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KEF LS50 Wireless -- wow!!!

Today I bought a new pair of the KEF LS50 Wireless speakers for my study (10 x 13 x 12). Just so you know my main system in the media room (15 x 20) consists of a pair of Bowers and Wilkins CM10s2 ($4000), Parasound A21 ($2500), Cambridge Audio  851D ($1000), Double Shotgun silver wires ($350), power cable from Cerious Technologies (Graphene something -- $350), with a total cost of something around $8k. 
I thought it would be fun to put the KEFs in the same room as my main system and play them side by side using Tidal streaming for both. Now keep in mind that the CM10s have several hundred hours on them, whereas the KEFs have probably less than 2 hours so far. The speaker stands for the KEFs are still on backorder, so right now they're just sitting directly on the media console (glass top) -- in other words, this is a totally unfair comparison. Also, the CM10s are placed about 9 feet apart and 4 feet from the wall, whereas the KEFs are about 6 feet apart and less than two feet from the back wall. 
What I heard was totally unbelievable!!! The KEFs, which mind you, are not broken in at all, not sitting on a proper stand, and not as wide apart from each other as the CM10s, totally blew the CM10s out of the water. The sound coming out of the KEFs is more full-bodied and balanced, beautiful midrange, and a very satisfying base. The imaging is just so much better than the B&Ws. I just can't believe how a speaker which is literally 4 to 5 times smaller than the CM10s can produce such a rich, satisfying base. I think the only aspect where the CM10s have a slight edge is the soundstage. But, I suspect that might improve with proper stands and more play time.
A few weeks ago, I auditioned a pair of Harbeth M30.1 in the same media room (driven by Parasound A21). While I really liked the midrange on them, they sounded a little thin to me. The KEFs, on the other hand, have a pretty good midrange (probably not as good as the Harbeths), but to my ears, they sound better in every other aspect.

Now, I'm not saying that these $2199 speakers are the ultimate bookshelves. But they sure beat my comparatively more expensive setup by a mile.

All hats off to the KEF engineers! 

P.S. The CM10s will be on the market pretty soon :)

128x128arafiq
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,665 posts
 
@justjames72 -- I sold the CM10s shortly after I got the KEF LS50 wireless. I have never owned the passive version so cannot compare. But yes, at the time, and in the same room, the LS50W sounded better to my ears. The balance, clarity and imaging was better than the CM10s. But I agree with mapman that the KEFs are not designed for large'sh rooms.

Having said that, I bought a pair of Harbeth P3ESRs for my study a  couple of years ago ... now I might eventually sell the KEFs at some point, but I don't see myself selling the baby Harbeths anytime soon.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
As I recall, those Harbeth are not very big either like the ls50s but go for a good bit more $$$$ than ls50 these days. I thought them very small for the price when I saw them. Never compared the two directly but two significantly different sounds I suspect. Would be interesting to compare side by side.  Both would benefit from a well integrated sub or two no doubt. 
terrybiondi's avatar
terrybiondi
4 posts
 
I am also using the KEF LS50 wireless speakers and extremely satisfied with the sound quality. I know its a little bit expensive as compared to other brands. But If you can get a good amp, then you are good to go.

If you want to read more about KEF LS50 wireless speaker, you can check out this article just released. Since KEF is a well regarded company known to measure their speakers scientifically I don't think you should worry too much - they designed the amps in the LS50W to drive the LS50W. I bet they measure better than 95% of standalone DAC/Amps pairing with the LS50.
speakersninja's avatar
speakersninja
3 posts
 
Yeah, came here to say this. The convenience of the LS50W comes in handy, the simple tone controls are nice for tweaking the sound, and adding a sub in the future is a cinch. It's also just pretty.

I'd give the edge to the Genelec or Neumann in a nearfield scenario because of the better on-axis, but with more room sound in the mix, I feel the LS50W's smooth vertical response would likely balance out the one big flaw in its on-axis response, the dip around 1.8k. 

That dip is pretty obnoxious, and I don't know why I stopped at 60 degrees instead of the usual 75, but you can see the dip straightens out by 60 degrees. Can't say for sure, but presumably, it would continue to be relatively even further off-axis. Treble tilts down a bit, but you can tweak that a bit in the app. you can get more info from there

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