I’m listening to various random tracks on the Metas. The adjective that comes to mind to describe the sound overall is “composed”. Everything sounds quite dynamic yet refined and controlled. No slop. The music just flows. Making me stay on my seat listening and not want to stop. That means these have passed the test with flying colors. I think most anyone who hears these would have to like them and have trouble finding a fault. Just add that sub and you got it all pretty much. Some flamenco solo guitar currently by Pepe Romero. Lovely detail. You can hear each string resonate clearly and with lifelike ambience. The improved dispersion on these newer Meta’s no doubt helps contribute to that. No artificial shimmer.
Now some 70s funk “walk-in the line” by Brass Construction (digitized from original vinyl). Nice and punchy. Everything is sorted out and presented nicely.
Next live Dream Weaver by Ringo’s All Star Band. Live. The room is filled with sound. You can hear some individuals in the audience as part of the cheers after.
I had the original LS50s paired with a couple of small REL subs and found it quite nice, but decided to splurge and buy myself a pair of Metas for Christmas and made the switch to the Metas yesterday afternoon.
"Composed" is a good word, they just seem to do things right. Beyond that I'd say words like holographic, musical, and smooth would apply. It's much more of a "right here in the room" type of experience than the original LS50s. And this is right out of the box, not sure if they will improve with break in, but I'm completely satisfied as is.
Listened to the remastered Tom Petty Wildflowers that someone suggested further up in the thread and it was great. Currently marveling at the way Norah Jones voice is filling up the room.
Come back to this thread in ten years time and we will be able to have a discussion about how bad the metas are compared with whatever speakers exist at that time. If you came back in 100 years, just think how horrible the metas would be by then!?
The original Ls50 speakers were PERFECT until the metas came along. History will repeat itself. Just you wait and see.
Ok Kenjit sounds good. See you then! Maybe by then you will decide if you really believe all speakers are the same or not. You appear quite torn on the topic at present.
You are simply a sorry little troll participating in this thread to spew your particular brand of nonsense and derision.
Are you an economist because you have that "often wrong but never in doubt" vibe about you that pretty much defines economists and financial prognosticators.
And if there's a moderator for Audiogon, where is the mute button so I can keep this guys useless trolling out of my feed?
Next topic I plan to cover when I get a chance is comparing the ls50 Meta/sub setup in one room (12X12) with the big Ohm 5 setup in the adjacent room (3-4 times as big, L shaped). Both run off same gear concurrently so this will be a fair comparison.
Anyone who reads my posts knows I am a big Ohm Walsh speaker fan. I currently have two pair: 8” series 3 drivers in the family room two channel A/V system on second level and big Ohm F5s with 12” series 3 drivers ( and onboard level adjustment switches to fine tune to the room) downstairs where they are my main setup for “serious” listening. Now then we also have the Metas in the 12x12 room adjacent to the much bigger L shaped room where the Ohm F5s live.
My main hifi gear is in the room with the Metas. The Ohms in the next room run off that same system connected via in-wall speaker wire run to multiple rooms in the home when the house was built. Here is photos showing the Ohms and Metas in their adjacent rooms from perspective of my main listening spot in each room.
Also as a side note in the room with the Ohms now are my old ls50s seen on the photo used for separate 2 channel a/v setup also in that room. That’s the background. Stays tuned for listening results.
Happy New Year all. I think after spending many hours with the new metas I can summarize and wrap things up by saying yes all the stuff you read about these ring true. For me they still need a sub so no shocker there but once you cover that and get things set up well these should provide many hours of musical enjoyment for even the most discerning audiophile for a relatively modest cost. My room is only 12x12 so not large but in there with a powered sub I can’t imagine wanting more. In that room and with their very good off axis response and overall tonality they are perhaps the first speakers I’ve tried there other than smaller Ohms that I am totally happy with. The Ohms and the Metas sound are both cut from the same cloth. Not so much the older ls50s which were distinctly different. Perhaps a difference in the nature of soundstage and imaging and metas might offer a tad more detail but it would be hard to choose between the two of I had to choose only one at least for a smaller room. Ok ready for the next generation model now in a few years. 😉. Can technology push the envelope even further?
I dont want to hear about how good a speaker is. I always like to know what things can be improved. If you are unable to figure that out thats ok but its disingenuous to pretend that they are perfect.
Bass extension could be improved. As I indicated they need a sub for full range.
Maybe in a larger room the little guys would show more limits. I have no plans to try and replace my larger Ohms in the next room with these though I can’t rule out that that might work out fine if done right. A sub or two would definitely have to be in the equation.
That’s it. The rest is subjective. You will have to look elsewhere for more or just buy a pair and find out for yourself. If you really care, which I doubt.
You seem very disingenuous! Just out to rile people up.
Nothing is perfect of course as you well know but some make the case better than others. These make the case quite well both on paper and in person, within their limits. Physics dictates small speakers will have limits compared to similar larger and thereby more expensive ones.
Maybe as technology advances the cost for even this level of “perfection” will go down even further.
