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Gazzip

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Jan 15, 2011
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Okay so the LS50W’s are now in my second system...hmmm...they actually are my second system. I am using a Teac PD-301DAB as a CD and DAB source in to the built in LS50W’s onboard DAC via optical. I am also using the LS50’s network player. That’s it!

First the bad. Nothing you won’t have read before. The network player is shite. I mean properly shite. Doesn’t do gapless play which means it breaks up/distorts the start of all songs, even when played sequentially from the same album. It is also prone to losing the speakers occasionally. This might all be fixed by a firmware update, which I haven’t done yet and herein lies the secondary shite, the firmware update cannot be done via the app. You need a pc or a mac to do it! Please somebody correct me if this is wrong and I am missing something, but how 2005 is that! Complaints about the unresponsive remote also seem fair, as does the frustration of having no forward facing display - what source am I selecting? What level is the volume at before I press play and kill the cat? Very frustrating and not great product design.

Now the good. They sound absolutely amazing. When I powered them up for the first time I must have been standing right in their sweet spot because no sound came out of the speakers at all, it emminated from a large and crystal clear soundstage between/behind/to the side of them. A proper hairs on the back of the neck moment. Bass is surprisingly deep for their diminutive size, although a tiny bit “small-box-rear-porty”, but not enough to annoy and only really noticeable because I am coming straight from closed box EB2’s in this room. Mids beggar belief given that there is no dedicated midrange driver, and vocals render realistically without any raspy harshness and are crystal clear and perfectly integrated. Highs are sweet without any siblance or tendency towards listening fatigue. I am seriously impressed!

I am sitting them on a pair of Auralex Acoustic bases on a small cabinet about 10cm from the rear wall and the onboard DSP/EQ seems to have dealt with that very well, albeit that there is no measurement facility so the tool is inherently a little blunt. TBH I feel a little guilty about treating them so badly having heard them in my room. They deserve good stands and proper placement, but nice to know that they can uncompromise themselves to a certain degree by using the DSP/EQ.

Setup was very, very easy. 5 minutes and I had music. 7 minutes and I had them dialled in, connected to my server and streaming my music. Impressive stuff. Also it needs to be said that their build quality is immaculate and of the highest order. I would prefer a grille, or perhaps a simple black driver (I have blue drivers and gloss black cabinets), but that’s just down to taste.

10/10 for the physical product - we’ll done kef! 2/10 for the app and firmware, which they MUST have known was not up to muster on release, although as above this is fixable. IMHO these are an absolute fecking bargain at £2K when you consider what you are actually getting (speakers, pre-amp with analogue/digital inputs, mono amps, DAC, streamer). Buy some!
 

CnoEvil

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Aug 21, 2009
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Gazzip said:
Thanks Cno. I “grew up” with Kef and had always liked the sound until I heard the Blades a couple of years ago, which I found to be extremely hard in their presentation. They put me off...until now.

Then something was off.

The Refs are like the LS50s, only better....and the Blades are like the Refs, only better. It is easy to hear the shared DNA....it's just that they get fussier with partnering equipment as the price goes up.
 

Gazzip

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Jan 15, 2011
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CnoEvil said:
Gazzip said:
Thanks Cno. I “grew up” with Kef and had always liked the sound until I heard the Blades a couple of years ago, which I found to be extremely hard in their presentation. They put me off...until now.

Then something was off.

The Refs are like the LS50s, only better....and the Blades are like the Refs, only better. It is easy to hear the shared DNA....it's just that they get fussier with partnering equipment as the price goes up.

When my dealer (who demoed the “harsh” Blades to me) dropped off the LS50W’s this afternoon we had the same conversation. He told me that he had messed up the Blades demo...
 

Andrewjvt

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Jun 18, 2014
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Gazzip said:
CnoEvil said:
Gazzip said:
Thanks Cno. I “grew up” with Kef and had always liked the sound until I heard the Blades a couple of years ago, which I found to be extremely hard in their presentation. They put me off...until now.

 

Then something was off. 

