I will say the metas are top notch for their size however you can’t defy the laws of physics. They will have spl limitations in larger rooms. If you can live with that then they will be hard to beat. If not plan to spend more for something bigger and as good as the metas otherwise. Adding a sub alone will help the lowest octaves if that matters. Using a crossover to roll off the low end from the metas and have a sub or subs pick that up can help push things further.
For reference I run metas with sub in a 12x12 room off a 150 w/ch amp and they are the best sound ever in there up to about 90db spl or so, which is about as loud as anyone who wants to preserve their ears should aspire to regularly. . After that they will start to show signs of strain/being overdriven.
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Still loving mine. Planning to try out a nad m33 soon to see if it can replace what I have. Expecting it will do just fine with the KEFs in the smaller room ( see my system pics) but my big Ohms in the much bigger room where I tend to go with higher SPLs from time to time will be more of a challenge. Replacing 500w/ch with (only) 200 but hoping that will be good enough. We will see. The m33 is currently on back order most everywhere it seems due to microprocessor chip shortages.
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Yup no fatigue with old Ls 50s and not expecting any with the metas either based on limited audition and reviews to date. |
I would say yes something to consider. |
I will try that. I’ve tried my originals both close to wall and a good ways out, not quite near field. They work pretty well either way but soundstage and imaging is better further out as it typically is with most modern speakers.
I do use a sub so that factors in a great deal with the bass. Alone the old ls50 bass tends to benefit from wall reinforcement like most smaller speakers. |
Having heard both now in totally different setups I can say I do think the claims of the new meta’s sounding clearly different from old are likely true but still hard to say.
Neither is a slouch by any means.
I started a separate thread that I will post to with my observations regarding the two once the metas arrive. That will be more apples and apples. Stay tuned. |
I do think Guttenberg May have gotten the frequency range absorbed wrong in his video.
Still a lot of what goes into detail happens at higher frequencies (overtones) and the new technology is said to offer 90%+ absorption compared to only 60% before and the cabinets on all ls50s are very robust.
For now I will just say the demo was very impressive and leave it at that. |
I got a demo today and ordered a pair. Will shootout with my current ls50s when I get them. |
A local dealer has them on display. Going to try and get there today or tomorrow to have a listen. Offering trade in for old ls50s but of course only about 50% of current value so much better off selling the old ones direct as usual. |
Could be. I wonder why that is?
Some tests and measurements are surely to come out sometime soon that either backs up the claims regarding sound absorption or not.
If so, I would hope people who care about the best sound quality possible at least would take notice.
Otherwise, yeah, its always hard to separate the hype from the substance .
I will say that based on my experience with them over the last 2 years the old ls50s are very good within their limits though and if truly made even better are an even better value now than 8 years ago. Especially if you use them with good gear and a suitable amp up front, a good sub or two or 4 to fill in what’s missing properly, and the room is not too big.
They are still small speakers after all. However sounds like bigger kefs will be getting similar enhancements very soon. Nice that the proclaimed innovation was made with the product that most can afford and will trickle up not the other way around. |
Backwave with a Walsh style driver is a different beast I would think with the driver exposed and mounted on top of the cabinet facing downwards and the sound heard emitted to a large extent horizontally off the rear of the driver. Seems to me it would be less of an issue with the Walsh approach but not sure. Maybe someone else has more insight? |
Correction: tuflex block is used to absorb the front wave sound in wall facing directions with Ohm Walsh CLS driver, not the back wave. Totally different. With Ohm Walsh the backwave is different in nature and I believe fires down the length of the cabinets not across the narrower width like conventional box speakers. Apples and oranges. Still the kef sound absorbing material probably has many applications if truly superior as it may well be. |
From what I read about how KEF has always gone about applying technology very meticulously and fairly openly with the ls50s ( a big reason why I bought them ie what went into the impressive design was published and made very transparent to any interested buyer), my gut tells me this may well be the real deal and should upgrade my ls50s given the modest cost difference.
Could it be hype though? IT’s gamechanging technology if the hype is true. Absorbing most of the backwave as advertised sounds really good, but would like to see some tests to confirm the effectiveness advertised especially compared to the alternatives. Should be easy to measure and confirm. One would expect the speakers could get warm with all that extra energy converted to heat.
On the other hand if Guttenberg says 10 versus 6.5 as he describes, that’s the bottom line. HE was adroit enough to also appreciate Ohm Walsh speakers after all (which uses a "tuflex" block to absorb the backwave in the Walsh style driver which is itself a totally different beast from most "box" speakers in terms of how it operates....for the better I would say). |:^)
Will KEF sell their new sound absorbing technology so others have a chance? IF it does what it says it would open up a lot of box speaker designs for me that I typically go out of the way to avoid given the options.
Handling the backwave effectively in a box speaker is always a huge deal and an area still ripe for technical innovation I would say! |
Oh no could be upgrade time again! 😍 |
