KEF LS50 Wireless II - various questions

ChrisK1976

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Dear All,
please let me ask some questions:
- Both the speakers do a electronical scratch (low noise level) while turning on/off and while changing source. Do the speaker work properly?
- The KEF Connect App seems to lose connection with Amazon. Did anybody experience this problem, too?
- Does anybody know if there is a difference in resolution between Amazon on the one and Spotify, Tidal, Deezer on the other hand?
- Does anybody know which resoultion is streamed by Amazon (e.g. if there is a version of a certain song in 24 bit/96 kHz, does Amazon provide this version/resolution)? I chose the AmazonHD- contract on my Windows App) - so Amazon should provide the speakers with the highest resolution available, right?

Thanks for any Idea

Chris
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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Thanks, I watched this vidoe, but unfortunately it is not answering the questions. But a nice introduction though.

i'm not sure if there are any other forum users who have the new kef ls50 w2 (?).
hope somebody can help !
 

RBinDC

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I have the Amazon app on my iPhone. When I search for an artist (eg Dave Grusin) his albums are pulled up. Under each album is a notation, ie, either HD or UHD. You choose the album to play and get the resolution indicated.
 
D

Deleted member 116933

Guest
Dear All,
please let me ask some questions:
- Both the speakers do a electronical scratch (low noise level) while turning on/off and while changing source. Do the speaker work properly?
- The KEF Connect App seems to lose connection with Amazon. Did anybody experience this problem, too?
- Does anybody know if there is a difference in resolution between Amazon on the one and Spotify, Tidal, Deezer on the other hand?
- Does anybody know which resoultion is streamed by Amazon (e.g. if there is a version of a certain song in 24 bit/96 kHz, does Amazon provide this version/resolution)? I chose the AmazonHD- contract on my Windows App) - so Amazon should provide the speakers with the highest resolution available, right?

Thanks for any Idea

Chris


They're a little too new for people to have used them long enough to figure out there quirks, but in general there new ones are supposed to be "better" in everyway in regards to
file handling and sound. Dissappointed to see they have removed the RCA's from the back AND the usb! replacing it with an HDMI which isnt really needed to be honest
no matter how much they spin it. That port will be next to useless in a year with the rate of knots that HDMI updates.

They should never put a moving standard in a device such as this. THOUGH maybe they're thinking of adding a surround capbilities?!

If it were me i wouldn't be in a rush to update in all honesty. regardless or quirks. They're not really offereing much more nothing that connecting a bluesound streamer couldn't solve and for cheaper
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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In what way? I have no opinion on the matter, having never heard them, but clearly you do. I'm presuming you've heard them with your own ears, so care to elaborate?

i was going to do a "care to elaborate ?" but you beat me to it !
 

RBinDC

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I have head them and they sound pretty good to my 83 year old ears (LOL).

But putting that aside,John Darko (and other reviewers) have raved about the sonic quality of the Wireless II system and has emphatically stated that you would have to spend far more on separates to equal this KEF system.
However, there is another active speaker system that sounds substantially better than the Wireless II: the Bucharest A500! But it costs about twice as much.

Adding a good subwoofer (or two) to the KEF system might close the performance gap but it also narrows the price gap.

However, the A500 system also provides for room correction and allows the listener to vary the sonic signature using Buchardt’s software changes to change crossover frequencies, etc.

In his side-by-side comparison Darko stated unequivocally that the A500 was worth the higher price ( about 4000 euros) due to the “malleability” of the sonic signature. He also stated that the A500 system sounded better than all of the speaker/ amp combinations he evaluated in the past year ( maybe longer; I can’t recall his exact words).

So boys and girls, has anyone heard these friggin Bucharests? I’m seriously thinking of giving them a test drive. The manufacturer sells direct to the customer and allow free trials if returned within 45 days. Actually not free but the return charge is less than 100 euros.
 

manicm

Well-known member
They're a little too new for people to have used them long enough to figure out there quirks, but in general there new ones are supposed to be "better" in everyway in regards to
file handling and sound. Dissappointed to see they have removed the RCA's from the back AND the usb! replacing it with an HDMI which isnt really needed to be honest
no matter how much they spin it. That port will be next to useless in a year with the rate of knots that HDMI updates.

They should never put a moving standard in a device such as this. THOUGH maybe they're thinking of adding a surround capbilities?!

If it were me i wouldn't be in a rush to update in all honesty. regardless or quirks. They're not really offereing much more nothing that connecting a bluesound streamer couldn't solve and for cheaper

I strongly disagree about the HDMI, firstly many want to connect their TVs to hifi which is great. And unless you want to go beyond 8k it’s not going to be obsolete.

Secondly TVs from the last 8 years or so no longer have analogue outputs, which then,HDMI apart, leaves you with optical which has its own usability quirks as I experienced with my mum’s Samsung - you can use it’s remote to control the volume but it displays a horrid pop up to remind you you’re using an external amp - every time. It’s excruciating especially when watching YouTube.

Yes the PC USB port is maybe a loss, but really if you’re connecting a PC or laptop you really should be using a NAS instead.
 

Surly Sid

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In what way? I have no opinion on the matter, having never heard them, but clearly you do. I'm presuming you've heard them with your own ears, so care to elaborate?
I auditioned the original KEF LS50 with my brother. He was looking for speakers. We compared them to the Sonus Faber Toy Tower. The Sonus Fabers crushed the LS50 and he bought them. The LS50 sounded okay for their price, nothing more.

The LS50 is the biggest fraud perpetuated on audiophiles in the history if Hifi.
 
D

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I strongly disagree about the HDMI, firstly many want to connect their TVs to hifi which is great. And unless you want to go beyond 8k it’s not going to be obsolete.

