Would the KEF LS50 Speakers Be a Let Down?

joeinid

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2011
1,543
12
400
NY
Frantz

Make sure you wear Depens when you listen because you might need them because they are that good. I bet Mark will love his.

Ha!

I had a friend selling a pair for 50% off. He hated them and talked me out of buying them. He said you will not like them so I sheepishly went along. If I was local to him I would have heard them. I should have had him ship them to me and let me decide. Darn it.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Ha!

I had a friend selling a pair for 50% off. He hated them and talked me out of buying them. He said you will not like them so I sheepishly went along. If I was local to him I would have heard them. I should have had him ship them to me and let me decide. Darn it.

I guess that all of us who heard it must have been deceived.
 

joeinid

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2011
1,543
12
400
NY
I guess that all of us who heard it must have been deceived.

That's what's so funny. I am sure the speakers are really good and I now want a pair. I am reading about a lot of people loving them so I am confident they are awesome little performers.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
That's what's so funny. I am sure the speakers are really good and I now want a pair. I am reading about a lot of people loving them so I am confident they are awesome little performers.
you would be hard pressed to find anything similar for $1500
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
My pair is supposed to be here tomorrow. Frantz-this should be interesting to see what our reactions are. I don't know the dimensions to your room, but I have published mine numerous times. I'm trying to decide if I should wait to break them out of the box after the custom built Sound Anchor stands arrive or just go ahead and use the Paradigm stands I have until the Sound Anchor Stands arrive which is at least 3 weeks out. I'm thinking about setting them up and letting them run 24/7 until the new stands arrive and that way they will be fully broken in when the stands arrive. I can't let them run 24/7 with my KSA-250 though because that would add to global warming and my electric bill so I would have to plug in my trusty pair of Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps and let them run non-stop.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
Jeff at Tone loves them too.

Has anyone seen a bad review or show writeup? I haven't. Everybody seems to be left shaking their head at how good the damn things are. Time will tell.
 

taters

New Member
Jun 6, 2012
301
0
0
Ha!

I had a friend selling a pair for 50% off. He hated them and talked me out of buying them. He said you will not like them so I sheepishly went along. If I was local to him I would have heard them. I should have had him ship them to me and let me decide. Darn it.

I'd be curious to know what speakers sound good to your friend?
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
29
405
My pair is supposed to be here tomorrow. Frantz-this should be interesting to see what our reactions are. I don't know the dimensions to your room, but I have published mine numerous times. I'm trying to decide if I should wait to break them out of the box after the custom built Sound Anchor stands arrive or just go ahead and use the Paradigm stands I have until the Sound Anchor Stands arrive which is at least 3 weeks out. I'm thinking about setting them up and letting them run 24/7 until the new stands arrive and that way they will be fully broken in when the stands arrive. I can't let them run 24/7 with my KSA-250 though because that would add to global warming and my electric bill so I would have to plug in my trusty pair of Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps and let them run non-stop.

Mep

Room is about 14 x 18 x 9. If they are half as good as the writeups, they will remain as ht speakers ...
I will from that point on carefully listen to the Kef Blades, they deserve consideration. My sights are on the Kef Blades and Magico Q3 for the inevitable and hopefully soon upgrade. For the here and now ..I will try to extract the best from the LS50 plus subs a la Geddes
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
Mep

Room is about 14 x 18 x 9. If they are half as good as the writeups, they will remain as ht speakers ...
I will from that point on carefully listen to the Kef Blades, they deserve consideration. My sights are on the Kef Blades and Magico Q3 for the inevitable and hopefully soon upgrade. For the here and now ..I will try to extract the best from the LS50 plus subs a la Geddes

Frantz-Your room isn't much smaller than mine so our results should be fairly similar. What are you going to use for stands and how tall will they be?
 

Peter Breuninger

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Jul 20, 2010
1,231
4
0
Frantz,

I was not sure about the KEF Blade until I heard a pair at a seminar at HiFi Concepts in Munich last month. Audionet had teamed with KEF to put on a great seminar. You can hear the magic of the Blade if you listen with headphones. And... yes, yes I know the trick editing is not working for every viewer (I thought it was cool). This was my seventh and best KEF Blade system audition.




Mep

Room is about 14 x 18 x 9. If they are half as good as the writeups, they will remain as ht speakers ...
I will from that point on carefully listen to the Kef Blades, they deserve consideration. My sights are on the Kef Blades and Magico Q3 for the inevitable and hopefully soon upgrade. For the here and now ..I will try to extract the best from the LS50 plus subs a la Geddes
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Mep

Room is about 14 x 18 x 9. If they are half as good as the writeups, they will remain as ht speakers ...
I will from that point on carefully listen to the Kef Blades, they deserve consideration. My sights are on the Kef Blades and Magico Q3 for the inevitable and hopefully soon upgrade. For the here and now ..I will try to extract the best from the LS50 plus subs a la Geddes

IMO Frantz, using them for HT would be such a waste as they are too good not to be used in your audio setup
 

Peter Breuninger

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Jul 20, 2010
1,231
4
0
+1 with Steve here. He (Steve) has a super system and loves the little KEF, now that's saying something.

IMO Frantz, using them for HT would be such a waste as they are too good not to be used in your audio setup
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
29
405
IMO Frantz, using them for HT would be such a waste as they are too good not to be used in your audio setup

Hi

The plan is to move to a larger house with a dedicated 2-ch room. So the LS 50 will be replaced by either the Q3 or the Blades or any speaker that would have caught my fancy by then ...must tell you that the q3 made a serious impression on me and , I can only imagine how good they would sound with subs .. emphasis on the plural. The LS50 will be used with subs in the present room. Berkeley DAC is high on the list ... Amp is no surprise ...;)
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
Frantz,

I was not sure about the KEF Blade until I heard a pair at a seminar at HiFi Concepts in Munich last month. Audionet had teamed with KEF to put on a great seminar. You can hear the magic of the Blade if you listen with headphones. And... yes, yes I know the trick editing is not working for every viewer (I thought it was cool). This was my seventh and best KEF Blade system audition.


The music in this video epitomizes the type of music that is typically played at shows to show off gear. Female voices backed up by a small number of instruments which causes a certain type of 'sound' to happen that doesn't stress out speakers or gear. I took a friend of mine to Axpona 2013 in Chicago and he quickly picked up on the them of music being played and said, "I see a trend here."
 

Peter Breuninger

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Jul 20, 2010
1,231
4
0
The music in this video epitomizes the type of music that is typically played at shows to show off gear. Female voices backed up by a small number of instruments which causes a certain type of 'sound' to happen that doesn't stress out speakers or gear. I took a friend of mine to Axpona 2013 in Chicago and he quickly picked up on the them of music being played and said, "I see a trend here."

We have distribution rights on the music (not the lead in). Part of our business is copyright management. Yes, female vocal and simple miking is heard a lot at shows- for good reason... less room node excitement.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
We have distribution rights on the music (not the lead in). Part of our business is copyright management. Yes, female vocal and simple miking is heard a lot at shows- for good reason... less room node excitement.

Right, but it also presents less of a challenge to the gear and invokes a certain type of sound.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing