubt a noticeable step forward in most every way already perhaps say noticeable bass extension but we’ll see about that still once things settle in more.

Glad you are enjoying them so far!  The Metas really are fun speakers, and quite amazing what they can do considering the modest size.

Yes, thanks. Definitely more refined overall than the originals and the originals are no slouch for their size either. Still have a lot of listening to do to soak it all in. The litmus test for me in the end is how long a setup holds my attention and makes me want to keep listening. Good omen so far for that. We’ll see. My much bigger Ohms (no subs) have been the litmus test for that for me in my house to-date. I never want to stop with those once I settle in. Both run off the same gear just in a different (adjacent) room of appropriate size so its always a pretty good apples/apples test for speakers.

The Metas are reviewed in this months Stereophile. The measurements look very good and JA liked them better than the originals. The one thing I didn't see in the measurements were the off axis response results. On-axis was very flat from 300 Hertz and up, and the speaker had exceptionally clean spectral decay. I would love to hear them some time.

Regarding off-axis response the KEF blurb says they disperse evenly throughout the room and indeed that is what they seem to do.    The tonality holds up well even where I sit at my desk in between and somewhat to the their rear.  That is no easy trick and very impressive.  I'm a bit surprised it has not been talked about more.    Audiokinesis would be very impressed with that I suspect!  They say it's a combo result  of the new waveguide and curved baffle. Seems like they nailed it pretty well this time around.

I’m at my desk again in between the speakers as seen in the pic link above.

Sounds like a very good pair of headphones but more spacious from there :-). Dispersion!

Hope to get some more listening time in from the sweet spot on couch near rear wall (not in the pic) very soon and will report on that.

So far, I might question some of the more extended bass claims I have read on the new metas elsewhere but otherwise no surprises given what I read prior to buying. They live up to the published claims extremely well to-date. These are very good small monitors within their limits. Somewhat better than the originals perhaps in ways only a real hardcore audiophile would care about. Adding a powered sub (Klipsch sw308 located near rear wall in my case) removes those limits at least for my smaller 12X12 room just like before. I think even most audiophiles would have trouble pointing out faults. Lots of detail, nothing harsh, very smooth, big soundstage, and excellent imaging and dispersion.

System summary:

Logitech Squeezebox Touch -> Audioquest optical TOSLINK ->mhdt Constantine DAC-> DNM Reson IC->Audio Research sp16 pre-amp -> DNM Reson IC -> Bel Canto ref1000m Class D monoblocks -> Niles speaker switch -> Audioquest cv-6 speaker cables -> KEF ls 50 meta speakers (titanium grey). 

Supplemented by same Audio Research sp16 pre-amp -> Audioquest ICs -> Klipsch sw308 subwoofer.

@mapman 

From a visual point of view, in person do you like the light grey or black color best?  Thanks

Having seen both colors, the titanium grey looks really nice in person (and I generally prefer black or wood tones when it comes to speakers).

I like them both. Different look and aesthetic. meta black finish is not glossy piano black like before as I recall...more matte?. Titanium grey is more industrial looking and the driver seems more reddish and pops differently. Which will look best in one’s room is purely a personal preference call. I had the old black glossy piano black finish prior and just wanted something a little different second time around.

I might spring for matching stands eventually. We’ll see. The meta’s have holes with female metal screw fittings inside on the bottom that look like make them ready to attach to matching stands. The originals do not have that. For now I just put the included round adhesive feet on teh bottom over those to set on my old Dynaudio stands.

THis setup is on foundation level with thin dense carpet and padding.  It's rock solid.   So I never have issues with having to worry about isolating speakers from the floor down there.

Thanks goldprint and mad.  Appreciate your thoughts, decisions, decisions. 

In today’s episode of my KEF ls50 saga....

I moved the old ls50s out and into my 3rd system in the next room. They were not going back in and thought I’d use them as an upgrade elsewhere in house if possible. They replace a pair of old Boston A40s I refurbed a couple years back there. The A40s are on the bench for now but still nice little speakers. The amp driving the old ls50s is a Fosi Class D integrated amp (with Bluetooth) about the size of a pack of cigarettes.....$80 on Amazon, ~ 40w/ch advertised. It uses a TI Class D chip and sounded very good with the Bostons, a steal for the cost. I wasn’t sure if it would be up to the task of driving ls50s but said hey lets give it a shot.....ls50s look way cooler than old 1980’s Boston Acoustics (no offense).

So that turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The little amp exceeded my expectations by a fair amount. The ls50s look and sound very good in there. It’s a 2 channel A/V setup. Never used it much for music but might be tempted more now..

Meanwhile, no news with the Metas. I’ve had some challenging recordings on them that do not always shake out well when things are not going well and even they sound perhaps the best ever so far, at least on small monitors.

Good times!

I might do a custom paint job on my current Dynaudio stands to go better with the Titanium Grey Metas rather than spend money on new stands. The ones I have work well and no real need for another pair at the moment.