Secondly TVs from the last 8 years or so no longer have analogue outputs, which then,HDMI apart, leaves you with optical which has its own usability quirks as I experienced with my mum’s Samsung - you can use it’s remote to control the volume but it displays a horrid pop up to remind you you’re using an external amp - every time. It’s excruciating especially when watching YouTube.

Yes the PC USB port is maybe a loss, but really if you’re connecting a PC or laptop you really should be using a NAS instead.


That's my point its already useless, The kefs aren't carrying a video signal, just sound so it could be 720p and it wouldn't matter, kef HDMI isn't even using half its bandwidth/potential. Not to mention you're now relying on eARC a notoriously temperamental standard (you will defo encounter some quirks with this), and don't say it isn't a problem, head over to Sonos beam and arc tech support pages and its full of handshake problems (threads and threads ) that can't be resolved, the same with many other manufactures since 2008 and still hasn't been ironed out. It would have been better if where an I squared S interface much more forward-thinking. And seeing how 4k standards moved, starting at 1.4 finishing at 2 i suspect in a year or 2 there will be a .1 revision. In a product like this if surround sound isn't being decoded there's NO need for HDMI the optical it still the neater solution. It's wasted real estate on the back.

For the remote problem, It's not a quirk its a limitation, it's a simple fix to reprogram the remote to control the kefs or get a remote that can. I wouldn't buy a pair of speakers or not buy a system just because my TV couldn't control the volume.

RCA are good for more than just tv's eg cd players recorder players. It's a big omission on kefs part for many

If I wanted to connect a NAS id be using the ethernet connection but many other things also connect via USB, streamers and other bits and bobs and many use multi media computers in their setups, mac minis and so on.

hay how different stroke for different strokes but I wouldn't rush out to buy them if I had the originals
 
D

Deleted member 188516

Guest
I auditioned the original KEF LS50 with my brother. He was looking for speakers. We compared them to the Sonus Faber Toy Tower. The Sonus Fabers crushed the LS50 and he bought them. The LS50 sounded okay for their price, nothing more.

The LS50 is the biggest fraud perpetuated on audiophiles in the history if Hifi.

thats fair enough as you auditioned them and were not impressed. i owned the ls50's too and was not impressed.

maybe (in both cases) the rest of the system used (a combination of source, amplifier, cables and room used in) simply matched better to the sonus fabers you tested ?

overall we all like different sound presentations (its the reason for the various different hifi brands being available as they all sound different) anyway hence the only opinion that matters is our own...
 
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manicm

Well-known member
That's my point its already useless, The kefs aren't carrying a video signal, just sound so it could be 720p and it wouldn't matter, kef HDMI isn't even using half its bandwidth/potential. Not to mention you're now relying on eARC a notoriously temperamental standard (you will defo encounter some quirks with this), and don't say it isn't a problem, head over to Sonos beam and arc tech support pages and its full of handshake problems (threads and threads ) that can't be resolved, the same with many other manufactures since 2008 and still hasn't been ironed out. It would have been better if where an I squared S interface much more forward-thinking. And seeing how 4k standards moved, starting at 1.4 finishing at 2 i suspect in a year or 2 there will be a .1 revision. In a product like this if surround sound isn't being decoded there's NO need for HDMI the optical it still the neater solution. It's wasted real estate on the back.

For the remote problem, It's not a quirk its a limitation, it's a simple fix to reprogram the remote to control the kefs or get a remote that can. I wouldn't buy a pair of speakers or not buy a system just because my TV couldn't control the volume.

RCA are good for more than just tv's eg cd players recorder players. It's a big omission on kefs part for many

If I wanted to connect a NAS id be using the ethernet connection but many other things also connect via USB, streamers and other bits and bobs and many use multi media computers in their setups, mac minis and so on.

hay how different stroke for different strokes but I wouldn't rush out to buy them if I had the originals

I have no idea what you're talking about.
 
I auditioned the original KEF LS50 with my brother. He was looking for speakers. We compared them to the Sonus Faber Toy Tower. The Sonus Fabers crushed the LS50 and he bought them. The LS50 sounded okay for their price, nothing more.

The LS50 is the biggest fraud perpetuated on audiophiles in the history if Hifi.
I’m not entirely surprised that a renowned Italian floor standing speaker outperformed a bookshelf mini monitor.

How much more were the Sonus Fabers?
 

Surly Sid

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I’m not entirely surprised that a renowned Italian floor standing speaker outperformed a bookshelf mini monitor.

How much more were the Sonus Fabers?
The Kefs were 1700$ and the Sonus Fabers 2300$ Canadian. But, according to What Hifi and Stereophile, the LS50s were supposed to be giant killers. Stereophile has the LS50 in Class A along with speakers that cost 70 000$.
They are not giant killers! They sound decent for their price and nothing more.
 

TheJoker

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I’ve got the W2’s and they are better than my previous Tucana 2 / chord hugoTT and LS50 originals At a third of the price and that speaks volumes.
HDMI does have its issues, currently not working with my LG OLED and waiting for a software update to correct it.
for the best sound (ATM) I use TIDAL Connect, unfortunately ROON is dragging its heals and still not ROON compliant which is a pain in the arse but with Tidal upping there game with connect its not all lost.
some updates with the app regarding file play back resolution would be nice along with some more features, still early days and I have only had the speakers for a month but without doubt these will be very very popular.
 
The hyperbole is Stereophile putting the LS50 in Class A along with speakers many multiples of the LS50's price.
I'd still argue that one review hardly constitutes 'the greatest fraud in hifi history', or however you actually worded it. WHF certainly doesn't make the suggestion in the awards issue that it betters things costing many times the price.
 

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