Since my last comment 1 year ago, I hooked my LS50s to my Parasound JC1 mono blocks and a SMSL D1 DAC (very sweet DAC). I expected the LS50s to sound better, but I was blown away. The LS50s just keep playing up to the gear you give them. I must have fed them at least 150 watts and they stayed super tight and the bass was unbelievable for such small speakers (in a large room). The LS50s dip down into the low 3 ohms and have 85 dB sensitivity, so to shine their best they need a very capable amp and smooth DAC (source), because they are so detailed and transparent. That doesn't mean the LS50s won't sound great on lesser gear, but they won't be able to shine to their full potential. My Kef R900s are much easier to drive than the LS50s. Overall I prefer R900s, but when I switch back from the LS50s I miss the little bit more airiness and sparkle of the LS50s.
Kef calls that cone color, "Rose Gold". Your review of the LS 50s is by far the best I have ever heard. Everything you said about the LS 50s, I also noticed with mine. You nailed it when you mentioned if the bass is messed up on the LS 50s, everything else will be messed up. From all my testing, I think solid, sand filled stands are a must for the LS 50s to sound great. The cabinets are inert on the LS 50s, but they will resonate anything they are touching and floors and furniture produce really muddy bass. I was going to build some metal sand fulled stands, so for proof of concept I used 3" PVC pipe (filled with sand) and MDF for the top and base. The resonance problem was solved, but everything sounded muddy and distorted when I turned up the volume a bit. The stands were very heavy, but also very wobbly (due to the plastic pipe). Any speaker that can rock back and forth (wobby) as the driver punches bass, won't sound very good. With the LS 50s, everything is happening inside that 5 1/4" mid/bass driver, so if the driver is fighting the movement of the cabinet, everything will get VERY muddy. I ended up finding a set of Paradigm stands (floor model) for a fraction of retail, which are very similar to Kef stands. My LS 50s sound amazing now. The LS 50s need rock solid, sand filled stands and a decent high current (neutral) amp to perform well, IMO.
I tracked down a set of Acoustic- Energy AE1 cast aluminum stands and filled them with lead shot. 4 pea sized Blutak blobs between the LS50 corners and stand for damping the energy transfer a bit ;-)
love this review, because he tries to make sense of the product before coming to conclusions. Makes valuable evaluation on value of the LS50 in current product cycle. No hype, all balanced.
Totally agree! My son has had his 4 years fed by a Linn Akurate streamer and a small Linn power amp and are sublime. As the great Ivor Tiefenbrun said "garbage in, garbage out" These speakers will certainly tell you if you're feeding them garbage. I have Kef Blade 2's and on voices for example the LS50's are not a million miles away and with stands cost a 20th of the price. LS50's are probably the audiophile bargain of the decade.
I love these. I have them hooked up to an audiolab 6000a amp with qed genesis revelation speaker cables. Perform so nicely at a decent level of volume. Really come into their own with the sound cranked up nicely. It all comes to life. I play records through mine mainly off a pro-ject xpression Carbon turntable. Many many happy evenings spent sat in front of those
Well Srb... Since seeing two pairs of used models I bid on go for more than these are available new - I'll have the new ones thankyouverymuch! Ordered, should be here next week sometime.
Hi! I'm looking for a good matching amp. with my LS50's, I see you have the Naim 5i. I'm wondering as it has 50watts per channel, does it have enough 'strength' to drive the LS50's? Can you also go to a higher volume without troubles? greets wim
I like to comment that your review reflects what I expierence!. Initially I had it on a bookshelf, and I wondered what the fuzz is all about. After I moved it on a stands, oh boy, the soundstaging just change completely!! You review is spot on !!
These are true audiophile speakers. Being like a point source, they image very well, and they are quite transparent, the speakers disappear quite well. The bass is taut and detailed, but they don’t have the ease and effortlessness of big speakers. They also need amps which provide big current. If the treble is too hot and the bass is lacking, that means the amp is not supplying enough current to the speakers. The best I heard was matching with a Line Magnetic LM508IA amp and a Passlab F5T DIY amp. Also, for best imaging, these speakers need room to breath. At least 1.5m from the wall. All in all, great speakers, especially for that price.
A fine review, practical, realistic and well presented. My compliments too on the reviewer's excellent command of what must be a second language for him. This review has motivated me to look for a second hand pair of KEF LS50s, which I intend to pair with a Sonos Amp (version 2), connected also to a Samsung Frame TV and a turntable for good measure. Many thanks, Srboljub.
