Ls50 wireless II vs separates with passive speakers

@b_limo @nekoaudio both of these are great ideas to take a look at.  thanks!

@varchard you may also consider the Devialet Phantom series of speakers. They provide very good sound quality as a single all-in-one solution, look good too, and are water resistant / okay to touch. The smaller Phantom II units take up very little space.

I’ve had quite a nbit of experience with the original ls50 wireless and passives.  I owned ls50w’s and 3 friends bought them based on my recommendations.  I also owned the dynaudio xeo 5..

IfI were you, I’d look for a pair of xeo 4’s for the kitchen.  The cool thing about the xeo’s is that you can add more later and connect them all to the same xeo wireless transmitter.  You could put another pair of xeo’s in the bedroom for instance.  You could also use 1 xeo in mono in a hallway for instance.  Its a good way to get great sound throughout your home that sounds better than sonos.

The xeos with a bluesound node connected to the xeo hub would make for a pretty awesome setup.

Something about the xeo’s felt more reliable than the finicky kefs (version 1).

I bought a pair of the new LS50W Mk2's a couple of months ago. I wanted to simplify my system and I like the idea that they were going to be "Roon Ready" albeit "Coming Soon." Kef released the speakers in September 2020 and 7 months later they are still promising "Coming Soon." The Kefs have a nice sound for casual listening and are great for TV. I gave up on them as I missed the qualities of my previous Linear Tube Audio separates. I also felt that KEF had baited folks with the "Coming Soon" marketing.

I am back with Linear Tube Audio and Spatial Audio and am very pleased...at great cost :-)

For a kitchen I can recommend KEF LSX's. They are a great value and you can stream to them.

@alcoholbob - I was looking at adding the NAD C638 as a streamer/dac/preamp which also has Dirac Live and for $99 the full Dirac system. I think Dirac in a large kitchen is a must. 

LS50 Meta with SHD Power ($1499) is a good choice IMO.

SHD Power has amp, network streaming + Dirac Live.

Also if you decide to active later it has digital AES outputs so you can run Dirac Live with your active speakers.

LS50 Meta + Dirac Live should be better than the LS50 Wireless II since not only will it have superior DSP correction but also target curve can be personally tailored.

I also own some of the LS50W (not the IIs). Super happy with them. They sounds excellent and have quite a bit more bass then the passive versions due to the design. Pretty flexible in placement given you can tailor the DSP settings in the app. You can use the app to wirelessly stream music but as they are DLNA devices I use JRiver. Other software likely can discover them as well and think the IIs do this a bit better. Super flexible with digital input and subwoofer outputs. For my 2 cents the finest active speaker in that price range. I know the IIs step things up and likely have a pair of those in my future. FWIW the older  LS50Ws  can be found right around $900-1200.

@varchard yes, you can control through the app. I did the initial setup and fiddling with the app, set the volume (almost max) on the master speaker and then control the volume from whatever device I’m using. Works great.

@mcslipp that’s the big selling point to me, there ease of use and bang fir the buck. I plan on mounting them high. You can fully control them with an app right?

I have a pair of LS50w for “around the house” listening when not listening to the big rig. They absolutely rock and blow the doors off the passive versions. Not sure there’s anything out there that could beat them for their price/performance/ease of use. Plus if needed you can now add their matching sub. Two thumbs up. 

If you’re looking at powered speakers I’d give Xeo 20 from Dynaudio a try other than LS 50 W2.  In my totally subjective impressions the Xeos don’t get as much marketing jazz as KEF has managed, but are the better speakers in that range. 

@mastering92 I’m going for a better sound than that. 

Speakers for your kitchen?

Most people I know have the Bose Soundlink II bluetooth speakers in their kitchens. Denon - a well-respected Japanese brand also has some great units.

If in doubt, Sonos is a topper.