KEF LS50 Speaker Stands
Just bought a pair of KEF LS50s and was wondering what height speaker stands I should get. The standard approach is to get the driver at ear height. I tried several chairs that I might use and they put my ears at 43 inches from the floor. Since the LS50 driver is in the center of the front baffle that makes it about 6 inches from the bottom of the speaker. In that case I would need to buy 36 inch high speaker stands. There are very few quality speaker stands that high and the speaker stands that KEF sells specifically for the LS50 are only 24 inches high. Am I missing something? At 24 inches that would put the driver at 30 inches from the floor. You would have to be practically sitting on the floor to get your ears at 30 inches. My question is do I follow the standard rule and get 36 inch speaker stands or follow KEF and get 24 inch stands.
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- 18 posts total
I just recently bought Metas, my first non-floor-standers, so I needed stands. I looked at KEF's LS50-specific stands that recommend the tweeter being 32" off the floor, despite typical ear height of 36". Picked up these through Audio Advisor: https://www.kantoaudio.com/speaker-accessories/sp-series/ and have been very pleased with their design and build quality for such a reasonable price. I should also add that these are the most horizontally and especially vertically omnidirectional speakers I've had in my room, and the measurements from Stereophile and Soundstage confirm this. I don't hear any difference in frequency balance whether a foot above or below the tweeter axis. All to say, I have no reason to take issue with KEF's height recommendations, and I'm very impressed with the stands I bought. |
So, just an update to all who responded. I called KEF and asked why they designed the dedicated speaker stand for the LS50s at 24 inches and they said it was because they sell internationally and most other countries have seating that is lower than what is typically found in the United States. They agreed the driver should be at ear level so get whatever stand gets you closest. I ended up buying 32" Pangea DS400s and filling them with sand. They put the drive almost exactly at ear height and the stands are totally solid after filling with sand. |
- 18 posts total