Great review, I owned them for couple of months, drove with denon pma 600, I did enjoy listening to them. Bass was lacking compared to my LSR305s but overall I liked them. If my memory serves me well for desktop usage I find JBLs at least equally good in stereo imaging etc, better in bass response but for some songs LS50s were much more enjoyable for some equally enjoyable but always good enough. With the new prices, for someone who have a good amplifier these are great pair of speakers. I keep my JBLs because they are so cheap it doesn't even worth selling them, certainly cheaper to keep them :)
A great alternative is the LS 50W that way you are assured to hear them at their best. Other lesser KEF’s don’t compare. The LS 50’s are so good all other speaker companies should go hide in a closet until they come out with something better. This is no hype just fact. Great spot on review. By the way a REL 5a is great for added low bass however not completely necessary.
Notice how many comments regarding the quality of the review itself as opposed to just product discussion.🤔😉😇 He's just a natural at this or maybe it's the accent but the people below sure thought the same thing.🤔🤗😬
Great review with good hints. I bought these speakers used a couple of months ago. I am using them with a Marantz PM7000N. They sound already fantastic to me, but I'm curious to hear them with a more powerful amp. I placed them in my desk, using the Isoacoustics ISO-155 stand (this makes a lot of difference!)
Again... I am about to get my hands on a pair of these. This is a very helpful review. Thankfully I have a total of 40" of bass drivers to compensate for the lows. I hope they fit my room and power amp!!!
4 года назад
Great, clear, detailed and unbiased review as always! I can often times associate really well to the impressions you are telling about sound, image, and soundstage, and they are very similar to what I experience as a musician. Greetings!
Great review! I've seen these as a very polarizing speaker because of amp pairing. The thing I follow is to always use a decent amp that has equal or more power than your speakers. You could use a 500W RMS amp on 100W RMS speakers as long as you don't crank it up too much, but if you use a 50W RMS amp on 100W RMS speakers, you have a higher chance of getting a lackluster experience not taking of the speakers' potential, especially if it's class D. This is due to Damping Factor. Which is a measurement of how well an amplifier can control the speaker based on resistance loads, fluctuations, and speaker cable length (if its over 25 feet or above 20AWG), as resistance in copper greatly affects Damping Factor capability. You actually have a higher chance of blowing a speaker too with a weaker amp if you clip it, as square sound waves do not allow the speaker to move fully resulting in heat buildup.
Really great in-depth and practical review. I was actually considering this, unfortunately without any opportunity of auditioning by pairing with my amp (Musical Fidelity M2Si, with Topping D30 DAC). Your review has provided a second thought. I know you might not have a chance to observe how LS50 And M2SI would match, yet I am putting the query in a hope if you or any other reader have an experience with this combination.
Great review, have a set also and have owned many many good speakers, pound for pound (for their size) their the best ive heard or had, rock solid (literally) cabinet build quality, the bass feels solid down to 40-42 hz without drop off to me, 18 off the walls, 24 high and toed in slightly is my setup preference, smooth balanced but no they wont get insanely loud as their quite small amd lose composure, but loud enough for small to mid sized rooms. They are really imaging monsters, only thing ive heard that image better or give them a match are magnepans, detailed and smooth and compact, and best looking speaker around in my book, their keepers for me so far.
if you would buy an amp. now in a pricerange of 1000euro which one would you hook up to the LS50's? (Im looking for a good match - one that accentuates the bass/warmth of the LS50's)
Excellent review. Had my ls50s for 4 years and all your comments were on point. Big soundstage, precise imaging and superb clarity. However, poor amps make them poor speakers, they really need to be on speaker stands not necessarily heavy stands and they do need to be paired with subs. Bass is solid for its size but does get compressed and distorted at high volumes.
Love the review. Thank you. I wish I had a more refined ear but after listening to this review I feel that once I spend more time on your channel I may develop a better one. I also have been thinking about purchasing a pair of used LS 50s or LS 50 METAs but only worry about my new NAD c328 not having the power to get as much out of these speakers. Opinions are appreciated. TIA.
I have a pair. Love them. A couple decent sealed subwoofers, crossed over properly, will make up for the LS50's limited low frequency response. Otherwise, they outperform almost any speakers in their price range, and many costing far more. Also, as said in the review, good sound isolation is essential.
