KEF ls50 - Highly Recommended

[xnn3882]

How would these speakers work in a small room close to wall? It's rear ported right?

Is it a good match with Cambridge Azur 851a?

 

[alchemist 1]

I've got mine in a 3m x 4m room, about 300mm away from the rear wall.

No bungs needed, bass solid and tight.

 

[mpapo]

I am really really adoring mine ... I now know at last how a good hifi speaker sounds ... previously ownen dynaudio contour 1.3 MK II and ATC SCM 11, but these little KEF's easily whipe the floor with them

 

[gregvet]

I have to say, all this chatter is really making me want to hear the LS50's. I love my Spendor SA1's but even so, I feel like I am missing out!

Back in reality tho, I prefered the Spendors to the kef R100's when I did back to back demo with my Cyrus 8XPD QX. This has now been upgraded to the Dac XP and X power tho, who knows, that may change things

I feel another demo coming on. I want to try the B&W PM1's too tho, I think that will be an interesting comparison given the price difference!

 

[ErwinC]

I've got mine in a 3m x 4m room, about 300mm away from the rear wall.

No bungs needed, bass solid and tight.

Same here.

 

[Wolf75]

Anyone compared the KEF LS50's with the Dynaudio excite x12's? I have the latter, and I like it a lot, but I would like a bit more detail and transparency, without sacrificing the bass quality. The room is very small, 2X3 m, and I use the Dyns with bungs.

 

[ID.]

OK, particularly as I have class D amplificagtion, I'm intrigued (either that or getting caught up in forum hype...).

Anyone able to give feedback on what these would give me compared to my DB1i? Although I run a sub as well, I'm particularly interested in bass depth, as well as whether the KEFs would be more fetailed and how they differ in the treble.

 

[Frank Harvey]

OK, particularly as I have class D amplificagtion, I'm intrigued (either that or getting caught up in forum hype...).

Anyone able to give feedback on what these would give me compared to my DB1i? Although I run a sub as well, I'm particularly interested in bass depth, as well as whether the KEFs would be more fetailed and how they differ in the treble.

The DB1i's will more than likely have the LS50's beaten on bass depth (not bass presence), but as far as the bass being clean and 'unboxy', the KEF will win. The transparency on offer (across the whole frequency range) from these little boxes is on par with their Reference 201/2's at almost four times the price, which as far as I'm concerned, is unheard of at this price point.

Well, they did get product of the year (against more expensive speaker too )

I feel that Class D amplification highlights their strengths.

 

[ID.]

The transparency on offer (across the whole frequency range) from these little boxes is on par with their Reference 201/2's at almost four times the price, which as far as I'm concerned, is unheard of at this price point.

Well, they did get product of the year (against more expensive speaker too )

I feel that Class D amplification highlights their strengths.

Temptation...I know my local dealer 15 mins away has a paid (probably running off Accuphase rather than anything class d, but...)

 

[recruit]

OK, particularly as I have class D amplificagtion, I'm intrigued (either that or getting caught up in forum hype...).

Anyone able to give feedback on what these would give me compared to my DB1i? Although I run a sub as well, I'm particularly interested in bass depth, as well as whether the KEFs would be more fetailed and how they differ in the treble.

The DB1i's will more than likely have the LS50's beaten on bass depth (not bass presence), but as far as the bass being clean and 'unboxy', the KEF will win. The transparency on offer (across the whole frequency range) from these little boxes is on par with their Reference 201/2's at almost four times the price, which as far as I'm concerned, is unheard of at this price point.

Well, they did get product of the year (against more expensive speaker too )

I feel that Class D amplification highlights their strengths.

I could not agree more the transparency of the speakers is amazing and the sound field they create is truly astonishing for there price point, I just have not heard a speaker priced at this level perform so well!

 

[Ambrose]

OK, particularly as I have class D amplificagtion, I'm intrigued (either that or getting caught up in forum hype...).

Anyone able to give feedback on what these would give me compared to my DB1i? Although I run a sub as well, I'm particularly interested in bass depth, as well as whether the KEFs would be more fetailed and how they differ in the treble.

The DB1i's will more than likely have the LS50's beaten on bass depth (not bass presence), but as far as the bass being clean and 'unboxy', the KEF will win. The transparency on offer (across the whole frequency range) from these little boxes is on par with their Reference 201/2's at almost four times the price, which as far as I'm concerned, is unheard of at this price point.

Well, they did get product of the year (against more expensive speaker too )

I feel that Class D amplification highlights their strengths.

I could not agree more the transparency of the speakers is amazing and the sound field they create is truly astonishing for there price point, I just have not heard a speaker priced at this level perform so well!

Has anyone heard these and Neat Motive 3?

Opinions?

Might have a listen to see what the big deal is :shifty:

 

[ErwinC]

Anyone compared the KEF LS50's with the Dynaudio excite x12's? I have the latter, and I like it a lot, but I would like a bit more detail and transparency, without sacrificing the bass quality. The room is very small, 2X3 m, and I use the Dyns with bungs.

I had the Dynaudio X12 speakers for a week in my setup (and owned the Focus 110) and now own the LS50. IMO, the LS50 is better than the X12 (and Focus 110) in every area and certainly in bass quantity and quality. My LS50 are placed close to the back wall without bungs and the bass is fantastic.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Has anyone heard these and Neat Motive 3?

Opinions?

We've had the Motive range for getting on for a couple of years now, and it hasn't really taken off for us. For such a small speaker (even the floorstanders), they seem to be very space hungry, which I think is at odds with their size, as most people want them for their size. We still have them, and they sound good, but judging by our demo room, I think they'll perform better on a carpetted concrete floor rather than our "500 year old" suspended floor. Obviously the Motive 3's aren't so bad, and are very good standmounts, but they're up against quite a lot of competition at just under £1k.