The Refs are like the LS50s, only better....and the Blades are like the Refs, only better. It is easy to hear the shared DNA....it's just that they get fussier with partnering equipment as the price goes up.

 

When my dealer (who demoed the “harsh” Blades to me) dropped off the LS50W’s this afternoon we had the same conversation. He told me that he had messed up the Blades demo...

Blades v PMC home demo bake off

And I know off someone with a 2nd hand set of blades possibly for sale.
Just saying
 

grimharry

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Aug 2, 2015
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I’ve been following the active threads for a while but I’ve been really happy with my speakers. Seems that the makers are working on actives damn them.
 

rainsoothe

Well-known member
davedotco said:
I have always considered the A5x to be close to the maximum size for desktop use, heaven knows how you managed with the massive HS80. Whenever I have tried them or the larger A7x, they have always been on stands and behaved impeccably.

Given that the A5x boom and the big Yamahas did not, you must be exciting a resonance somewhere, have you tried giving a bit of cut on the low shelf control? Otherwise it is down to placement, trial and error I'm afraid.

One thing to check is that you are not getting reflections from the desktop, bring the A5xs forward towards the front edge of the desk, sit a little further back (just to try) and see what happens. This can be an issue, even my tiny 4 inch Seiwins needed stands and a bit of care with positioning.

Thanks, will do. In all honesty, the Yammies were not both on the desk (the one in the corner was, but the other one was 30cm lower, near the desk, on some piece of furniture. I'm sure it's reflections coming from the desk. Stands arrived yesterday, and it's much better, but bass still seems tense and relentless
 

Gazzip

Well-known member
Jan 15, 2011
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Andrewjvt said:
Gazzip said:
CnoEvil said:
Gazzip said:
Thanks Cno. I “grew up” with Kef and had always liked the sound until I heard the Blades a couple of years ago, which I found to be extremely hard in their presentation. They put me off...until now.

Then something was off.

The Refs are like the LS50s, only better....and the Blades are like the Refs, only better. It is easy to hear the shared DNA....it's just that they get fussier with partnering equipment as the price goes up.

When my dealer (who demoed the “harsh” Blades to me) dropped off the LS50W’s this afternoon we had the same conversation. He told me that he had messed up the Blades demo...

Blades v PMC home demo bake off

And I know off someone with a 2nd hand set of blades possibly for sale. Just saying

They aren’t a Saphire Blue pair belonging to a Birmingham City fan are they? I would love to accommodate such a bake-off but fear that my listening room wouldn’t do the Blades justice. They need 1m minimum clear either side to allow their side-firing drivers room to breathe. I could just about squeeze them in on that basis but it would be far from ideal. That’s the beauty of most PMC’s including their larger monitors - they forward vent and are therefore at home in most environments.
 

rainsoothe

Well-known member
gasolin said:
Have had the HS8 on my little desk, they are big, but boy do they play loud and have alot of bass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b87rjaabrGE

For there size the krk rokit powered 5 g3 have alot of bass

Didn't like any of the adams i have tried f5 (to dark sound,balance of the tweeter is mish matched), a5x (laking a bit midrange,not bassy)

Eve audio's speakers sounds good to me,about the same price as adam, the mid sized speakers are good 5" and up if you like to play loud. The 7" (sc 205) is properly the best compromise 106 db down to 44hz (sc208 considerable louder)

Each 479£, 698£ for the sc 208 they are also much louder

https://www.thomann.de/gb/eve_audio_sc207.htm

Thanks to you and Pedro as well, btw - sorry, I was strapped for time. I read about Eve, but reports say they sound a bit soft, and I like punchy. Also, I dont listen too loud, so party-levels is not why I liked the Yamahs, but I do like mid-range forward sound I guess, which the Yamahas have.

OP, sorry for the derail, by the way. To keep the appearance of still being useful, I'm gonna say again that the Dynaudio LYD 8 sounded very balanced to me, but the demo room (while small) was pretty padded with foam panels and bass traps (Auralex) which of course helped.
 

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