Old review but I thought I'd dig it up and say - I very very highly suggest trying out subwoofer life. If you can get room correction via miniDSP or Dspeaker antimode, both of which I own and use (antimode is automatic and brilliant, miniDSP is for you if want to be all nerdy and set it up yourself) and they have completely changed my listening experience. Thanks for the vids Srb (did I remember it right?).
The current retail price of these for almost 2 months in Germany in most stores is 650-700€, which is the half of their Orginal price. You get the whole 5 year warranty on getting them new. The guys who bought it 8 years back haven’t realized this and most used market ads are around 600 bucks which is really not worth atleast here. Even the black edition costs the same for the people who don’t want the copper driver units
That's great price, I always envy prices you got there compared to our prices in Serbia which are among the highest ones. I've just checked and they are on sale here for 800€ at the moment (were 1000 when I made the video).
@@iiWiReviews - Official list price is 899€ in Germany, but as @A. Tommy said, many dealers are selling for even less. In my mind this is the definition of bargain. Yes, I am biased. To my ears the LS50 sets close absolute standards with respect to some aspects of music reproduction that are important to me. Almost like Quad ESLs that do many things so darn good you can easily forget about their weaknesses. Others might put more emphasis on other characteristics, so I understand not everybody will agree with me. Great video, btw. Very well done. Enjoyed it a lot.
Excellent review. I have a pair I am running with REL subwoofers. Very happy with the sound . 250 w musical fidelity monoblock amps. Totally agree that these are power hungry speakers. However, they just came out with a brand new model the kef ls50 meta 2 days ago! Personally I think it should be called the KEF LS58meta ;-)
Listen before you buy. I did not hear the R3 yet but I own the R7 and assume they are very similar. I am actually thinking of moving the LS50 back into my main system again (adding a sub). R7 are great speakers, but they are "sounded" somewhat differently. More pleasing (and true fullrange of course), but I still think that LS50 reveals more of the details of the recording. May be a tad better imaging as well. Have not made my mind up fully, yet.
Moj setup 1: Cambridge Audio AXR100 , KEF R100 i AudioPro Addon sub. Setup 2: Vintage Yamaha CR440, Mission LX5 floorstanders. Savet, dodaj sub i progledaćeš :) KEF R100 je manje više isti zvučnik, kada sam dodao sub na pojačalo koje ima cutoff na sub izlazu oslobodio sam ih muke ispod 100Hz i izvukao sam max iz njih...
I have seen a pair of all Black Ls 50 for 599€, and I am tempted... I know my room is small, and I have to add the Amplifier, but I think that they are still a good opportunity...
I will definitely recomend you JL Audio Fathom subwoofer. İt can look overkill if you adjust good, there is nothing better than that. İf you have a small room, adjust it if you want like a earthquake bass or adjust it for realistic acoustic. Also if you put that in your big living room you can easily have earthquake bass too. I have that sub for over 4 years ı think and ı can say, ı have NOT heard better dry bass. I love KEF LS50 so much and that subwoofer will blow your mind with kef’s. İf you can afford it just try that for me you will not dissapointed. Im %100 sure
Another excellent review Srba (forgive the abbreviation; I hope I got it right). The LS50 is a very well liked speaker and I understand why. As you describe, its projected sound image is both full and detailed. It is, however, a small speaker and to expect any definition below about 50Hz is a big ask. I would like to hear about complementary sub-bass if you choose to investigate. I expect that the choice of amplifier and bass speaker will be critical to match and complement the sound image of the LS50. I think that might be hard, given the superlative sound of the LS50 with the right amplification and music genre. It may be a choice of “horses for courses”, i.e. the right choice of speaker for the music to be relished. However I would like you to prove me wrong in my assumptions.
Thanks, and yes that is the correct abbreviation my friends use. :) For the moment I gave up on the idea of adding a sub cause of limited space, but also the fact that I am very happy with their bassline as it is. Listening to low key rock, blues, jazz, and pop most of the time.
Great review......more speaker reviews please! The Triangle Borea line of speakers (the king of the paper cone) is offering up SUPERB TONALITY bargains, please check them out!
Thanks! Stands are custom made from thick iron, filled with sand and painted black. They are ~15 kg each and have adjustable spikes on the bottom side.
iiWi Reviews: What amplifiers would you say make the best match for the LS50 and will get the most out of them? Also, what speakers would be a next significant jump from the LS50? Thanks for the fantastic and detailed review. It is spot on!