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/12/17/review-kefs-ls50-meta-upgrades-an-audiophile-fave-to-near-...

Found this very good and thorough review today that really nails it and thought I’d share. 

A few additional comments:

1) I am running the KEFs as recommended in the manual with no toe in. Manual says to toe in 0-10 degrees. These are not intended to fire straight at you.
2) They are about 4’ from rear wall, 1/3 of way into room. No port plugs. Would want more bass reinforcement from walls if not for the sub.
3) I would strongly recommend the sub. With the sub these are hard to fault.
4) They bring out the best in each recording. Even the worst ones seem more listenable than before.
5) I agree with the article above. The ls50s could be a tad bright sometimes depending. They have a bit of an appealing shimmer to the sound. These do not. The measurements in the article indicated the only noticeable variation from a flat response is right at the frequency range where ears are most sensitive. That accounts for how easy on the ears these are.
6) Yet the detail is spectacular and with no brightness or fatigue. Soundstage and imaging uncanny.  These are very good low volume speakers as well.  I am not a fan of box speakers in general but these are the exception. KEF seems to have effectively conquered those issues in a reasonably cost effective manner. Will be interesting to see if/how the technical advances here trickle up the line over time. The competition better be on the ball!

FYI in addition to the new driver materials KEF have voiced the Metas significantly different than the original LS50s as shown in the measurement comparisons. 
They could have updated the crossovers in the original and improved the sound without doing anything else. 
  

Yes the metas are voiced much like the R3s which are awesome. Also more like my mainstay Ohms.

The white paper is pretty impressive. It really shows the difference between companies that are truly moving forward the state of the art, and those that claim they are. 

I am always interested in new products or technology that push the edge.  But only if there is some technical meat presented to back up claims. 
Similarly, I have learned over the years to steer clear of products that make bold claims of technical innovation with nothing concrete to back it up other than marketing  hype. 

The kef meta are the same as the old kef ls50. The stereophile review shows they are tuned identically to the old version. The meta has a dip in the presence range. Cheaper to buy an EQ and you could get the same result. The metas have one problem as do all other box speakers. They suffer from dreadful NOISE that comes from the backwaves reflecting around inside that box! Unfortunately John Atkinson has not mentioned this as it would cause a drop in sales. In ten years, audiophiles will look back at this thread and be laughing at all the fuss created over the dreadful ls50 metas! By then, the next state of the art speaker will have arrived on the marketplace! I cant wait to see what KEF comes up with next. META 2 Anniversary edition!!?

kenjit you are just here for comic relief right?  Can you please provide a link in the Stereophile review where they measure the difference in distortion between the old and new versions?  The new Meta has a significantly smoother response. For all your chest pumping, perhaps it is too obvious you don't even know how to read a response graph. 

Your posts are just weird. It is virtually a given you have not heard the Meta and I suspect not the original either. Not the be all and end all of speakers, but very good for the price.

Kenjit I actually have both. I can assure you they are not the same. So hate to say it but you are wrong there. Plain and simple, facts are facts. 

That’s all I have to say about that.

 Can you please provide a link in the Stereophile review where they measure the difference in distortion between the old and new versions?

I never mentioned anything about distortion. They did compare the ls50 and the meta and the graph shows the response is pretty much identical. 

The new Meta has a significantly smoother response.

Its not significant. Its only a couple db at most. You could easily do that with an EQ and it would cost you far less than buying a meta. 

It is virtually a given you have not heard the Meta and I suspect not the original either.

I briefly heard the ls50 and they had no bass. Also the sound quality changed too much when I moved my head up or down. The metas will be no different in these respects

I never mentioned anything about distortion. They did compare the ls50 and the meta and the graph shows the response is pretty much identical.

Its not significant. Its only a couple db at most. You could easily do that with an EQ and it would cost you far less than buying a meta. 

I will stick with my original conclusion that you don't know how to read a response graph for a speaker. The new LS50 Meta is much smoother, There are far fewer evidences of resonances in the new LS50 Meta.

I never mentioned anything about distortion.

That is not something to be proud of. The new LS50 Meta has a very smooth response. One should be quite curious about distortion ... which you did inadvertently mention when you said "noise". That is a guess from your part having never heard it.

I briefly heard the ls50 and they had no bass. Also the sound quality changed too much when I moved my head up or down. The metas will be no different in these respects

One would not expect them to have much bass. In the vast majority of listening room, probably >95%, deep bass would be better served by well placed (for bass) subwoofers.

As this graph shows, the LS50 Meta, changes very little over the typically very small vertical listening window most people use:  https://www.stereophile.com/images/1220KEF50fig06.jpg    This would be superior to most speakers with the exception of planar arrays and electrostats which can have their own issues. You are clearly making up an issue that does not actually exist.  The coaxial tweeter ameliorates response anomalies that can occur from vertical angle change.