Had a listen to the LS50s today...

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megatombomb

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Jan 20, 2013
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I too have spent some time in a demo room today with three sets of speakers inc the LS50! I am currently running a Marantz 603 with MA Bx2's which arent doing the business on the bass which is very boomy and boxy sounding instead of smooth and rich, although i am running them flush to sidewalls and 5 inches from rear so they havent much room to play in. The what hifi review said positioning wasnt an issue with these speakers but i speak from extensive experience that that statement is utter bollocks.

I have played the BX in the middle of my 6x6m room on the carpet on the floor and layed down in front of them they actually sound really quite good for £250! But i cant be lying down on my worn out 30 year old back all the time and tripping over my speakers so i spent a bit of time listening to the following at the dealer and put them all in a similar position to how my BX2s are set up in my home which was essential to get an idea of their tonal balance under such circumstances. They are listed in order of how i played them....

1st up MA Silver RX2 - First off the Bass from the 8inch woofer is fantastic much deeper than the 6.5 on the BX2 and the highs are better sounding slightly brighter but more natural which is more important.

2nd up Kef R100 - Again astonished how such a small speaker (considerably smaller than BX2 let alone the comparatively massive RX2) can produce almost the same bass extension as the Rx2. Tonally it sounded almost the same as the MA not over bright at all but detailed at the same time. I did notice abit of bass bloom but less than my BX2 but not as smooth or quite as extended as the RX2's. The biggest negative of these was It actually made me think the Marantz unit is actually much better than what you would expect of a £350 all in one system and spending more on speakers is not a diminishing return so with that in mind...

3rd and finally tried KEF LS50, a speaker so highly regarded and talked about i couldnt wait hear them and find out what the big deal was about. Certainly they had the most detail extraction and again tonally slightly brighter than the other two but seemingly not fatiguing. It certainly created a more 3d soundstage compared to the others which i liked and hearing individual notes was easier too - there was more 'air' around the instruments so to speak. However this speaker has one major flaw - a lack of bass extension - and sadly an absolute deal breaker for me! In every respect but for bass i thought this was the best speaker. Just to be sure it wasnt the marantz driving them we attached them to a Roksan K2 kandy amp which offers alot more power and current than the M603 and although the sound was better still the bass was again reticent.

I guess i cant fully understand the fuss with the LS50 really? I would much rather listen to speakers that do Bass, Mid and Treble all very nicely rather than one that excells at Mid and Treble then has little bass impact to speak of its like only properly hearing two thirds of what the artists put on record?! Certainly a good little 8 in sub would even this out but the overall cost is getting out of hand then and in my experience subs dont sound good over 120 hz and are a pain to integrate for purist 2 channel sound.

I think i am probably going to get a pair of RX2s after the demo i was blown away by the full range of their sound. They are also the cheapest of the three by a margin (when considering so many ex-demo ones online) yet perversely despite their lower price at least in the rosewood veneer they were arguably the best finished too.

Thanks for reading guys i hope i havent offended LS50 owners i didnt want to troll and i am no MA fanboy as you can read from my BX2 disappointments.
 

alchemist 1

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Mar 28, 2012
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FrankHarveyHiFi said:
The R100's impedance still drops a little low, but they are easier to drive, and are more forgiving of accompanying amplification.

Having had the atc11's which have the same sensttivity as the ls50's, I find the kefs much

easier to drive.

The dial needs only to be at 9 o'clock or just past that mark to obtain very decent volume.
 

Frank Harvey

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Jun 27, 2008
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Well, I have been trying to get that point across, but I'm usually classed as a liar (indirectly). This is why I won't recommend the entry level SCM range to just anybody - they need good enough amplification.
 

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