I have an iotavx sa3/pa3 and it's pretty solid combo, but I am also looking to level up the amplification. If you want to level up the ls50 add a musical sub! Huge difference. I've got a jl audio d108 and it's small but great for a small to medium room.
Thanks! I never used that or similar amp so there's no way to give you a good advice there. It would be an interesting combination of vintage and modern for sure.
Haha i have been thinking about that too! This is the reason why i have chosen the all black edition version, although im wondering if it would have been better to go with the new meta ls50's?
I have the LS50 and ls50w. A late model ls50w is reliable vs the earlier models and they sound way better than the LS50 in 90% of the configurations. Buy a late model ls50w.
First of all i want to tell you that you are doing a very good job, respect! I would ask you for a recommendation... I'm planning to buy KEF LS50 and and I struggle with which amplifier to choose! i've looked so much at reviews about amplifiers for those speakers and now i don't know what to choose... I would like the amplifier to be able to connect via Bluetooth/wlan (something newer generation) and to be able to connect to a TV and maybe I would like to connect the active sub later... Under 1300 euro MAX
I have the LS50 and the LRS Magnepan and the Magnepan sound "better" considering the price. Both need juice the LRS really needs juice it makes my Bryston 4BSST run hotter than with Infinity Kappa 8s so that's saying a lot. That's not even cranking them because well neither the LRS or the LS50 want to be cranked. I tried to make the LS50 sound mellow and tubelike because I heard they sound good with tubes. Well tbh kind of good esp with the TOTL mullard 12AX7 on the phono stage with them that was a winner. Still though for some reason I found them to be fatiguing when hooked up with the conrad pv10b and muse monoblocks, kind of a gritty metallic thing. Maybe they needed to be broken in more. Had them with REL T5s which made the bass nice. Now I have them on my desk and a table and put them on cork placemats. Cork side up with speak on it and a second placemat cork side down. Seems to work well, it's a heavy desk. Using a CD recorder Harmon Kardon CDR20 and dubbing a lot of CDs. Have them hooked to pretty decent Kenwood separates KM-C1 and KM-X1. It seems very low distortion and quiet and accurate but kind of muted a bit. I kind of like it with them because they sound kind of clangy metallic with better gear? More transients? I don't know, just that aluminum driver(s) is perhaps not my real cup of tea and tbh I find pinpoint imaging a bit annoying like a megaphone effect. Kind of spoiled with my old Infinity Kappa 8s one of the best speakers ever made if you can find an amp to drive them. Now have Bryston 7BSST2s feeding them and works well. OK ramble comment but so it goes...
Thanks! It was based on IRFI4020 modules, Zerozone kit was used... I didn't mention it because my friend is a DIY beginner and didn't put much thought into assembling, power supply, etc. I'm not sure that the quality of his work represents these modules' quality in general.
With your experience both with LS50 and Topping electronics, would you say thw Topping PA3 balances falls in your ‘unmatched’ category with the LS50? Would a PA5 offer better control of the speakers?
Thanks for this review . I have KEF LS 50 speakers connect with a vintage Quad 405 (overhauled) and use this for many years but now a want something else. I will choose between The Adiolab 6OOOA and The Cambridge CXA 61 i now there is a price difference but i want the best sound for my KEF's. What would you choose?
Cyrus has a lot of drive, it should match nicely. But it is also on the leaner and brighter side, so LS50 will just pass that character trough. I didn't mind and I used it with Cyrus 8vs2 for some time, but not everybody visiting me liked it.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks - that's what I was thinking too, the amp sounds exactly as you described. I hear that Cyrus owners have had good results with some Dynaudio speakers.
Hello there, thanks for the great review. I bought a pair of Metas, Now I need an amp. What do you (or any of your viewers) suggest for under $2000. I’m considering a Hegel 95. Anyone have any thoughts?
i can get the LS50 for 333€ 2 pieces. I need new Speakers for Cineama Movie. I dont want Center. I dont know which one is best. Kef q750, Canton sl 590, Dali Oberon 7, Elac uni fi f5. All of them costs ca. 800€ What would you recomend ?
Hi, and thank you for the video... One thing you don't mention is, how good are those speakers at low to very low volume when properly amped (I would use them with a Peachtree Nova 150). I'm hesitating between these and the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand in great shape for 400$ and supposed to be quite good at low volume, but I don't know if you know them. Any insight welcome though...
