Kef R100 v LS50s v R300

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
Out of these Kefs which would be best for low to moderate listening levels, amp. will proably be the Creek A50. I have heard the LS50s and did not think they were good at low levels. Room is 5m x 3.5. Music is mainly Jazz (50s), Classic rock(70s) and singer-song writers. A lot of bass is not required. Just want room filling sound at low level.

Or would I be better off with the Epos Epic 2s?
 

ErwinC

New member
Nov 24, 2009
53
0
0
Visit site
BigH said:
Out of these Kefs which would be best for low to moderate listening levels, amp. will proably be the Creek A50. I have heard the LS50s and did not think they were good at low levels. Room is 5m x 3.5. Music is mainly Jazz (50s), Classic rock(70s) and singer-song writers. A lot of bass is not required. Just want room filling sound at low level.

Or would I be better off with the Epos Epic 2s?

The LS50 also sound good at low levels ime.
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
ErwinC said:
The LS50 also sound good at low levels ime.

Well they did not in my my demo, felt I had to turn the volume upto about 11 to get them going and that was on a MF M3i and Audiolab 8200A amps. At lower volume the sound just seem distant, no soundstage etc.
 

GSB

New member
Mar 27, 2011
282
0
0
Visit site
I love my R100's:)

The amp iv'e added has proved just what these little buggers are capable of!My listening area is relatively small and it is effortlessly filled with sound.

I have never heard the R300's as they were too big for positioning,but i am told they go very low in reaching for the bass,but tbh a totaly different speaker,as is the LS50.
 

JohnKK

New member
Mar 12, 2012
23
0
0
Visit site
You will have to listen them for yourself, that is the only way.

All feedback that you will get is that everybody will more or less recommend speakers that they have as they were is similar situation as you are now and they made their pick . ;)

I have R100 and can recommend them. I heard R300 and they are excellent, BUT they need very strong stands and as they are 35cm deep and they need 35-50cm from the back wall, so they will be at least 70-80cm from back wall into your living/listening room.

So if you can place them correctly I think that you will be very satisfied.

LS50 I didn't heard and still cannot go pass their cone color. ;)
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
Thanks John, 70-80cms is to far out will have to be 50cms at most current speakers are 45cms out from wall. I think the R300s will be too large then.

Anyone heard the Epos 2s or AE 301s?

Going for a demo on Saturday for Creek A50 amp but they only have Epos 5s and no Kefs, demoing gear is a nightmare round here.
 

kmlav

New member
Jun 28, 2009
36
0
0
Visit site
I have 300's and I don't agree that they need to be really far from the wall. 30 to 40 Cms is fine. You do need good stands on spikes filled with sand to get the best out of them. I have wooden floors with a cavity bellow so have placed them on paving slabs to further isolate them, the slabs were free cosmetic seconds and compared to some of my other upgrades (cables etc) have probably made the biggest improvement to the system.

a lot of my listening is at low levels and I think the 300's perform admirably especially on vocal / acoustic music.
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
kmlav said:
I have 300's and I don't agree that they need to be really far from the wall. 30 to 40 Cms is fine. You do need good stands on spikes filled with sand to get the best out of them. I have wooden floors with a cavity bellow so have placed them on paving slabs to further isolate them, the slabs were free cosmetic seconds and compared to some of my other upgrades (cables etc) have probably made the biggest improvement to the system.

a lot of my listening is at low levels and I think the 300's perform admirably especially on vocal / acoustic music.

Yes but 30-40cms would make them about 70cms in all, which is too much for my room.
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
BenLaw said:
So if you went to Rayleigh hifi you could compare kef, focal, neat, rega, ruark and totem then head to istereos and listen to atc!

They don't do KEFs and they don't do Audiolab or Musical Fid. Yes I tried Rega and B&Ws there but their demo room was out of action so a bit of waste of time. The only Ruark they do is a all-in-one system. I think the Totems are too expensive for me. Neats maybe but heard some bad things about them.
 

The_Lhc

Well-known member
Oct 16, 2008
1,176
1
19,195
Visit site
BigH said:
BenLaw said:
So if you went to Rayleigh hifi you could compare kef, focal, neat, rega, ruark and totem then head to istereos and listen to atc!

They don't do KEFs

That's odd, I bought my KEFs from them. That was 13-odd years ago mind and I think they've changed the focus of their main store in Rayleigh over the last few years. It's still a bit of a stretch to say it's a nightmare to demo gear in Essex, I never had a problem when I lived there, certainly easier than Devon!
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
The only KEFs they do are a 5.1 system. When asked if they had Kefs they said they did not rate them they are boxy.

I also heard the Arcam A19 amp there.
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
altruistic.lemon said:
What bad things did you hear about Neat? Curious to know - I have some reservations about some models, others are brilliant.

I read that the drivers are cheap, like $20 ones that bottom out at high volume and are in cabinets that are too large for them, that was on the Motive 2s. He did not have the same problem with Totems.
 

vaj

New member
Apr 17, 2013
2
0
0
Visit site
The ls50 is consider a little bit hard to drive. Try roksan caspian m2 or atc sia2 and maybe u will find it better in low volume level :)
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
vaj said:
The ls50 is consider a little bit hard to drive. Try roksan caspian m2 or atc sia2 and maybe u will find it better in low volume level :)

Thanks but I don't want to spend more than £700 on an amp. Also volume would still be too loud.
 

vaj

New member
Apr 17, 2013
2
0
0
Visit site
BigH said:
vaj said:
The ls50 is consider a little bit hard to drive. Try roksan caspian m2 or atc sia2 and maybe u will find it better in low volume level :)

Thanks but I don't want to spend more than £700 on an amp. Also volume would still be too loud.

Just my personal opinion, many highly regarded standmount speakers are consider not easy to drive by £700 amp at low volume level. But you can try these 3 speakers first, Q Acoustics 2020i, Concept 20 and B&W 685. Or try consider some floormount?
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
vaj said:
BigH said:
vaj said:
The ls50 is consider a little bit hard to drive. Try roksan caspian m2 or atc sia2 and maybe u will find it better in low volume level :)

Thanks but I don't want to spend more than £700 on an amp. Also volume would still be too loud.

Just my personal opinion, many highly regarded standmount speakers are consider not easy to drive by £700 amp at low volume level. But you can try these 3 speakers first, Q Acoustics 2020i, Concept 20 and B&W 685. Or try consider some floormount?

Well I don't have any problem with my current set up but many modern speakers do seem harder to drive. Not sure about those speakers they do look a bit small/cheap, how about the AE 301s or Epos Epic 2s? FM are too big for my room.
 

vaj

New member
Apr 17, 2013
2
0
0
Visit site
BigH said:
Well I don't have any problem with my current set up but many modern speakers do seem harder to drive. Not sure about those speakers they do look a bit small/cheap, how about the AE 301s or Epos Epic 2s? FM are too big for my room.

Never tried those 2 brands before. You can audition those 3 speakers first and see. Last time when i tried out with roksan k2, they sound not bad. You can also try out monitor audio rx1 8)
 

BigH

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2012
115
7
18,595
Visit site
BenLaw said:
What is your current setup and what do you not like about it?

Current set up is: Marantz 63SE cdp, Arcam Alpha 3 amp and Mission 780SE speakers. Its about 20 years old. What I don't like is tiss from tweeters on some recordings and boomy bass sometimes.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts