LS50 Wireless fail, or is old gear that good?


After ready so much positive info on the LS50W, I gave them a try but was massively disappointed compared to my (much) older gear.
I set up the LS50's via Ethernet and WiFi playing HiRes files from NAS and Tidal via Roon, then compared the same tracks via WiFi to Roon on an iPhone>Dragonfly Red>ARC SP9 (1987)>Threshold amp (1980's)>Martin Logan Aerius i (1999). Wasn't even close.
Especially on female vocals, the sense of realism, timbre, air, etc was notably superior on the old system. I played around with the KEF DSP, room placement and even switched rooms.I really wanted the KEF's to work, but no luck.

So, am I missing something with the LS50W, or is the old stuff just that good?

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Showing 2 responses by yogiboy

It has nothing to do with old vs. new. You are comparing two completely different type speakers. The ML is a large ESL with a 8 inch woofer and the KEF is a tiny powered 2 way with a 5 inch woofer. Besides the speakers I don't think the amps in the KEF would come close to the Threshold!