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Kef LS 50 compared to Kef LS 50 Wireless


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Definitely go the active route. It is much cheaper than buying sources, amps, dac, cables and even if you do that with the passives you have to spend far greater to get them to perform close to the active.

 

This is the cheapest I have ever seen them used and amazingly it is from a retailer. Good on them but no surprise they sold quickly.

 

Edited by Bunno77
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Guest thathifiguy

They both sound excellent. My only issue with the wireless has been the control app, it's not the greatest. Not the worst either mind you.

 

I guess if you're a tweaker, the passive will make more sense as you can try various different bits, whereas with the wireless, once you explore the various different DSP options, it is what it is.

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Yes, i've owned LS50 passives. Used a Devialet to run them. Now have the actives in a lounge system and the actives win hands down.

 

I would not bother to try and better the sound of the actives going the passive route. Set and forget with the wireless version.

 

Agree about the Kef app, its just ok. I get around that by using a modded Sonos Connect into it.

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49 minutes ago, Electrovoice Interface. said:

Also what do a good pair of LS50s Non Wireless sell for secondhand ...........? 

 

Apart from the ones mentioned above, around $1200 I'd say.

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I have heard the LS50 passive twice and have been underwhelmed on both occasions. IMO these speakers are seriously over-rated and you can do a lot better with your money elsewhere.

 

Make sure you audition these speakers before you buy a pair.

 

I haven't heard the actives but I would hope they are better than the passives.

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2 minutes ago, PKay said:

I have heard the LS50 passive twice and have been underwhelmed on both occasions. IMO these speakers are seriously over-rated and you can do a lot better with your money elsewhere.

 

Make sure you audition these speakers before you buy a pair.

 

I haven't heard the actives but I would hope they are better than the passives.

I could not agree more.

I have no idea whatsoever why these speakers have such a following, although one often sees them in the FS section for cheap after the very minor novelty wears off.

Maybe the actives are better,but why not buy better speakers in the first place?

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17 hours ago, PKay said:

I have heard the LS50 passive twice and have been underwhelmed on both occasions. IMO these speakers are seriously over-rated and you can do a lot better with your money elsewhere.

 

Make sure you audition these speakers before you buy a pair.

 

I haven't heard the actives but I would hope they are better than the passives.

I agree. I was bored with the LS50 passives and sold them within a couple of weeks.

 

I'm really enjoying the actives, but thats probably because all up the 'system' has cost me a relatively small amount of money, and so in context and for a second system in a shared lounge they are heaps of fun. When i had the passives with a Dev 200 the combined value was way over $10k.. for that i'd pass.

 

Edited by wikeeboy
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I like the LS50s passives, enough that I am getting 3 more and using for 5.1  

They must suit my room, which strangely given their size is large, I do use them with a sub and a class A Luxman as well.

 

I have heard the wireless and they are great, not suited to my set up though with several analogue sources - I would need a Preamp and that kind of defeats the purpose 

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Im currently running the active version with Roon! Works well and they sound amazing for the price.
My only issue is you have to have them turned on, and on the wifi/network source to gain control of them through Roon.
They need to allow network control when turned off or on a different source.

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On 11/05/2018 at 3:51 PM, Chill3 said:

I like the LS50s passives, enough that I am getting 3 more and using for 5.1  

They must suit my room, which strangely given their size is large, I do use them with a sub and a class A Luxman as well.

 

I have heard the wireless and they are great, not suited to my set up though with several analogue sources - I would need a Preamp and that kind of defeats the purpose 

Have you compared them to any other speakers in your room? 

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I have the Ls50 passive and think they are extremely good at the price and well beyond, one of the best coherent, imaging, voicing and decent bass for their size. They are more coherent and image better than a comparable Lenehan, Jamo Concert 8 and Sonus Faber Minima FM.

 

My main issue with them is the tweeter response is not as detailed and refined as all the above, but overall they are better than them all. I’ve had several people come to my house to listen to other stuff and they were astonished with them.

 

The amp partnering is very critical otherwise they can sound ordinary, they don’t do that well on my KT88 60w tube amp, lower powered solid state amps of under 100w, none of my several Class D amps 60-100w but do like my Goldmund Nemisis 200w clone SS amp and old Yamaha P2201 200w amp, which generally is what many people are saying they like heaps of SS power and come alive. My audio room is 5x4m with the Ls50 in nearfield listening setup.

 

I think the reason people move them on is because of the above issues and there are tons of them sold, one of Kefs great modern speakers as said by many.

 

They don’t do well in my HT setup in another room.

 

With the Ls50w isn’t it possible to directly connect a decent CD player for a higher quality result?

 

Anyone in Perth willing to do a Ls50 vs Ls50w shootout?

Edited by Al.M
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Many Thanks for your @Al.M   I have a pair of Jamo Concert 11 I see you mentioned the 8s ...Many varied comments for and against passive the amplified model LS 50 ..and some comments say both are over rated ....They certainly look unique and they remind me of a miniature version of a high tech Tannoy in 2018

 

Thank you all for taking the time to make a comment I learn something new every day re HiFi.............:thumb:

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The Ls50 coherence comes the closest that I have heard to resolving the age old problem of a two way monitor that has a midrange hole between the tweeter and woofer physically separately by two points of emission across the baffle. In the Jamo Concert 8 and SF Minima direct comparison shootout one could hear high and low freq sounds coming from two distinct points, whereas the Ls50 was very point source and the imaging much better. I love the Jamo Concert 8 and was sadly dissappointed to see them being beat by the Ls50 but alas speaker design and technology, listening impression end results speak for themselves. The Ls50 are built very solid and high quality construction. One negative report is that the driver is prone to damage when driven hard with lots of bass so if you want that it may be a consideration. The bass response is very addictive and tuneful so what owners are saying is that one tends to want more and more and when using the recommended high power amps a breaking point is reached quicker than for other designs. So for example Jamo Concert 8 will produce more bass output SPLs and an Ls50 wouldn’t keep up at the highest or same levels. For me it isnt an issue as I don’t expect such high levels from any speaker.