Also should mention that the thing that strikes me most uniquely with the Metas is the sound does seem pretty free from cabinet sonic artifacts. They don’t sound like box speakers. Neither did the ls50s for that matter. More like open baffle, Electrostats or planars. The Ohms are that way as well with the unique driver configuration that only uses the cabinets for bass. I guess it’s a result of the rigid cabinet construction bolstered now by the new sound absorbing technology applied internally. It all adds up.
The Metas have been up and running for a few weeks now so a quick update.
Initially I left the sub settings alone. Same as with prior ls50s. I started to notice a bit too much in the bass in the last week or so so apparently that settled in further over time.
I did a total redo of the sub settings using a white noise Internet radio station as a source and a sound meter app on my iPhone. Not the ultimate in accuracy but good enough for a general integration of sub and mains.
Ended up with the Klipsch sw308 sub crossover frequency at its lowest setting of 40 hz and the level set to ~2 o’clock. Also adjusted phase. That is a much lower crossover than what I used on the older ls50s.
The Klipsch sw308 is fairly Big Bang for its size. 8” forward facing active driver and two side facing 8” passive radiators which help address bass modes somewhat and add output compared to a single driver.
Played “The Knife” off the Genesis album “Trespass” yesterday. An original CD mastering streamed off my music server.
This is a cut I know well and have heard many times over the years with widely varying sonic results.
It was most impressive on the Meta + sub combo in terms of overall weight, soundstage and imaging and a lot of detail I can say I never took notice of to such an extent ever prior.
Great recordings sound great yet each a little difference. The worst recordings are as listenable as they have ever been.
Very happy with these and looking forward to the latest technology baked into these to make its way into some larger models.
@mapman Thanks for reporting progress as you go. It's been fun reading about your Metas. I hope to demo a pair down the road just for grins. It can be revealing moving the same speakers around to different setups with friends, in normal non-covid times. With some time on them now, and getting use to the sound, by chance are you done with gear changes at this juncture -or- possibly wondering about any upstream changes you could benefit from? Interested in following your updates. Thx.
@mapman Great recordings sound great yet each a little difference. The worst recordings are as listenable as they have ever been.
Hello mapman, I'd like to pass along this thread and your feedback to a friend. Now that you've had the new LS50 Meta speakers for a while, what do you think? And, compared to your prior LS50s and Ohm Walsh?
One thing worth adding is my big Ohms with the 12” main driver clearly have the edge still to be able to go to higher spls loud and clear especially in a larger room with no noticeable dynamic compression. Ls50s are still small but metas are top notch for their size. I have not felt the urge to go louder than mid to upper 80s SPL with the metas in the smaller room. Both run off Same very efficient Bel Canto ref 1000m Class D monoblocks, 500w/ch 8 ohm, so plenty of juice to go to very high SPLs with either.
I’m thinking about getting a pair of LS50 Meta’s and read most of this thread. I have some questions for you. Are you still happy with them?What equipment have you tried and what are you currently using? How long was break in? I’ve heard they’re a bit bright and I might want to put tubes somewhere into my setup. What do you think? How far from the wall is the sweet spot?
Yes still very happy. Have only run them off my main system which is powered by Bel canto ref1000m monoblocks. They should do well off most any good quality SS amp. I would not run them off a tube amp. Not designed for that really.
I do use them with a Audio Research sp16 tube preamp. About 1/3 of the way into the room which is only 12x12. Also a Klipsch sw308 powered sub though the bass in that room is quite suitable without but that does help fill in the lowest octave.
Personal preferences aside, they are top notch for their size. Very insightful but not bright. Just detailed and dynamic. Great with transients. The music can startle you when it first starts in conjunction with a dead quiet noise floor. Their size is their limitation. I would not use them in a large room and I find they are best if volume level stays modest. I seldom would ever go over 85db SPL at one meter distance listening approximately. I have larger full range speakers for that.
Within their limits they are hard to beat IMHO. Top notch for the size and cost.
I've had my LS50s (non Metas) for a few years at my old place (1st in a 12' x 15' den, then my 10' x 12' office) and just over a year at my new place (1st in my 13' x 16' office then in the 15' x 19' living room).
All setups were/are run with 4 subwoofers.
Then, a few months ago, I set them up in a square room a little larger than yours at 14' 6'' x 14' 6'' with 9' ceiling. Thickly padded wall to wall with minor room treatments.
They sounded the worst in there until I set them up diagonally. After minor placement tweaking, they sound much better than I have ever heard in any other room.
Better imaging and bigger sound stage, among other improvements I am still wrapping my head around.
Interestingly, my LRS also sound better in some ways set up diagonally in there.
Would be curious of your findings with the Metas should you try this out.
Just wanted to add a couple a quick things for your questions.... The Metas are not super troublesome with room setup. If you need to run them somewhat close to a wall, they will work (especially when utilizing port plugs if super close). Of course a little breathing room is generally a good thing with "most speakers", so if you can bring them out a bit into the room, certainly try it. I don't really consider the Metas to be "bright" in sound. You can add tubes somewhere in the chain if you desire (one of my favorite combos here is a Rogue Cronus Mag with my Meta demos), but it's not necessary if you don't want to play around with tubes. There are plenty of great sounding solid state options that work well with the Metas.
As Mapman noted, due to their size, they do have some limitations to overall volume and large room size. But they really are fun speakers, and play well above their price point (IMHO).
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