They're OK but not great. For best low volume listening something with more drive and more bass is needed in my opinion. Loudness effect on older amplifiers was great idea because our hearing is not linear at lower volumes.
Thanks! Unfortunately I haven't heard that combination so there's no way for me to give you any useful info about it. Just looking at the class PM7005 belongs to, it might be a good match but it's best to seek for someone who actually tried it.
Thank you for the most interesting review!! I have a Yamaha R-N402D (A-B class - 100watt per channel). Do you think it is powerful enough / a good match with the KEF LS50? I've also been looking at the KEF100, KEF Q150 and KEF Q350. Do you feel the LS50's worth the higher price? Thankful for any insights from your side!
Hi. I never heard that Yamaha and LS50s but knowing some similar amps, I feel that Q350 would probably be a better match with its warmer and much more forgiving presentation...
@@iiWiReviews Ok thanks! I've been trying to figure out if the Q-accoustics 3030i would be an option. Would you recommend it over the KEF Q350? An extra question arising for the Q-accoustics would be if 6 Ohm is ok for the amp/the soundquality: The manual of the Yamaha RN402D shows: Speakers A or B => 8 ohm or higher Speakers A and B => 16 ohm??? or higher Biwiring => 8 ohm or higher But then it also shows this a bit further: Dynamic power per channel (IHF) (8ohm = 125watt / 6ohm = 150watt / 4ohm = 165watt / 2 Ohm = 180watt) Minimum RMS output power (40Hz to 20 kHz, 0,2% THD, 8ohm) => 100W + 100W Maximum effective output power (1kHz, 10% THD, 8ohm) => 140watt
3030i are nice speakers, I'll do a full review on them this week probably. However, they are bright up top and not everybody likes that. Q350 is on the opposite side, warmer and smoother. Personally, I prefer Q350, they are more to my taste.
@@iiWiReviews Hi and thank you for your advice last week! I eventually bought the KEF LS50's as I received - due to circumstances - a Cambridge Audio - Azur 840A V2 amplifier, which seems a much higher quality amp. than the Yamaha R-N420D receiver which I used up to now. A better match for the KEF's + the Monitor Audio GS20's : - ). The only thing though, there is no ethernet input port on the cambridge (which is - next to my cdplayer - my main musicsource). So I'm wondering, can I use the simple 'full powered - line out' of the yamaha receiver to connect the Cambridge amp which then outputs to the speakers? Will it sound any good? Any insights are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!
Very good review and very interesting. I'm considering to buy a pair of the KEF LS50 but im not sure if my amp has enough power for them. It's a yamaha a-s301. Would this fit?
Personally I wouldn't make that pairing cause A-S301 is a very nice amp but not the one to take LS50s for the balls good enough and you might end up disappointed.
You can look Dali Ikon or MA Silver, they are more efficient and they have a nice sound. Because I heard the 50 with a RS700... was a bit ok but nothing spectacular
Even though I never heard that exact combo, Roksan amps usually do have the energy and grips that I believe would combine very well with LS50s. So, not 100% sure but if I was in your shoes I'd have fate in Roksan and I'd give it a shot.
Hello, thank you for your review! I can't seem to figure out which amplifier(s) are properly capable to drive my LS50 speakers. Many of the class D amp's sound to thin/cold with them. In other words, which nowadays amplifier(s) or receivers would you suggest taking a look at to power the LS50's. I'm wondering, did technology enhance quality enough to outperform something like a cambridge XD class amp (in terms of soundquality)? Will i.e. an older Cambridge Audio Azur 840 V2 be 'powerful' enough to drive LS50 speakers to their best, or will I get a better soundquality with a newer amp/receiver?
Azur 840a is actually on the aggressive side of things so I'm not sure it would compliment LS50s. I did hear them sounding very nice and well balanced with Arcam A19 for example. Naim 5si or 5i should be a nice match too. Roksan Kandy K2 or Caspian M2 should also pair nicely. Also, don't know what kind of source you're using but that's important too. No amp will fix overly thin sounding source.
I heard those Klipsch just shortly in show room so can't give my full opinion on them. But I can share my opinion that LS50 is not going to be driven well with PM6006 and I wouldn't make that pairing personally. My educated guess is that Klipsch would perform better with it. Anyway, I plan to review 500M or 600M sometime in the next few months...
I use them with the PMA800NE and the amp drives them very well! It gets quite loud in my 20 m2 room even with the volume knob only at “9 o’clock” so I only need a fraction of the power this amp provides.