We've now got the Petite SX and Elite SX in, as that is a more popular price point for us - they're definitely much better performers.

 

[Ambrose]

Has anyone heard these and Neat Motive 3?

Opinions?

We've had the Motive range for getting on for a couple of years now, and it hasn't really taken off for us. For such a small speaker (even the floorstanders), they seem to be very space hungry, which I think is at odds with their size, as most people want them for their size. We still have them, and they sound good, but judging by our demo room, I think they'll perform better on a carpetted concrete floor rather than our "500 year old" suspended floor. Obviously the Motive 3's aren't so bad, and are very good standmounts, but they're up against quite a lot of competition at just under £1k.

We've now got the Petite SX and Elite SX in, as that is a more popular price point for us - they're definitely much better performers.

Thanks David,

The Petite SX are the likely candidate for potential future upgrade although cost a good bit more then LS50's Hence why I was interested to compare LS50 against Motive 3. Also very similar price.

Agreed the Motives need a bit of space and I have on carpeted concrete. On decent stands they are very good indeed. Need careful setup however it seems.

I have a little blutac then stands unique carbon fibre risers between speaker and stand which works wonders for these speakers! As always finding a balance. I'll try and take snaps and post in coming week!

What areas do the SX gain over motives particularly please?

Cheers

Ambrose

 

[Frank Harvey]

The Petite SX are the likely candidate for potential future upgrade although cost a good bit more then LS50's Hence why I was interested to compare LS50 against Motive 3. Also very similar price.

Agreed the Motives need a bit of space and I have on carpeted concrete. On decent stands they are very good indeed. Need careful setup however it seems.

Stands can sometimes make or break a standmounter, especially in certain rooms. It is quite possible you could put a superior speaker on an inferior stand and it'll not sound as good as the inferior speaker on a superior stand - obviously a lot of variables, so not a definitive statement. Obviously you have a good matching amp for them with the Nait 5i.

I have a little blutac then stands unique carbon fibre risers between speaker and stand which works wonders for these speakers! As always finding a balance. I'll try and take snaps and post in coming week!

What areas do the SX gain over motives particularly please?

I have to admit, while I've heard them sounding great on a few systems, they've never really done it for me, probably in the same way that PMC i-Speakers with small drivers never did. I can only put that down to the smaller mid/bass driver not giving me enough of what I want. I tend to prefer speakers with mid/bass drivers at least that of the Elite/Petite (around 5.5" as a general rule) or more. I've always found drivers above 5" far more effortless in their delivery, and produce a more natural sound when it comes to voice or instruments that have a lot of midrange energy. I used to find that with M&K AV speakers years ago too.

 

[Wolf75]

Thank You, ErwinC, I'll give them a try.

 

[alchemist 1]

Nice one

Fwiw, imo i feel that SCM19 monitors are probably the finest VFM passive bookshelf designs currently available on the market regardless of price

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

One of the best stand mounters I've heard regardless of price.

Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!

It appears that this is now fact according too todays whf awards.[ £700 to 1500 bracket] :shifty:

 

[datay]

I have to admit, while I've heard them sounding great on a few systems, they've never really done it for me, probably in the same way that PMC i-Speakers with small drivers never did. I can only put that down to the smaller mid/bass driver not giving me enough of what I want. I tend to prefer speakers with mid/bass drivers at least that of the Elite/Petite (around 5.5" as a general rule) or more. I've always found drivers above 5" far more effortless in their delivery, and produce a more natural sound when it comes to voice or instruments that have a lot of midrange energy. I used to find that with M&K AV speakers years ago too.

Neat Petite SX have a 6.5" driver - the speaker pretty much is the driver!

http://www.neat.co.uk/p_pages/petite.php

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'm just referring generally to drivers of around 5.5" or more

 

[jaxwired]

 

[jaxwired]

Now, keep in mind that I've only had these for a day. So, I find new gear takes awhile to really understand. But, my initial impressions are that this is a small speaker that is competitive with significantly more expensive speakers. The mid range is wonderfully clear yet very natural sounding. These speakers let you hear deep into the recording but they are not harsh or strident. They do not have powerful bass, but the bass is well balanced and still satisfying. The bass is also very clean and sounds very accurate to me. Acoustic stringed instruments sound fabulous.

I played with position quite a bit last night and I found if I got too close to the corners of my room, the bass diid sound boomy, but moved out about 20" they sound great and clean. I also found they worked best with more toe in than I'm used to. I have them pointed almost directly at my chair. These are great speakers for the price. I've heard a lot of speakers and these are very very good.

 

[gregvet]

So might they be keepers then Jax?

 

[jaxwired]

I'll I can say right now is they should be short listed by anyone looking for a small accurate speaker that remains entertaining dispite impressive levels of detail and clairty. Even if your budget is twice what these sell for, they should be on your list.

 

[gregvet]

Given that you have gone from floorstanders known for lots of bass, how are you finding them on that front? I know you said they are accurate, but do you think you would need or want to run a sub with them, or are they ok without?

I run my Spendor SA1's without a sub so clearly am no bass hound, but my OH is always moaining about the lack of bass. If I change speaker it will need to be to somehting with a bit more in this department!

 

[Frank Harvey]

Try listening to No Doubt's Hella Good on them - this track seems to show how solid and powerful the bass can be. It's not the be all and end all of bass tracks, but I was quite surprised how good this sounded on them after being used to how good the track sounded on Reference 4.2's...