 

I will try to resolve the Ls50 tweeter response issue by piggy backing some higher quality tin foil 0.1uf value capacitors alongside the existing ones in the crossover circuit and hopefully more detailed and sparkly effect.

 

The used Ls50 price will get lower around $1000-1200 as there have been recent new discount sales of $1500 and some of that batch may pop up used $800 in future. If you get a used one and dont like it you won’t burn much money, sell on.

 

From specs alone the Ls50w has a usable EQed bass response of 45hz vs the Ls50 passive of 70hz quite difference on paper and should be quite audible.

Edited by Al.M
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Once again thank you for your detailed comments you lost me when you started talking about adding capicitors to the crossovers.I have noticed the drivers for sale quite regularly I wonder if you have to purchase a matched pair? I will look for a second hand pair knowing quite a bit now regarding your wise comments.Cheers..???

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I have the LS50 passives and I think the main problem is how KEF priced it - it is basically a KEF Blade without the 4 bass drivers. But sells for a fraction of the Blades. So there's a temptation to partner the LS50s with some cheap amps. Listen to the LS50 with something like the Plinius SA-Reference 100W ClassA or PS Audio BHK Stereo and they sound sublime. Not the best price/partner ratio, granted but this is how I've heard them sound their best. 

 

Which brings me to the LS50 actives. For the life of me, I cannot find a combination of amp/streamer/DAC for $2000 that will do the LS50 passives justice - and sound even remotely as good as the LS50 actives. The Musical Fidelity M6 Encore streamer/DAC/ripper/amplifier was also a good combination that maybe just edges out the LS50W but at 8 grand - is not cheap either. 

 

The downsides - you are limited in connectivity. No coax. No XLR analog inputs and streamer/DAC doesn't support DSD. That said - it is a function of the active digital crossover circuit which can't handle DSD and it would be pointless to use a good analog front end to this when it gets converted to digital again. 

 

The upside - once it got Roon connectivity, streaming has been seamless for me. 

 

One thing I am looking forward to testing the LS50 is with the new Naim Uniti Core - which seems a bargain at just 3 grand. Still more expensive than the LS50W premium over the LS50 passive.

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How about warranty? I believe that passive version comes with 5 year warranty and active version comes with only 1 year. I have not used active speakers before so not sure how reliable electronics stored inside speaker... Are those electronics inside active speakers as reliable as external amp/dac/streamer? 

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46 minutes ago, Electrovoice Interface. said:

Yes All good questions?...Like you say one years as apposed to five ...What is the general warranty on amps and receivers these days one or two. How long is a piece of string   :D

 

Not sure since I personally have not purchased brand new amp. I just googled and it seems that a lot of external amps usually 3 to 5 years once registered with manufacturer. 

 

 

Warranty Period

 Arcam-Two years, extendable to five years on registration with Arcam.co.uk.

Autonomic-Two years.

Ayre-Five years on amplification, two years on disk players and one year on laser mechanisms.

Clearaudio-Five years on turntables and tonearms, one year on cartridges and three years on cleaners, phonostages and other electronics.

DALI-Two years on active components, five years on passive. 

dCS-Three years.

Definitive Technology-Five years on drivers and cabinets, three years on electronics, one year on Definitive Technology W Series and Symphony. 

Goldenear-Five years on drivers and cabinets, three years on electronics.

Gryphon-Five years on preamplifiers and phonostages, three years on integrated amplifiers, two years on power amps and speakers, three years on CD players.

Hegel-Five years on amplification, two years on disc players and one year on laser.

KEF-Five years on passive components and one year on all other products.

Lilin-Three years on Lilin manufactured products and one year on third-party products.

Linn-Five years.

Lyngdorf-Three years.

Mark Levinson-Five years.

MBL-Five years.

Padimount-One year.

Pass Labs-Five year.

Revel-Five year on drivers and cabinets, one year on amplifiers.

TruAudio-Lifetime excluding outdoor and active electronic components which carry a one year warranty.

Videostorm-Two years.

VTL-Two year warranty on components excluding tubes which carry a six month warranty.

Wilson Audio-Five years on speaker components and amplifiers, three years on processors.

 

 

Besides the warranty period, I am not sure how easy to repair components inside speaker against external amp/dac that has openable external chassis.

 

Edited by Spider27
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On 16/05/2018 at 12:50 PM, Electrovoice Interface. said:

DoggieHowser     Re  Naim Uniti Core is this a Naim UnitiServe CD-Ripper and Hard Disk Music Player   Because I have so many Cds i have to purchase a unit to store all my music..if so are they any good 

My bad 

 

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/uniti-atom

 

I meant the Atom. You would use a USB HDD and USB CD ROM to rip CDs. Or get the Nova with the CD player/ripper.

 

Or you can use a USB CD ROM and a NAS I believe to rip CDs. 

 

If you don't need ripping, the Cyrus Lyric is a nice combo too. 

 

 

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