Just picked up the Awards issue - who knows who got the readers award product? Apart from me?

[jjbomber]

Atom. Well they couldn’t give it to the LS50 Wireless could they, not after winning best all-in-one AND getting into the hall of fame...

... not with Gazzip on the voting panel. I voted for the Oppo but that would have gone against the Sony award for ''best blu ray player that only works now and again''. Did anyone win an award that they actually deserved?

 

[davidf]

... not with Gazzip on the voting panel. I voted for the Oppo but that would have gone against the Sony award for ''best blu ray player that only works now and again''. Did anyone win an award that they actually deserved?

Bluesound. Well it was either that or Sonos.

 

[plastic penguin]

(Drums fingers on chin)

 

[nopiano]

Was rather hoping my copy would be delivered today but no such luck.

Am slightly puzzled on the future direction of the mag with almost all content given away on the website, but not much advertising and few suppliers linking to each product. I realise online is the future, but subs would have been a good source of dependable income once.

 

[Gazzip]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

 

[jjbomber]

Was rather hoping my copy would be delivered today but no such luck.

... and the prize for the slowest delivery of an awards magazine goes to ...

No sign of mine either. They promised exclusives for subscribers, so maybe slow service is one of them. The only one infact.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

they did the same with the Sony X800 blu-ray player give it best blu-ray player award and it beat the Oppo 203 And the Oppo is the best player on the market at the moment . But the Sony has got so many issues with software bugs to the point were you have to pull the plug to unfreeze the player I ended up taking mine back before I got stuck with it .

and there plenty of forums around the internet were people have changed there X800s 2 or 3 times and look on the Sony website your see for your self how did it win ?

 

[Romulus]

Every year I am interested in the WHF Awards (even though the range of HiFi brands involved are little limited) but I do look forward to the yearly HIFI News Ultimate HiFi reviews and the HiFI Choice yearly reviews (which comes out sometime in January) simply because of the more comprehensive choice of brands from modest end to High end audio and yes pre amps and power amps and both together are reviewed which are beginning to vanish in WHF issues.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

id love to hear your systems gazip. Looks like best of the bunch.

 

[radiorog]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

Does seem a bit weird. An all in one system that's no capable of playing music the way it's supposed to be heard sometimes, ie:without gaps, is a ludicrous omission.

 

[Al ears]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

Does seem a bit weird. An all in one system that's no capable of playing music the way it's supposed to be heard sometimes, ie:without gaps, is a ludicrous omission.

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

 

[davidf]

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

 

[Gazzip]

Well I never...

“The KEF LS50 Wireless all-in-one streaming system pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of picking up two POYs on its own, taking home Awards for both the best hi-fi system and our new Hall of Fame category.”.

An all in one streaming system that patently isn’t capable of gapless streaming wins system of the year. A wireless system which requires an ethernet cable so isn’t wireless no less! Well done WHF! You have completely sold out.

Does seem a bit weird. An all in one system that's no capable of playing music the way it's supposed to be heard sometimes, ie:without gaps, is a ludicrous omission.

It gets even weirder when you read what WHF say about the LS50W's in the "Hall of Fame"...

"This year, we’ve introduced a Hall of Fame for products that are instant classics and exemplary in their field. The first Hall of Fame honour goes to the KEF LS50 Wireless – a superb product that seamlessly blends traditional hi-fi values and modern streaming features into one glorious package."

Whoever wrote that doesn't have a clue what "modern streaming features" are.

I bought a kettle made by Bosch a few years ago, purely on the strength of its looks and a Which Magazine review which gave it a best kettle award. If you tried to pour water out of it too soon after it had boiled it would spit a plume of scoulding liquid about a foot past the mug. Too much pressure for too small a spout I suspect, and extremely dangerous to boot. It also made a loud beeping sound whenever it was turned on and also when it boiled. Just what you want first thing in the morning or last thing at night when the house is silent and the kids are soundly sleeping. I doubt whether the Which magazine reviewer of that product had ever even switched it on. Hopefully it is clear what I am saying...

 

[Gazzip]

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

...just not gaplessly, so it won't stream classical music, opera or dj mixes very well at all.

 

[insider9]

 

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

...just not gaplessly, so it won't stream classical music, opera or dj mixes very well at all.

Is it only Tidal that suggest from lack of gapless or all of the services? (not including Bluetooth)

 

[Gazzip]

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

...just not gaplessly, so it won't stream classical music, opera or dj mixes very well at all.

Is it only Tidal that suggest from lack of gapless or all of the services? (not including Bluetooth)

The DLNA network player will not play gaplessly.

 

[davidf]

Currently...

 

[Gazzip]

Currently...

*biggrin*

 

[spiny norman]

Currently...

Yes, but you can't give a product an award based on what it might possibly do at some point in the future, can you?

 

[Gazzip]

Currently...

Yes, but you can't give a product an award based on what it might possibly do at some point in the future, can you?

Apparently you can.

 

[insider9]

 

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

...just not gaplessly, so it won't stream classical music, opera or dj mixes very well at all.

Is it only Tidal that suggest from lack of gapless or all of the services? (not including Bluetooth)

The DLNA network player will not play gaplessly.

That's shocking! Gets 1 star docked for me instantly and out of the running for any awards. You can't overlook flaws in basic functionality however good it may sound (I know this is also debatable).

For instance Yamaha WXC-50 won't do Tidal gapless but other playback including Tidal via UPnp is fine. Not great so would go in the Against on the review, should there was one.

 

[MajorFubar]

Shelving its software quirks for a second (not that they should be ignored), what can we read into the fact WHF have finally given an active pair of speakers an award? Is this a sign that actives are finally making some headway in terms of market acceptance? Not too long ago hifi dealers said they couldn't generate any interst in actives because they didn't fit the source->amp(s)->speaker mindset that consumers expected to see in a hifi shop.

 

[Gazzip]

I fail to see how it's a hifi system as well, don't they require a source of some sort?

TIDAL, Spotify, internet radio and Bluetooth count as sources. Hi-Fi systems have inputs too, as these do, and they'll stream anything on your network.

...just not gaplessly, so it won't stream classical music, opera or dj mixes very well at all.

Is it only Tidal that suggest from lack of gapless or all of the services? (not including Bluetooth)

The DLNA network player will not play gaplessly.

That's shocking! Gets 1 star docked for me instantly and out of the running for any awards. You can't overlook flaws in basic functionality however good it may sound (I know this is also debatable).

For instance Yamaha WXC-50 won't do Tidal gapless but other playback including Tidal via UPnp is fine. Not great so would go in the Against on the review, should there was one.

What I find most galling is that the LS50W has won best system. Best loudspeaker would have been fair enough, although the sound was not to my own personal tastes I would have accepted them winning that accolade. ...but best system should mean that it has been tested as a system. Anybody spending more than an hour with the LS50W's would have picked up the non-gapless network player... and the distorted first few seconds of every single track being played through their DLNA network player BTW. I can only surmise that the LS50W's have not been properly tested as a system by the WHF team, so why the award? It totally stinks.

 

[jjbomber]

I bought a kettle made by Bosch a few years ago, purely on the strength of its looks and a Which Magazine review which gave it a best kettle award.

Hopefully it is clear what I am saying...

What you are saying is that the cable came free with the kettle and you should have spent an extra £199 on the Russ Andrews super power kettle lead. You want a thread on cables!

Or you could be saying that the kettle needs to be banded with the exploding phone and non-streamer awards category, sponsored by Andy Murray. Just imagine the excitement as they open up the envelopes.

 

[davidf]

... and the distorted first few seconds of every single track being played through their DLNA network player BTW.

Gone.