Hi all,
So i am considering getting a pair of KEF LS50 wired speakers to upgrade my 15 year old budget Wharfedale Diamond. They will sit on generous bookshelves (clear space to the sides and above). My amp is a Cambridge Audio Azure 540A.
Question no1 - if i don't change my amp, should i still notice a signifcant upgrade in sound quality
Question no2 - if opinion is that my current amp will let these speakers down significantly, what amp should i look for below £500 (and preferably around £300)? (happy to purchase 2nd hand)
thanks, BC
Im not going to beat around the bush, Kef Ls50 require power and current to get the best out of them you'll be disappointed and they will end on ebay along with the rest of them. The kefs would not be out of place with a 2k amp (if not more) on the end of them. ls50s have an affordable price but there performance is certainly very high end.
Buying the best speakers you can afford advice is inherently flawed especially if you have no intention to buy amplifier to drive that said speaker in the future, which you don't seem to have. You need to re-allocate your budget i think
Even "budget" speakers can sound absolutely fantastic when driven properly. And I certainly wouldn't recommend ATC as mention above they're even more difficult to drive then the kefs. And being a sealed design does not guarantee good close wall performance, infact far from it in my experience.
It sounds like you have a budget of around 1k for amp and speakers.
And you need to place them shelves though not optimal will probably sound fine especially if you buy some speakers that are little more bass light and pay attention to how you place them eg a little blue tak will help or up turned squash balls cut in half (a little messy but do the trick)
Best advice i can give is buy the amp and speaker together if you can.
Speakers
If you like kef, look at the Q series, something like the q150, these will still be many leagues ahead of your current speakers. Or have a look at some q acoustics. great places to start!
Amp
You haven't noted weather want streaming capabilities are not so ill give a more modern option and more classic option.
People think Rotel go well with B&W and they do and might be anvenue you look at, but Kef do extremely well with Rotel too. Gives a really clean and dynamic sound. I think the A11 tribute wouldn't be a bad shout and good place to start.
if you went with q acoustics (3020i) this would open the budget up a little for the a Bluesound powernode 2i great little system with all the modern bells and whistles.
But having said that and you want to go with the Kef ls50 you're going to need to save a little longer to avoid disappointment.
Have a lovely week end.